“Creating soundscapes for short films like Am I Dead and El Hor, which combine the avant-garde energy of mid 70’s Euro-horror, the ghosts of Penderecki, and the adventurous spirit of Mica Levi. The rising star recently scored Academy Award-longlisted Saul & I and Kate Dolan’s Irish folk horror You Are Not My Mother.”
DIE HEXEN is an IFTA winning & BIFA nominated Irish composer, sound artist, producer, performance, visual artist and filmmaker (Dianne Lucille Campbell). Born and raised on the remote coast of Ireland, their Avant-garde and often otherworldly creations exist and operate on the edge of reality. A notable constant throughout DIE HEXEN’s musical journey is their preternatural understanding of the union of sound and vision. DIE is truly mesmeric in their performance and stage shows, a transportational quality that carries through to their prowess as a composer.
DIE HEXEN is a daringly innovative composer merging composition & unconventional sound elements to create unique sound worlds. Often described as otherworldly, haunting, intense, textured, ethereal and atmospheric with shades of light and darkness, their boundary pushing repertoire spans a range of mediums including narrative and experimental film, dance theatre, animation, installation, performance, documentary and game. Catching the attention of BAFTA & Ivor Award winning Composer David Holmes, their composition ‘Gloomy Sunday’ featured on his poetically curated LATE NIGHT TALES (2016) to great acclaim.
“An Ambient, occasionally discordant score by electronic artist Die Hexen represents the most surprising stylistic element here.”
DIE HEXEN’s latest original score for Kate Dolan’s highly acclaimed feature debut YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER attests to their boundary pushing reputation as a composer and sound artist, with its use of primitive ancient horns, flutes, mangled percussion, gnawing strings, ethereal vocals, drones, groaning synth and pump organ along with innovative sound design to create a sinister, unrelenting and claustrophobic score. World Premiering the iconic MIDNIGHT MADNESS at Toronto International Film Festival 2021, You Are Not My Mother (Dir. Kate Dolan, Fantastic Films / Screen Ireland / Bankside Films) was voted 1st Runner Up to the Palme d’Or Winner for the People’s Choice Award.
Winning commissions for their work from The British Film Institute, Screen Ireland, NI Screen, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, UK Games Fund, Scottish Documentary Institute and The Wellcome Trust. DIE is a member of AWFC, Screen Composers Guild of Ireland, Primetime Network and a member of The Ivors Academy.
Their work has screened across International film festivals such as TIFF, Tribeca, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, HOT DOCS, Sheffield Doc Fest, Edinburgh FF, Aesthetica, London Short Film Festival, Cork International Film Festival, Galway Film Fleadh, Dublin International Film Fest, Tampere Film Festival, Berlin & New York Lift-Off Festival and Paris - ÉCU - European Independent Film Festival.
Other commissioned scores include the Galway Film Fleadh (2021) winning / Academy Award qualifying film SAUL & I by Dir. Jon Beer (Out of Orbit / NI Screen). IFTA (2020) Winner, Best film & Discovery Award DIFF (2020) winning documentary WELCOME TO A BRIGHT WHITE LIMBO by Dir. Cara Holmes (Invisible Thread / Screen Ireland). The self-made IFTA (2020) nominated, DIFF Discovery Award, ÉCU winning EL HOR (2018). Grand Prix Prize winning CIFF (2018) and Academy Award (2020) long-listed film STIGMA by Dir. Helen Warner and Venice Shorts (2020), Assurdo Film Festival (2020) & Short Sweet Film Festival (2021) winning horror EYE EXAM by Dir. Aislinn Clarke (Shudder, Disney, Hulu).
DIE HEXEN also composed, performed, arranged and produced the soundtrack to Raindance Discovery Award nominated, Galway Film Fleadh & Irish Film London winning debut feature by Dir. Shelly Love ‘A BUMP ALONG THE WAY’ (2019), which premiered at TIFF (2019) opening the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (2020).
Other recent collaborations include Junk Ensemble’s - THE VEILED ONES, a dance theatre production by Megan & Jessica Kennedy that explores witches, transformations and the powerful relationship between grandparent & grandchild (World Premiere - Dublin Fringe Festival Sept 2021). ONAR, a Sci-fi fantasy game and ongoing commission by UK Games Fund/NI Screen in collaboration with Rewind Play Games. DIE HEXEN has also won nominations for BEST COMPOSER & SOUND for 3 consecutive years at BAFTA’s UNDERWIRE FESTIVAL for short film POLLEN Dir. Helen Warner (2016) self made AM I DEAD (2017) & EL HOR (2018), and has also won a Royal Televisions Society Innovation Award (2016) for BAFTA winning OUT OF ORBIT'S #WEAREYOU campaign.