Soundtracks keep the score with Iris Yamashita

[Music Playing]

Adam Sockel:

You are listening to Passions & Prologues, a literary podcast. For each week, I'll interview an author about a thing they love and how it inspires their work. I'm your host Adam Sockel, and today's episode is with Iris Yamashita, debut author whose new book: City Under One Roof, came out earlier this year and is an absolutely thrilling mystery.

It is a book that takes place in a small city in Alaska that (for reasons you will discover when you read the book), everyone lives under one roof. Everyone in the entire town lives in one singular building. And when a crime takes place, everyone gets suspicious of one another.

And a blizzard causes basically the town to be trapped within itself. And there are 205 people who live in this high rise building, and each one of them is as icy as the weather.

It's a delightful mystery. It is based off of an actual place that exists where people do live in this specific city and this specific building, it's really, really fascinating. This was a delightful conversation.

Before we get to the book, Iris and I discuss her refound love of playing music, specifically on her keyboard. She grew up (as many people do), trying to learn how to play classical music. She learned piano because her parents wanted her to, and because it was something that she was more or less forced to do as a kid.

She abandoned it for a while, but then as we all do, she discovered she could enjoy the music that she actually likes, and she could play that music without being told what to do. It's one of those funny moments where as an adult you're like, “Oh right, I can just do things now for enjoyment. It's great.”

And so, it's a really interesting conversation where she talks about the different types of music she likes to play and the things that she's discovered. One of the things she likes focusing on is soundtracks and scores from movies, which makes a lot of sense when you listen to this conversation and learn about her background.

She is an award-winning screen writer as well. She was nominated for four Oscars, or her work was nominated rather for four Oscars from a screenplay that she wrote. And then we talk about that as well.

Before getting in this conversation, I want to offer you a quick book recommendation. I just finished up The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean. This is a spooky, not scary book, but it is all about these people who eat books instead of actual food. And when they eat books, they basically acquire the knowledge that is within those books.

So, whether it's a fictional book, something by Charlotte Bronte, or a dictionary or a map, whatever they eat they kind of ingest that knowledge. And amongst these book eaters, they are also people who eat humans that are sometimes born of these book eaters.

So, they have this very secretive society, this very secretive world where they don't want to let humans know who they are. And it tells the story of this mother and her child as she tries to find a way to save him from the plate that he has been born with.

And so, there's family mystery, there's trauma, there is heists and chases and all sorts of stuff. It's just a very unique, very original story that I really, really enjoyed. So, that's The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean, a book that I just finished up and I really loved.

If you love or like additional book recommendations from me, you can always reach me at [email protected]. You can leave any ratings or reviews there. I'll give you some customized book recommendations if you just send me a screenshot of those.

And as always, feel free to send me the things you are passionate about. I love reading your passions and everybody who sends me those, I pick one random person to send a bookshop.org gift certificate once a month.

So again, thanks so much for all the interaction you guys have had over the past couple months with me. I really, really appreciate it. It's wonderful hearing from all of you.

Okay. Not going to keep you any longer. I am so delighted to say I hope you enjoy this episode of Passions & Prologues with Iris Yamashita.

[Music Playing]

Okay Iris, I am so delighted to have you on the show today. What is something you are super passionate about that we're going to discuss today?

Iris Yamashita:

Well, I've recently rediscovered playing music on a keyboard. When I was little, I had taken piano lessons, but it was a little more to please the parents because I had Asian parents and they wanted me to take piano lessons and I was never really good. But we did have a piano of course, that I practiced on. And then I haven't had a piano since I was little.

And now that I'm an adult, I came into possession of a keyboard, a full-sized keyboard, and I've kind of rediscovered music now and it's something that's very relaxing. And instead of playing the classical music that you're taught, I can play whatever I want.

So, I've discovered a lot of movie music that you can find the scores for online. Everything is now digital, which is completely different from when I was a kid, but it makes it easier in a way. And you can download tons of scores that are accessible.

And I really enjoy it. It really relaxes me and even just listening to the music kind of sets a tone too. When I'm writing, I often listen to movie scores as a background, and they can kind of bring about certain emotions and feelings that can help inspire your writing as well.

Adam Sockel:

Yeah. I have so many questions I want to ask about this. First off, I should mention for people who may be unaware when you talk about your background, you're being very, very modest. Iris is an Academy Award nominated screenwriter, so you are very, very well versed in that area.

