Today, we are thrilled to be joined by renowned composer Steven Chesne to speak in more detail about his new album “Descendants (in 79 Languages)”.
The album is a striking artistic response to a world often fractured by differences.
This ambitious project unites voices from across the globe, blending them into a powerful and evocative piece that transcends cultural and linguistic barriers. The accompanying music video further amplifies the song’s message with its futuristic imagery.
In this interview, Chesne shares the journey behind this groundbreaking project, offering insights into the creative process, the challenges faced, and the deeper meaning he hopes audiences will take away.
“We Are the Descendants (in 79 languages)” is a unique project that brings together voices from around the world. What inspired you to create a song and video that incorporates 79 different languages?
We can all see around us, a fragmenting of orderly, respectful civilization. Chaos is increasing. But we know that we are all made of the same material. We have a shared origin, and ultimately, our fate is intertwined.
It led me to seek out commonalities that span humanity. What phrase can everybody say in unison that we agree on? “We are the descendants.” We don’t think about this too much, but when we hear it, it sounds familiar. And it lifts us up just a tiny bit. It moves the waves just slightly in that direction.
How did you go about selecting the vocalists and languages featured in “We Are the Descendants”? Was there a particular significance to the languages or regions you chose?
My goal was to cast a wide net and to connect with a very wide variety of languages. I think that this was simply the maximum that I could achieve in that time frame. There were a few that I was trying to include but I couldn’t because we simply ran out of time while still chasing people. Some other languages became available after the fact and I’d always say, “I wish we met 3 years ago!”
I began with many thousands of connections on Facebook. I could tell by some people’s last names or country of origin, what languages they might be fluent in. I started asking around about vocalists they might know of, and so on. I tried cultural centers in Los Angeles, I found some language and linguistics pages online and contacted translators there.
The video for “We Are the Descendants” has a futuristic, almost dystopian setting. Can you explain the visual concept behind the video and how it ties into the message of the song?
The first 5 minutes takes place on Earth in the future, after the Earth becomes uninhabitable. Fredo bang is walking inside a very large “Earth station”, somewhat like a space station, that is very sterile and antiseptic, and separate from the barren desert outside.
On the walls of this earth station are video monitors with faces of all of the vocalists from all over the world. Each one of them sings their phrase as they interweave together, between Fredo Bang’s rapping.
Fredo also assists a young boy on the Earth station, who is experimenting with a giant laser that eventually pierces the wall of the structure. This takes us to part two of the video which uses music from track 14, the big Finale at the end of the album. Between the song used in part one, and the Finale used in part two, there is some music score composed, which connects the two songs.
The key concept behind the dramatic ending is that all of us are going to have to struggle together if we’re to survive together. Our fate is intertwined.
The music that accompanies the big dramatic ending, the Finale of the album, involves all of the languages singing simultaneously. This has a huge sound, like a gigantic cosmic nebula, but with voices. This is eventually overtaken by a symphony orchestra. The choir and the orchestra struggle together, and it’s a really unique, fascinating sound. It’s an extremely full, very complex texture.
You’ve had an extensive career composing for television, film, and symphonic music. How does working on a project like this differ from your previous experiences?
I’ve been working on recorded music only, as opposed to cinematic scoring, for several years now. There’s a kind of freedom in being able to do anything I want to do, rather than to serve the action of a film. When I first made this transition, I felt like one of those apes raised in captivity, then freed in the wild!
And technology has made it even easier to realize our musical dreams.
But in this project, a return to combining music with film, here the music came first. Song number one, the one with Fredo bang, really was intended to work with video, which was necessary to identify all of the languages visually. I completely thought of it that way, even when I was composing it. And when I was composing the finale at the end of the album, I absolutely had imagery in mind just like what we did in the video.
The theme of global unity is central to both the song and the video. How do you hope “We Are the Descendants” will impact listeners and viewers in today’s divided world?
It’s easy to see our differences as people, as tribes, as nations, religions, etc. It’s really pumped up in the media, and among those who would exploit our differences to try and attain power.
But we can send signals about other important truths as well. Our commonalities are real, ageless, and powerful. Reaffirming this isn’t simply a good feeling, it’s a fresh breath of reality.
Can you share some of the challenges you faced during the production of “We Are the Descendants,” both musically and visually? How did you overcome them?
Finding native translators who could make recordings for me, and critique my efforts, took close to a year. Finding vocalists took even longer.
The majority of the vocalists were recorded in distant countries from Madagascar to Albania. Finding them in the first place was difficult but coordinating these recordings took another year. Living in Los Angeles, we were able to have about a dozen of them come to our home to record. My wife, Diane, is a superb musician, far better than I, so she helped me produce the live vocal sessions that we did at home.
The whole process really took place over about four years. Parts of it were incredibly complex both sonically and logistically.
Looking back on the entire process of creating “We Are the Descendants,” what has been the most rewarding aspect of this project for you as an artist?
Because it was completed so recently, I have no clarity and no objectivity about it. I’m still lost in details.
So the thing that makes me feel good about it, is the overwhelming response that we’ve gotten from listeners and viewers who are coming into it fresh. The strong feelings that people communicate to me about experiencing the project, have really clarified that this has been worth it. That we hit our mark. That this huge, risky challenge that we embarked on years ago, is a success.
Listen to “Descendants” here:
Connect with Steven Chesne on his Website www.chezworks.com
