Matt Reich, Chicago Sound Designer and Co-Director of The Octopus by Cock and Bull Arts
The Octopus is the latest project of the Chicago arts organization Cock and Bull Arts directed by Chris Garcia Peak and Matt Reich. It’s a digital choose-your-own-adventure experience where players can explore many quirky versions of modern life with the help of a many-legged, all-knowing cephalopod overlord. It’s not an easy game to describe: you just have to play it for yourself!
Creating The Octopus was a highly collaborative process because it pulled from many different skill sets such as film making, acting, storytelling, logic programming (using the platform Typeform), and sound design. We sat down with Matt Reich to talk about his work on the project. Matt is a sound designer and engineer with over 40 credits, including two Jeff Nominations for Sound Design. He has been involved in several of Cock and Bull’s ventures, including; Voolf, Voyage, Lecherous Honey, and now The Octopus .
How did you go about designing the soundscape for The Octopus?
Matt: Designing The Octopus was a real treat. There were so many different opportunities to include sound in the project. Every video has some sound, be it subtle underscore or big dramatic music. The piece goes in so many different directions and has so many different moods it was fun to play off all the various performances and situations. Not all works feature such variety and opportunity for sound.
What was it like to design the piece entirely virtually?
Chris Garcia Peak, Co-Director and Video Designer of The Octopus, Artistic Director of Cock and Bull Arts
Matt: It was fun to respond to the actor's performance and the way the videos were edited. The pacing of the edits and energy of the performance informs the sound design of the piece, almost as much as the text itself. Designing the piece virtually was very different from live theater, and I became very detail-oriented and 'zoomed in' and time everything down to the millisecond, which I can't do in live theater as I need to account for subtle differences in actor performance every night.
Can you describe the sound design?
Matt: Like most of my design work, I take a lot of inspiration from electronic music. It's the genre of music I love most, and I feel it offers a great variety of moods within a consistent tonal palate. You can find joyous music and music that is dread-inducing all within the same genre. For The Octopus, I had fun exploring Italo Disco, Chicago House music, and some modern avant-garde classical music.
“Few companies are design-forward, which shows in Cock and Bull's bold aesthetics.”
Chicago Actor Meg Elliott plays Mildred Bridge, a Human Resource Manager of nightmares
You also acted in The Octopus. What was that like?
Matt: Yes! The Octopus was my debut acting performance. It was a ton of fun. I have been collaborating with Chris for almost a decade, so he made things very comfortable and encouraged me to get out of my usual comfort zone and try acting for the first time since high school.
Check out the entire Cast and Design Team of Cock and Bull Arts The Octopus
The cast is featured in surreal collage images created by Indonesian Artist Geri Widodo. Visual design and aesthetics are a major component of Cock and Bull’s aesthetic. Check out more Collage Art. Eddie Jordan (pictured) is an actor in Shanghai, China who plays Maverick in The Octopus.
How would you describe the work of Cock and Bull Arts from a design perspective?
Matt: Working with Cock and Bull is always a treat. Chris Garcia Peak gives me the perfect mix of direction and freedom. I know I can push the envelope and go for bold choices, and I will be supported. Few companies are design-forward, which shows in Cock and Bull's bold aesthetics.
Los Angeles actor Nathan Streifel, actors were observed self-taping in front of green/blue screens and video and sound design was layered in at a later date. Actors were responsible for filming on Iphones.
Nathan Streifel plays Azriel Feinstein, The former child prodigy in Cock and Bull’s The Octopus. Players meet the “strangers” on trains and then are taken on a wild ride.
Why should people play The Octopus? In other words, what do you want them to get out of it?
Matt: The Octopus is unlike anything else I've seen or interacted with. It refers to Choose Your Own Adventure Games and Role Playing games but has its Cock and Bull flair. Since Covid hit in a world of Zoom read-throughs of plays, The Octopus stands out as a wholly unique and exciting experience.