But we were talking about playing the piano. I'm the youngest of four children and my three siblings sort of like you, they took piano lessons and then abandoned them. So, by the time I came around I was so active in doing sports and different activities that my mom was just like, “I'm not doing this again. I'm not wasting piano lessons.”

And so, I used to give her a hard time in my teenage years when we still had a piano around, and then when I was in my 20s. I was like, “You never take took me to do lessons. So, I never learned how to do this. And I've always wanted to learn how to play piano.”

And now I have a nephew who is learning. But she's probably right, much like you, I probably would've abandoned it if I had been taught so early on.

But when did you sort of rediscover this recently? And how did that come about where you're like, “Oh, I think I do want to pick this up again?”

Iris Yamashita:

I kind of lied because I had when I was a kid. And then there was a period in college when I also had a synthesizer, but it wasn't a full-size synthesizer. And so, I would play whatever the popular music tunes were of the day.

And then, it wasn't till fairly recently like in the last few months, that I actually came into possession of a full-sized keyboard that has really changed — playing on a half size is not that great. This is back in the 80s when the synthesizer stuff was kind of popular. So, the popular music was like they had synthesizers or sounds in the back.

But now this keyboard that I have now sounds like a piano. So, I play it just like a piano. And then discovering the sites online where you can just get any score that you want pretty much, yeah, that's been a joy.

Adam Sockel:

You mentioned writing and using the music of movie scores has sort of set the mood for you from a writing standpoint. And I will say, I've had so many authors tell me that. I'm queering a novel right now, and when I wrote it, I did the same thing. There was a couple of movie scores that I loved listening to. One was the Pixar movie Up.

Iris Yamashita:

Oh yeah.

Adam Sockel:

It has like a very beautiful piano-based soundtrack. But the one that always stuck with me was there was an author who Conan The Barbarian was the soundtrack that she used. And that always struck me as funny, but then I listened to it and I was like, “Oh, I could see how that would happen.”

So, for you, what were some of the scores that you were using when you were writing City Under One Roof?

Iris Yamashita:

I listened to a lot of Yann Tiersen. He composed the soundtrack for Amelie, the movie Amelie. And many others like Good Bye Lenin! I don't know if you've heard of that. That's a great movie.

Adam Sockel:

Yeah, yeah.

Iris Yamashita:

And some others. So, he's great for movie music. Not all of it matches with what I'm writing. I don't listen to a lot of thrillery music because I think that would just be a little more disruptive. It's more like background music, so-

Adam Sockel:

Yeah. I will say I laughed because I'm very familiar with Amelie. In fact, I tried to find it, I tried to watch it recently and you can't stream it anywhere right now, which is very frustrating.

Iris Yamashita:

Really?

Adam Sockel:

It's one of the movies that was — I don't remember which specific movie house. I think it might have been a Miramax film. And a lot of the Miramax films now are very hard to find on streaming.

This is another story, entirely. But I was just laughing because having read City Under One Roof and then you mentioned Amelie is like the first thing. I was like, “Yeah to me those are two very different moods for sure.”

Do you, as a person who is now like you said, kind of brought up again wanting to play the music, do you find yourself, when you hear a score, whether it's while watching a movie or just listening to the score, have you started to listen to the music as a potential thing you might want to play at some point?

Or do you think you still interact with the music the same way as someone who might not have an ability to play piano?

Iris Yamashita:

Oh yeah. I have a station that just plays sort of these piano instrumentals. And now that I've found this site where you can just look up scores, I'll pause it if I like it, and then I'll see if it's there and then I'll download the score, and then try to play it later. I'm not very good.

So, usually if it's a simpler tune I can play it. If it's got a lot of runs in it, then I probably won't be able to play it. And I'll know that, and I'll say, “Oh no, I'm not going to look for that one.”

Adam Sockel:

Do you find that playing the music though is something that is therapeutic or calms you down? Or I guess what do you find the most enjoyment out of that experience for you now that, like you said, you are playing the things that you want to play as opposed to the things that people make you play when you're younger?

Iris Yamashita:

Yeah. It's just relaxing and it's also expressive. You can put your own take on it on a piece and yeah. I think it's the same when you listen to something and then it makes you feel a certain way and then you can actually play it, that's even better. Yes.

Adam Sockel:

Is do you think that the interaction you have with the piano has affected how you write at all? Do you find you have clarity or is it just something that you find like two completely separate entities?

Iris Yamashita:

Yeah. Playing is a completely separate entity because I'm not thinking about the writing at all. It's actually more of a escape.

