Zhu and Joe Trapanese Craft Dark, Propulsive Score for SXSW Film 'He Bled Neon'

The musicians discuss their collaborative approach to elevating the film's tone through music.

Mar. 16, 2026 at 8:07pm

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Composers Zhu and Joe Trapanese teamed up to create the dark, propulsive score for the SXSW film 'He Bled Neon,' a revenge tale set in Las Vegas. The two musicians worked closely with director Drew Kirsch throughout filming to ensure the music and visuals were perfectly in sync, modifying ideas in real-time to strike the right tone. The 25-song soundtrack serves as the backbone of the film, unifying its instrumentation with glowing synths and atmospheric hums to match the story's primal nature.

Why it matters

Music is a crucial element in crafting memorable cinema, and the collaboration between Zhu and Trapanese demonstrates how filmmakers can prioritize the soundtrack to elevate a project. Their work on 'He Bled Neon' shows the power of blending visual storytelling with an evocative, genre-bending score.

The details

Zhu and Trapanese were hands-on during the filming of 'He Bled Neon,' appearing on set to ideate on how to match each scene's pace and aesthetic. They modified their ideas in real-time to strike the right tone, with Zhu aiming to keep the score 'primal' to match the story's raw emotion. The 25-song soundtrack functions as a standalone musical project that complements the film's ambition.

  • The film 'He Bled Neon' premieres at SXSW on March 16, 2026.

The players

Zhu

A Grammy-nominated musician who has risen the ranks of deep house over the past decade.

Joe Trapanese

An accomplished composer who has scored films like 'Straight Outta Compton' and contributed to 'Tron: Legacy' and 'The Greatest Showman.'

Drew Kirsch

The director of 'He Bled Neon' and an accomplished director of music videos for artists like Taylor Swift and Jungkook.

Nate Bolotin

The co-founder of XYZ Films and the producer of 'He Bled Neon.'

Ethan

The protagonist of 'He Bled Neon,' played by actor Joe Cole.

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What they’re saying

“When I make music, I'm a very visual person and even some of the early records, I would imagine scenes and write songs that were very descriptive visually for those moments. And I thought [this] would just be something that fell really into what I enjoyed and how I view music.”

— Zhu (Variety)

“It's an interesting handoff between going in with an artistic point of view of what you think it's going to be versus being open to it changing. It kind of sums up film composing in general: You try to build something that you think is going to work great, but then you're also always open to the metamorphosis that might happen in the process.”

— Joe Trapanese, Composer (Variety)

“I tried to keep it primal because the story is pretty primal and I didn't want to litter it with too much gloss. So I tried to really bring my strengths and then let Joe blend the things that he found to be interesting with the things that he was able to do to the pace of the film through score.”

— Zhu (Variety)

What’s next

Following the film's premiere at SXSW, the creatives behind 'He Bled Neon' are hoping the marriage between music and cinema that fueled the process continues to be the gold standard of filmmaking.

The takeaway

The collaborative approach between Zhu and Trapanese in crafting the score for 'He Bled Neon' demonstrates the power of prioritizing music in the filmmaking process, elevating the visuals and creating a memorable cinematic experience.