Eric André just dropped an insane classical album — and it's actually pretty brilliant

“Guys, convey you for coming to my midlife crisis,” said Eric André, lasting connected a podium successful beforehand of the Colburn Orchestra successful a achromatic tuxedo with tails and wielding a baton. “I started getting tattoos,” helium continued, “and past I thought: not hard enough. Why don’t I constitute immoderate truly niche, obscure movie scores for films that don’t beryllium and load your Monday night?”

Imagine getting precocious and watching a performance wherever Bugs Bunny conducts an orchestra, but Bugs Bunny is connected cocaine. That’s benignant of what this acquisition felt similar — and, to beryllium fair, the scholarly Zipper Hall astatine the Colburn School of Music has apt ne'er smelled much of pot. But it truly happened. The anarchic, often screaming, often precocious comedian, big of the Emmy-winning “The Eric Andre Show,” wasn’t pulling 1 of his signature pranks connected an assemblage who paid to spot him behaviour his archetypal compositions for orchestra and electronics.

Or was he?

Eric André conducting connected signifier alongside Prateek Rajagopal, who collaborated with him connected his debut classical album.

(Carianne Older)

The concert, which took spot April 27, was successful promotion of a caller album, “Film Scores for Films That Don’t Exist,” which André composed with superior assistance from Prateek Rajagopal, a 31-year-old composer and guitar player, retired present connected Stones Throw Records nether the sanction of André’s band, Blarf.

“We situation you to marketplace this,” says André, 43, lounging successful hoops shorts successful a soft schoolroom astatine Colburn 2 days earlier the show.

The philharmonic task comes arsenic a daze to astir radical who cognize André arsenic the feline who, connected his long-running Adult Swim show, often demolished his ain acceptable and terrified personage guests, oregon from his prank-based Netflix movie “Bad Trip,” wherever helium freaked retired unaware bystanders by sticking his manus successful a blender oregon getting his apparel sucked into a vacuum (and a fewer different things that would beryllium unseemly adjacent to picture successful a household newspaper).

Eric André projects a photograph of him arsenic a young classical euphony pupil during his caller amusement successful L.A.

(Carianne Older)

But, arsenic André explains, “I was obsessed with euphony since I was a child, similar since kindergarten. I lone pivoted to drama due to the fact that I didn’t cognize truly however to marque wealth making music.”

Growing up successful southbound Florida, André started taking soft lessons erstwhile helium was 5, and played tuba successful mediate schoolhouse and cello successful precocious school. He took up the treble bass successful 11th grade, and then, arsenic helium explained to the Colburn audience, “went to Berklee College of Waste Your Money Music to play the ‘Seinfeld’ taxable opus connected upright bass for 4 years.”

He formed the Frank Zappa-styled Blarf with classmates astatine Berklee, but “as I was finishing college,” helium says, “I conscionable didn’t spot a aboriginal successful jazz bass.” So helium turned to stand-up comedy. “You know, I had to marque my migrant begetter hitch his temples adjacent harder.”

André wrote immoderate “goofy songs” for his speech amusement and co-wrote and performed much goofy songs successful “Bad Trip” — astatine 1 constituent breaking into a emotion ballad, “I Saw a Girl Today,” successful beforehand of unsuspecting diners successful a nutrient court. It was portion supervising that film’s score, written by composers Ludwig Göransson and Joseph Shirley, that André expressed an itch to get immoderate of these “film scores” floating astir successful his caput retired into an orchestra.

“Where does anyone’s creativity travel from?” helium says erstwhile asked astir this. “It’s a neurochemical con job. It’s conscionable synaptic, physics explosions successful your brain. It’s conscionable a nutrient computer,” helium says, bursting into his infectious, treble bass laugh.

Prateek Rajagopal and Eric André.

(Harry Israelson)

Joseph Shirley referred André to Rajagopal, a caller (at the time) postgraduate from USC’s surface scoring programme who was described arsenic “a philharmonic wizard.” André, whose influences scope from Ren & Stimpy to John Carpenter to Ennio Morricone to György Ligeti, recovered an improbable member successful Rajagopal — an Indian instrumentalist who grew up successful Muscat, Oman, and past went to assemblage successful Mumbai, whose tastes were shaped by Indian movie euphony arsenic good arsenic Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails.

“Eric and I person a batch of akin influences successful presumption of conscionable radical who are singular,” says Rajagopal, “who person a position that’s not conscionable off-center, musically, but adjacent successful the mode they amusement up arsenic artists.”

Rajagopal was besides skilled, and patient, capable to construe André’s chaotic dependable memos — connected which helium would picture what melody oregon bushed the violas oregon percussion, et cetera, should beryllium doing — into MIDI demos. Over the people of 5 years, André and Rajagopal co-created these instrumental miniatures, which fluctuate from pastoral to decease metal, and recorded them with league musicians successful L.A. arsenic good arsenic a tiny orchestra successful Budapest.

But is it a joke? Some of the tracks — similar “Piano Concerto No. 0,” which features André virtually smashing a soft to smithereens — are evidently comedic. But the straight-faced prime of the others, which see a Spaghetti Western pastiche, a disturbing cacophony called “Mercury Dripping Down My Spine” and a lilting code poem (“Stars Without Light”), suggest thing somewhat much earnest. In the parlance of accepted genres, Andre’s 31-minute grounds would astir apt beryllium shelved successful the “Novelty” section.

Still, it was mostly played for laughs astatine the premiere concert. André entered the hallway dramatically to the strains of the “Chariots of Fire” theme. “Drunk connected power,” arsenic helium enactment it, helium giddily puppeteered the orchestra similar the Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

The existent programme started usually enough, with a sweet, sprightly tune (“What’s for Dinner”), but erstwhile that portion hard-pivoted into dense metallic —with Rajagopal thrashing a achromatic electrical guitar connected signifier — André threw connected sunglasses, pulled a Modelo tallboy retired of a insubstantial bag, chugged it, and took his brew retired into the audience, wherever helium poured it down the pharynx of a dude successful the archetypal enactment (all portion the orchestra kept playing). Likely different archetypal astatine Zipper Hall.

“Who thinks conducting is b—?” helium asked the audience, proceeding to springiness a rudimentary demo of however to behaviour successful antithetic clip signatures. “Some assholes constitute successful five,” helium jabbed. A fewer minutes later: “I’m atrocious to curse successful beforehand of Prateek’s parents.”

It was a unusual premix of sincerity, existent musicianship and bong-ripping humor. (André was persuaded by the conservatory not to smash a existent soft connected stage, due to the fact that “a batch of radical volition beryllium earnestly injured.”) He played bass connected 1 piece, provided echoey whistle effects connected another, and adjacent conducted selections by Ligeti and Georges Delerue. (“I conscionable thought that was a beautiful-ass song,” helium said aft the orchestra played euphony from the 1963 Italian movie “Contempt.”)

The evening concluded with the “1812 Overture,” but with an André twist: “We conscionable wanted to play Tchaikovsky truly retired of tune, similar we’re successful sixth grade,” helium said, segueing into a madcap, deliriously dissonant finale.

Funny, superior ... who knows. What “Film Scores for Films That Don’t Exist” astir surely is, is Eric André.