But listening, it definitely will affect how I write because it can give you a mood. Especially if you're writing a very kind of quiet … it's not an actiony moment and it's a quiet moment and you're listening to appropriate quiet music, I think it does help. It helps you write a little better because the music sort of informs that mood.

I should try maybe listening to thrillery music while I'm writing the action parts and see if that helps. I don't know. I've never tried that.

Adam Sockel:

Well, I will say that is one of the things I really loved about, like I said, the soundtrack for Up, the Pixar movie, there's lots of emotional aspects. Everyone who's ever seen Up knows that the first 10 minutes of it are just so emotional. It's like you go through the entire gamut of human emotions in 10 minutes.

But the entire soundtrack is very up and down from a pacing standpoint. And there are lots of dramatic moments. And I did find myself while writing, exactly what you said, I would skip through specifically to the apex moments of what would've been the movie itself in that music.

And I did find that it did help. I would've thought it wasn't a real thing, but it really does build up in the emotion that you need to write about. It is really interesting that the external sounds around us while we're writing can sort of affect the mood. That is an interesting thing.

Iris Yamashita:

Yeah, I think so. And I think in movies, the music has to be done well too, because it's almost like the music is another character. Christopher Nolan, he's always got … that kind of noise. Yeah. And then that makes your heart beat fast and he knows he's doing that. So, definitely the music is almost like it's another character.

Adam Sockel:

Yeah. Speaking of screenwriting and your experience with that, how did your experience as a screenwriter, did it feel different to write things specifically for the screen as opposed to shifting your focus for City Under One Roof, your novel? Did it feel different, or does it still feel just like writing in general for you?

Iris Yamashita:

Yeah, I think they're very different. Both the structure and how you're involved in the writing is very different. It feels very different. The basic storytelling tenets are the same, you still have the same for me thinking of the structure and the character arcs and where certain bits would come in.

So, the basic storytelling the tenets are the same. But yeah, the structure is very different and you as a writer, your role feels very different than when you're writing a book, a book feels a lot more torturous in a sense. But much more gratifying because you are everything. You are the director, you are the cinematographer, you are the casting director, you wear all the hats in creating a novel.

And you know that people are going to look at every word in the finished product. Whereas in screenwriting, I think it's almost like you're just another cog. There's many, many parts in the movie business. And so, there's tons of people involved and they're all making their own decisions and the director has their take and the producer has their take.

And sometimes all you're doing as a writer is trying to meet their takes. And a lot of times you're not working on anything original. So, you're taking an adaptation or you're taking the idea of a producer or a true story and turning it into something. Most of the times it's not your original work.

Adam Sockel:

For screenwriting for people who are unfamiliar, because I'm admittedly not familiar with this, when you write a novel, in most situations kind of write the entire story and then you query it for literary agents. And then you get a publisher and then you get an editor, and you get kind of a full batch of edits, and you make sweeping changes, and it goes back and forth, but you're basically working with your entire story the whole time. And then you have people take a look at it.

For screenwriting, are you constantly updating scripts and dialogue and different things as they're shooting? Or has your experience as a screenwriter been basically like do you write a script or you punch up a script, whatever it is, and then you hand it off and it's in the actor's hands at that point?

Iris Yamashita:

Yeah. Each case is probably going to be a little bit different. I was lucky when I was working with Clint Eastwood because he doesn't actually do development, so he kind of just looks at the script and he says yes or no.

So, when he said yes to my script, it was pretty much, okay, let's go, let's shoot it. And that never happens usually in Hollywood.

Adam Sockel:

Right.

Iris Yamashita:

He did take suggestions from actors and other people, but once it got translated to Japanese, I couldn't really do anything because I'm not fluent in reading and writing Japanese, so it was out of my hands.

But there are other projects where it's like development helps, so to speak, where they just keep wanting to do rewrites and rewrites and rewrites and sometimes they can hire someone else.

So, there was a project I was on that they hired me first and I did some rounds and then they hired another writer to rewrite it and then another writer after that to rewrite that. And then they came back to me and they said, “We liked your version best, so we want you to redo it.” And so, it can be kind of crazy like that. Yeah.

Adam Sockel:

Yeah. So, I would love to hear after having this career in screenwriting, why you wanted to shift over to writing a novel. I'm assuming maybe because it enables you to have a little bit more power and control over the story.

But what made you want to shift into the world of writing a novel? Because City Under One Roof is your debut. So, what made you want to adjust and kind of try your hand at the literary world as opposed to the movie making world?

Iris Yamashita:

Yeah, I always did want to write a novel since I was little. Like that was always my dream. And so, I minored in writing, and I did get a day job as a engineer. And then I would be writing as a hobby.

