When the Academy Award nominations are announced on Friday morning, Hazelbrook’s Thom Crawford will be paying closer attention than your average movie fan.
And he has good reason — the 25-year-old singer-songwriter could find himself among the nominees.
A song Crawford co-wrote for a documentary starring Johnny Depp has been longlisted for best original song at this year’s Oscars. While the Mountains resident hasn’t bought a tux or booked a flight to LA just yet, merely being in contention among the 75 longlisted tracks has been a thrill for the independent artist.
“It would be crazy [to get nominated] but I’m trying not to get too excited for now because it is such a huge thing... It would absolutely blow my mind to be able to be a part of that,” he told the Gazette last week.
Crawford’s connection to the film For No Good Reason — about renowned British cartoonist Ralph Steadman and featuring Depp — began three years ago when he was asked to contribute a song by the film’s musical director, Sacha Skarbek.
The pair had worked together previously and Crawford said it was “an absolute matter of chance” that Skarbek recommended him for the film — although considering the English producer has also worked with high profile artists including Lana Del Rey, Jason Mraz and Joss Stone, it’s safe to say more than luck played a part.
“I was already a huge fan of Ralph Steadman... so it was unbelievable for me to be a part of the film,” said Crawford. “I ended up writing the song (titled Bones) in New York with a writer called Joanne Perica. It was one of those ‘right time, right moment’ kind of things.”
While his music and voice are part of For No Good Reason, Crawford is in the unusual position of not having seen the film. Its Australian release won’t occur until later this year and Crawford was unable to attend its overseas premieres.
“That’s been one of the biggest frustrations living in Australia,” he said. “The songwriter I wrote the song with went to the London premiere and it’s also premiered in Canada but I haven’t seen the completed film yet... It’s a bizarre situation!”
To listen to the Academy Award longlisted song, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njeedQhTlPg&feature=youtu.be
