THE man who mixed the sound for the award-winning movie Kneecap – which opens in Ireland next week – said working with the West Belfast rappers was “a very rewarding creative experience”.
 
Re-recording mixer, sound designer and composer Aza Hand is a three-time Irish Film and Television award-winning artist in his own right. He is known for his award-winning work in television (Game of Thrones) and movies (Sparrow and Son). His next feature The Surfer, starring Nicolas Cage, debuted at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and will be released in 2025. 

The eagerly-awaited movie Kneecap about the rap trio of the same name has won its own raft of awards in recent months, including the NEXT Audience Award and the Sundance Film Festival in the States, as well as the Best Irish Language Feature Film, the audience Award and Best Irish Film at the Galway Film Fleadh.
 
Based on the original story of the ground-breaking Irish language rap trio, the film stars the band’s Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí in their acting debuts alongside Academy Award nominated Michael Fassbender. Set in West Belfast in 2019, the Irish language movie chronicles how fate brings the trio together and how they then go on to “change the sound of Irish music forever”.
 
Speaking about his work on the project, Aza Hand said: “I was immediately attracted to the challenge of bringing the sound of Kneecap to life on the big screen in the most raw and realistic way, tracking their progress as they form their style and building the intensity of sound accordingly. I think the resulting soundtrack is full of the unruly energy of the band and is a truly visceral cinema experience.”

He added: “Kneecap is a real ground-breaking movie for Ireland because it uses the language in expressing modern youth music culture. Gaelic, the Irish native tongue, has often been reflected in the arts as being something reliant on nostalgia, lamenting a lost history. This film brings relevance to the language in the modern world.”
 
Speaking about working with the band, he said it was a "huge amount of fun and a very rewarding creative experience".

"I spent most of the time with the director, Rich Pepiatt, in the studio mixing but also met the band when they came in to revoice some songs and record the ADR. 
 
“Kneecap also came into view parts of the film before we finalised the sound to make sure they were happy with the decisions we had made in the studio. I also had the opportunity to go and see Kneecap perform in the Olympia Theatre midway through the mixing process which really helped inform my approach to crafting the sound for the live performance in the film. That was a brilliant night!”

And what does he think of the band's music?

“I really like their music, especially the more punk elements to it and the hip hop and rave parts, too. The live shows are a particular type of wild entertainment, almost like a musical circus performance, with Kneecap ring-leading the crowd into the mosh pits. It’s immensely fun to see.

"The crowd was very mixed, with people from all walks of life there which was amazing to see. I found it hard to put my finger on the vibe at first, but still found myself head bopping at the same time and by the end of the show I understood – there is something infectious about Kneecap.”

Kneecap opens in cinemas across Ireland on 8th August.