180 South

Adventurer Jeff Johnson strikes so deeply into the heart of Patagonia's wilderness that we come to feel at home there. Retracing the epic 1968 journey of his hero Yvon Chouinard, he gets shipwrecked off Easter Island, surfs the longest wave of his life and prepares himself for a rare summit of Cerro Corcovado. Jeff's life turns when he meets up with an older and wiser Chouinard, while he is in Patagonia to help save its wildlands.

ABOUT THE SOUNDTRACK

In 2007 I fl ew down to Patagonia with my friends James Mercer and Mason Jennings. My cousin, Chris Malloy (fi lmmaker), and I were excited to have both James and Mason work on music for the fi lm, so bringing them down to see Patagonia with their own eyes seemed mandatory. We told them they didn't have to write or play any music while down there and that we just wanted them to check it out and meet everyone making the fi lm. Then the fi rst camp fi re lit up and guitars and accordions came out. It was not long before Mason and James joined in and gave us a nice night under the stars listening to them trade off on Neil Young covers. In that moment, we didn't really care any more if they helped make music for our fi lm because bringing them down there already felt worth it.

When we returned home, the experience was etched so beautifully in our minds but unfortunately it would be a long time before any music was needed. There was miles of footage to go through and a fi lm to be made. We stayed in touch with James and Mason and gave them updates on the fi lm, although we were lying when we said it wouldn't be long before we were done. The trip really had a profound effect on Mason and within the next few weeks he had written a couple of songs that really put our experiences to music. Then a few more months passed and we showed a preview of the fi lm to Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse. James lived near Isaac in Portland and kept telling me that he thought he would be a good fi t to work on some music for the fi lm as well. Isaac liked what he saw and then handed me a pamphlet on saving the salmon in Alaska and said he would do it if we could help with this cause. Seemed fair enough.

When we fi nally had a rough edit of the movie, we headed to Portland to Isaac's studio to record the soundtrack for 180° South. Pulling up to an old two-story craftsman house, we could hear the peaceful sound of guitars feeding back through the windows. Chris and I stopped and stared up at the attic completely captivated by what we were listening to. It was not long before we were watching footage and going over ideas and it wasn't long after that before we heard Isaac's banjo, Tom's trumpet, Eric's squeezebox, Joe's drums and James's harmonies coming from every corner of that house. That did not stop for almost 2 weeks.

This record is inspired by the stars in Southern Chile and was brought to life via a cabin in Minnesota, a garage in Hawaii and an attic up in Portland.