Courtesy of Logan Martin

KCSB-FM, the radio station based on UC Santa Barbara’s campus, recently collaborated with New York-based band Morricone Youth to officially bring the Halloween spirit to Santa Barbara.

In the Associated Students Program Board-funded event hosted on Saturday, Oct. 26, KCSB teamed up with the band to treat guests to a unique opportunity — not only to see director George Romero’s 1968 classic film “Night of the Living Dead” on a 25-foot outdoor screen, but also the chance to see the film’s score played by a live band.

October’s performance wasn’t the first time that Morricone Youth has visited the Santa Barbara Center for Art, Science and Technology, as they previously performed their interpretation of the film’s score in an August 2018 event, also sponsored by KCSB and held at the same venue.

The relationship between Morricone Youth and KCSB began after KCSB Staff Advisor Ted Coe discovered a vinyl copy of the band’s unique score for George Miller’s original 1979 “Mad Max” film. As a sci-fi fan, Coe included the band’s work on his radio shows, interviewed them and ultimately worked with Morricone Youth to form the 2018 showing and performance of “Night of the Living Dead.” Six years later, this year’s Halloween served as the perfect moment to bring the band back to the UCSB and Santa Barbara audiences.

“I follow their work as a fan, and we had talked about maybe doing a reprise like this, and this was the perfect opportunity — especially with [the] Halloween season,” Coe said.

Formed in 1999, Morricone Youth is an instrumental band that aims to perform and record music “for the moving image,” according to their website. Their name (pronounced Morri-coney Youth) is an ode to New York City’s famed Coney Island. Some of their previously scored films include not only “Mad Max,” but David Lynch’s “Eraserhead” and another Halloween classic — the 1922 silent vampire film, “Nosferatu.” Like their previous scores, “Night of the Living Dead” is another horror film that has become ingrained in popular culture. The band also scored recent 2023 release “Eight Eyes” and has performed at a wide variety of locations from across the world. Guitarist and band founder Devon Goldberg discussed the band’s history and experiences in playing the score across the world.

“We’ve done this from Sydney, Australia to New York to all over North America,” Goldberg said. “People respond differently in different cities.” The band’s “Night of the Living Dead” score has also been performed extensively, with October marking the end of an extensive stretch across North America.

Morricone Youth formed in 1999 and aims to record music “for the moving image.” (Courtesy of Logan Martin)

Despite being filmed on a low budget, ($114,000 in 1968, adjusted to roughly $1,294,000 in 2024), “Night of the Living Dead” is lauded as a classic of both the horror genre and black-and-white films. The film helped to create what is now a classic narrative for zombie and horror films alike — a group of unlikely strangers with differing agendas, attitudes and backgrounds must work together to protect themselves from a terrifying, ghoulish threat.

“Night of the Living Dead” also offers rich commentary on both the Cold War and race in the United States, specifically through the now iconic performance of African American actor and educator Duane Jones.

Now an iconic piece of cinema and registered in the National Film Registry, the film resulted in later blockbusters “World War Z,” “Train to Busan” and “28 Days Later” and successfully established the zombie as not just a symbol of Halloween but cinema pop culture (despite never actually using the phrase “zombie”).

Promoted with the tagline, “They’re coming to get you, (Santa) Barbara,” October’s event encouraged attendees to bring blankets and picnic supplies, along with dressing up in their scariest costumes. A crowd of around 50 attendees gathered at 7 p.m., with many sporting Halloween costumes of their own.

The joint screening and performance began at 7 p.m. sharp with the film being projected on an enormous screen. Using a cut of the film created by Morricone Youth themselves (which Coe praised as being very “punk” and DIY”) a balance between the film’s original dialogue and the live score was created.

Morricone Youth’s equipment was extensive and diverse — the band consists of Devon Goldberg on guitar, Dan Kessler on electric keyboard, Brian Kantor on drums, Sami Stevens on vocals and John Castro on bass guitar. A series of synthesizers and speakers rounded out the stage, allowing for the sound to perfectly match the film’s booming dialogue and creating an electrical adaptation of an already iconic score.

The band self describes their interpretation of the 1968 classic as being a mix of progressive (“prog”) rock and electronic music. Morricone Youth’s score was inspired by Italian prog-rock band Goblin, who scored Romero’s second zombie film, “Dawn of the Dead.” When deciding on the genre and tone that their scoring of “Night of the Living Dead” would have, the band was greatly inspired by Goblin’s contributions and their connection with Nitehawk Cinema (located in Brooklyn, New York) which also has a fondness for Romero’s films. Goldberg discussed the band’s background and formation of their unique score.

“We decided, bouncing this idea off of Nighthawk [Theater], why don’t we take it on in the same way that Goblin took it on? We created our prog-rock score to it, in the vein of something from the 70s or early 80s … We wanted to make it really synth-heavy and guitar-heavy,” Goldberg said.

Shortly after the release of their score, the band was contacted by Goblin and served as the supporting act for their 2017 North American tour.

Morricone Youth’s passion for the cult classic could be felt in nearly every action scene — the score and vocals were eerie, haunting and perfectly matched the crowd’s sense of fear and anticipation. However, one of the most impressive elements was the band’s timing — drums aligned with the smashing of glass, the pounding of fists and bullets fired. The bass guitar emulated the sounds of a helicopter flying above in the film’s finale and Stevens’ vocals emulated the groans of the undead and the terror of the living.

Bassist John Castro playing alongside the film screening. (Courtesy of Logan Martin)

When it came to the most difficult scene to score, Goldberg referred to the film’s chaotic finale, nicknaming it the “beat ’em and burn ’em’” part of the film, referencing a specific scene in which a character throws homemade, flaming Molotov cocktails out of a window in order to fight a horde of zombies descending upon the cast.

“It’s an action packed segment,” Goldberg said. “We tried to time parts of the score to go with the throwing of the Molotov cocktails, which is tricky because tempos don’t always match up ─ you have to be pretty precise to make it work.”

“But you could also say that it was the most fun to create, because I think that’s what the band thrives on, picking up these challenges,” he said.

“It’s not just a dumb zombie or horror movie designed to scare people — it’s very much a commentary on society.”

Devon Goldberg

When asked about the significance of “Night of the Living Dead” and the band’s own personal connection to the film, Goldberg noted the film’s ability to continue surprising him and its significance for setting the stage for modern-day zombie films and horror as a way to communicate wider social and political issues.

“I quite possibly have seen that film more than anyone else alive, unaffiliated with the creation of the film itself,” Goldberg noted. “But everytime I see it, without fail, I notice something different about it.”

“It plays less like a traditional horror film and more like a reality. It’s not just a dumb zombie or horror movie designed to scare people — it’s very much a commentary on society. It’s about sociopolitical issues, about racism, about gender, about conspiracy, about the government keeping things from the public, about technology.”

Both Goldberg and Coe expressed appreciation for an engaged audience and noticed the number of students that attended the performance when reflecting back on the night.

“It seemed like a lot of students from UCSB showed up … It was high energy — people seemed to be so into it,” Coe recalled. “It felt like it was a real alternative event for the community … just very focused on experiencing creative art in the spirit of the holiday.”

Morricone Youth aims to return to California in 2025 and recently released their fifth pressing of their “Night of the Living Dead” score. Both KCSB and the band hope to organize future performances.

This appeared in the Nov. 7 print edition of the Daily Nexus.