The Heart Is A Drum Machine:: A Documentary Film About Music

The Heart is a Drum Machine is a film featuring Wayne Coyne, Jason Schwartzman, Elijah Wood, Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT, Britt Daniel of Spoon, Juliette Lewis, John Frusciante, Maynard James Keenan, and others, answering the question of what is music? The documentary ponders the question to abstraction showing everything from how the deaf experience music through vibration to the prominence of “The Farmer In The Dell” within song. Moreover, with the whole of music revolving around the emotional connection it has on the listener the film explores where music takes us. Juliette Lewis speaks on music as a transfer of energy while the constant of music as rebellion is discussed by others. Elsewhere, scientists and musicologists muse on music’s stimulation on the brain and its power to help us gain composure and find happiness in the face of life’s tragedies. The Flaming Lips’ Steven Drozd wrote and performed the film’s original score and covered Elton John’s “Rocket Man” with Maynard James Keenan on vocals.