When the film Beyond the Black Rainbow opens at the Vancity Theatre on Friday (July 6), it will come with an outstanding soundtrack courtesy of Sinoia Caves. The analogue-synth side project of Black Mountain’s Jeremy Schmidt, Sinoia Caves is the perfect fit for the film’s spookily accurate and very trippy retro sci-fi feel—which is why director Panos Cosmatos approached the musicians in the first place.

“I’d heard a bit about the film and what his touchstones were, and it all sounded pretty good to me,” Schmidt told the Straight. “But I approached it with a little skepticism. You know, when you hear that some first-time director is making a film that references things like Kubrick or John Carpenter, you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, sure. I’ll believe it when I see it.’ ”

He didn’t hesitate to sign on once Cosmatos showed him an early cut of the film, using Sinoia Caves’ “Evil Ball” as a guide track. “I could see there was something pretty special going on,” Schmidt said. Fittingly, he added that “Evil Ball” was originally written partly in tribute to Carpenter’s taut, electronic soundtracks. The two also discovered a mutual appreciation for Giorgio Moroder’s work on American Gigolo, along with more obvious favourites like Tangerine Dream. Schmidt ended up loving the whole process. “The nice thing with this film is that it kinda looked and felt synonymous with the kind of music I was already doing,” he said.

Schmidt is remixing the score for release on vinyl (and he’s been talking to a label, although nothing’s settled yet). Meanwhile, you can catch Sinoia Caves opening for Psychic Paramount and Phil Manley Life Coach at the Rickshaw on July 20.