So, I still continue taking classes. I was taking classes at UCLA Extension in novel writing, but I couldn't finish a novel because it takes a lot more time and effort and everybody in LA is writing a screenplay.

So, I thought, “Well, let me see, let me give that a try.” So, I started taking classes in screenwriting and I found that I could actually finish a screenplay because they're not as long, it’s about like a hundred pages and a lot of white space. And I thought, “Oh, I could do this.”

So, I switched over to screenwriting. And then, I found the initial success there, so I stayed there for a while. And the idea for this book actually started with trying to come up with an idea for streaming media like Netflix and Amazon and Hulu and those kind of places.

And I knew I needed to come up with a sample first because I'm not in that world. I've only been in the feature film world and they're kind of completely different.

And so, that's when I started coming up with the idea for this book for City Under One Roof. First as a series. And then after I had done so much work plotting out a season and it's a lot of work actually to plot an entire season. And then I thought, I think I have enough here to write a book, so then I just started writing the book.

Adam Sockel:

Yeah. So, I will say for people who haven't read the book yet, hearing you talk about it as like a streaming service makes a lot of sense. Because having read it, it's about this detective who is stranded in this tiny Alaskan town where basically everyone lives in one building.

And I can see it. As I was reading it and you explaining this now, I'm like, “Oh yeah, this is ready made to be visualized.”

But where did that idea come from? Is this something that actually happens in Alaska? Are there actual towns like this? So, I guess like where did the idea pop in your mind? Because it is so unique, but I also like knowing how remote some of the areas of Alaska is, if you were to tell me right now that there are towns like this, I don't think it would surprise me too much. So, where did it sort of percolate from originally?

Iris Yamashita:

Well, you're right. This city is inspired by a real city in Alaska where most of the people do live in one building. And it is a very secluded place where you can only get there through a tunnel, through a mountain.

And yeah, I had seen a documentary over 20 years ago. It just stuck in the back of my mind as a really cool setting for a story. But I didn't have a story until over 20 years later.

But yeah, at that time you could only go by train. It was either train or boat. But it was originally built as a kind of secretive military base. So, they had built two high rises for the military personnel to live in.

And then there was a huge nine point something earthquake in Alaska that basically decimated the base, so they shut it down and yeah, I believe a tsunami even hit the town. So, they shut it down. And so, one building is completely abandoned. And the other building, they turned into this high rise condo. And that's where people live now. They still live there. So, yeah.

Adam Sockel:

It's so interesting and first off, again, like you mentioned part of the story is there's this blizzard that kind of closes up the tunnel and so it kind of keeps everyone there suspended in this area indefinitely.

And that's such a claustrophobic feeling. Just rethinking back to reading it, I'm getting chills now. But did you have a research process in the sense where other than kind of looking up and learning things about this city, were there aspects that — I can't imagine you traveled to this extremely remote place for research or anything? Or did you? Did you have research that you were able to do for the story?

Iris Yamashita:

Yes. I actually did go to this to the city that inspired this one.

Adam Sockel:

Amazing.

Iris Yamashita:

The fake one. And I did stay in the building because they do actually have rooms in the building that you can rent and stay in. It's usually a happening place in the summer because there are now cruise ships that embark or disembark from there. People usually don't actually stay in the city, but you can get on and off boats and there is fishing there as well.

So, I did go during the summer, so it didn't seem as quite as scary as I make it out to be because it's pretty bustling at the time. And then, it does shut down. I haven't stayed there in the winter.

Adam Sockel:

In the winter.

Iris Yamashita:

Yeah. But someone I talked to there said, “Yeah, I don't understand the people who would come here in the winter.”

Adam Sockel:

Slightly more inviting during the summertime when you can kind of come and go a little bit.

Iris Yamashita:

Yeah. It's actually very beautiful. The mountains, the landscape, it’s very beautiful from the picture windows in the building. So, it's actually not a bad place to stay in, in the summer. I don't know, I'm kind of afraid to go there in the winter.

Adam Sockel:

Yeah. Like I said, just reading your book gave me enough claustrophobia, I don't think I want to try it out in the winter personally.

But what is it for you about murder mysteries that kind of draw you into want to write these types of stories? Are these like the books and shows and movies that you're drawn to as a person enjoying them? Or is there something specific about this type of story for you?

Iris Yamashita:

Interestingly, I didn't think I was going to write a murder mystery. I didn't know if I had it in me. And I'm not a big follower of the procedurals either on television. And actually the mystery world is kind of new to me.

