Re-recording Mixer Aza Hand Takes Us Through The Musical Comedy 'Kneecap'

Written by Aza Hand

I got involved with Kneecap when the director Rich Pepiatt and post production house Outer Limits in Dublin approached me to mix the film. I have been mixing, sound designing, and composing music for film for nearly two decades now, and in 2022 I became freelance.

Mixing Kneecap was a really rewarding experience for me and a joy to work on. I'm a massive music fan and especially enjoy big, bold and dynamic stuff like electronica, hip-hop, and reggae music.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Roger Ebert's review likened the movie to the 1972 classic film, The Harder They Come, directed by Perry Henzell. It’s a great movie about a young artist trying to make it in the tough music business in Jamaica. That made my day. I'm a huge fan of that film and it’s a beautiful comparison.

The beginnings of the creative process started with reading the script and then watching the rough cut at Outer Limits Post Production in Dublin to spot the film with the director Rich Pepiatt, sound designer Brendan Rehill, and dialogue editor Louise Burton.This session was the beginning of the creative journey where a lot of core ideas are hashed out. Kneecap came to the film mixing studio to discuss the sound and to talk about how we should treat the music in particular—things like allowing it to break out from the studio sound of the band to our version of the Kneecap live sound, which at times is very much representative of the live theater or arena sound.

We paid particular attention to building the energy of the gigs, climaxing at the big concert with an intense performance from Kneecap!. A very bombastic and fresh approach was needed for the transitions and musical drops to support the “anything goes” mentality, and I found myself chopping and reversing pieces of music and applying effects like reverb and delay in unexpected places to exciting results.

A memorable moment was getting the opportunity to get out of the studio to go and see Kneecap live at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin.

It was right in the middle of the mix and it was so valuable to see and hear them live. The gigs are electric in atmosphere—with people from all walks of life there, head nodding to the infectious beat. Kneecap are very interactive with the crowd and I must say it was one of the most fun live gigs I have seen.

I have a lot of different and varied experience mixing film and designing sound at home here in Ireland, but I have also scored music for three feature films, winning an IFTA for Ivan Kavanagh’s Son in 2021. I was nominated for Best Music and Best Sound for Lisa Mulcahy’s Lies We Tell in 2024.

I have worked as a live engineer in dance clubs, rock venues, jazz bars, and theaters. I also make my own electronic music and am an avid record collector and movie lover. I am continually amazed and impressed at the films we make here in Ireland and will wholeheartedly support our homegrown talent through my own hard work in whatever way I can. So, with all these experiences, mixing a film about a real band, rapping in Irish, about to take the world on, I was very excited about the opportunity.

Kneecap has a fun and crazy style and attitude, but also brings a fresh voice of protest against oppression and messages of peace and unity, which is very important. I feel it’s memorable and timeless when we can find real meaning and cultural value in music and film. Kneecap have brought new life to the Irish language through their work, a language in real danger of dying out. I think this film is really something special and unique, somehow blurring the lines between performance art and reality.

I was very lucky to have amazing teachers in sound school, Larry O’ Toole in BCFE Dublin and in my film apprenticeship with Hollywood sound designer, Patrick Drummond (Boyz n the Hood, As Good as It Gets).

They taught me the level of dedication needed, and how to always be positive about the work. The most important lesson, I think, is to listen to the director carefully and try to understand the message or story they want to tell with their film, and then let the movie tell you what it needs… hopefully then we will be on the right track.

One of the lessons I learned early on is that in the film and music industry we really carve our own paths and must and should try to come up with new ways of doing things while never forgetting all that has been discovered already by the people who have been doing it longer or are no longer around.

In other words, never be afraid to create someone new but study the work of the old greats!