But I used to teach screenwriting and I know I always tell them; you should start with a question. And murder mysteries always start with a question. And then I always would say, “Oh, I love it when you start with a dead body.”

So, I think maybe all along I've been wanting to write a murder mystery and I just didn't have a story in mind until I was coming up with this idea for a series because with a murder mystery, you can kind of think of numerous episodes to keep it going in that sense. It seemed like a good genre for a series.

Adam Sockel:

Well, once you had the idea, and like you said, you'd done all this research for this series itself. And like I imagine in your mind as a writer, I could be completely wrong because again, I don't have any screenwriting experience, but I imagine you're writing these bits that could be like the end of an episode or like a thing.

Did you just use those and converted them into chapter endings? Or was there a challenge to take these bits that you had, like I said, from a visual standpoint and turning them into a novel? Or was that a lot of fun for you to explore?

Iris Yamashita:

It was a lot of fun actually. It was always fun to think of, okay, so how can I end with cliffhanger that makes you want to go on to the next chapter. And I worked with a group, my writers’ group, where I would bring in maybe a chapter each time because our group, we're all kind of professional writers. We all started off in screenwriting and kind of in a funny way, we all are starting to gravitate towards writing novels.

But I would bring a chapter and we would read the pages and then someone would always say, “Dun, dun, dun” at the end. And if I didn't get that in the end, I'm like, “Oh, can I make it a little more exciting at the end?”

Adam Sockel:

Oh, that's so funny. And like I said, knowing your background as a screenwriter, as I was reading it, I could definitely feel … I was like, “Oh yeah, these could definitely be visualized really, really easily.” And it definitely shows through, and the book is so good.

And then I will say from chapter to chapter, you really did nail that. I do feel like that's the biggest part of a mystery novel is like, you need to keep the reader wanting to be like, “Wait, what's going on? I need to read one more page or one more chapter.”

And you really did that with flying colors. So yeah, I know you have a whole career in screenwriting, but this side of things, I think this is the novel writing stuff is a place for you to keep exploring, for sure.

Iris Yamashita:

Thank you so much.

Adam Sockel:

Yeah. So, I always end the episode by having the author recommend something. It could be a book, it could be a movie if you want it to be. I've had someone say something as simple as, “Go for a walk more often.” But what is a recommendation that you'd like to leave my listeners with as something you think more people should know about?

Iris Yamashita:

Yeah. There's a movie that I think is underrated and we were talking about music at the beginning of the episode. And this is definitely one of those movies that the music is definitely a character and it's so lovely. And the movie's called The Legend of 1900. And it was written and directed by Giuseppe to Tornatore, the guy who did Cinema Paradiso.

Adam Sockel:

Okay, yeah.

Iris Yamashita:

And then the composer is the brilliant Ennio Morricone. And Ennio Morricone, he did the soundtrack for Cinema Paradiso as well. And he also did the Sergio Leone, The Spaghetti Westerns, the music for that.

And this soundtrack is so beautiful and the story is kind of like a fairytale. It's stars Tim Roth and it's about a baby that was abandoned on an ocean liner in the year 1900. So, it's a period. So, his name became 1900 and he basically grows up on the ship and he becomes a piano prodigy.

So, you hear some music, the beautiful music that Morricone composed, and he becomes the entertainer in the orchestra that entertains the cruise guests. And he's too afraid to leave the ship, so he never sets foot off the ship.

So, it's kind of a weird, like a fairytale kind of story. But again, the music is so beautiful. And then there's joyful music as well. There's a scene that I still like to look at once in a while where there's a storm on the ship.

And 1900, his way of dealing with storms on a ship is he gets on the piano and then he lets the piano slide around the room while he plays in the ballroom. And he's just playing this joyful music and it's really kind of uplifting. So, you can't help but smile when you see that scene, so-

Adam Sockel:

That sounds amazing. I'm definitely going to check that out. And as people have heard me say in the intro and we've been talking about it for a little while now, City Under One Roof is such a fun, wonderful book. I literally could not stop turning the pages. It's so great. And I really loved this conversation. Iris, thank you so much for joining me today.

Iris Yamashita:

Oh, thank you so much for having me. This was so much fun.

[Music Playing]

Adam Sockel:

Passions & Prologues is proud to be an Evergreen Podcast and was created by Adam Sockel. It was produced by Adam Sockel and Sean Rule-Hoffman. And if you are interested in this podcast and any other Evergreen Podcast, you can go to evergreenpodcasts.com to discover all the different stories we have to tell.