Wilderado among music artists providing Oklahoma flavor on 'Twisters' soundtrack (2024)

Max Rainer of the Tulsa-based band Wilderado watched “Twister” many times.

“There’s so much I liked from that movie,” he said. “I mean, it’s hard to beat the parts where they’re actually in tornadoes. But I’ll always just remember that first scene, just kind of opening with that tornado and the dog. Remember the dog gets sucked up in there? People my age all saw that film when we were little, and growing up here, it kind of set the precedents for what can actually happen in a storm. So I think that film really did play a big part of my reverence just for the idea of a tornado in general.”

There’s also something for Rainer to like about the upcoming sequel.

“Twisters“ will hit theaters July 19. A soundtrack, “Twisters: The Album,” is scheduled to be released digitally and physically (CD and vinyl) the same day the sequel arrives.

Since “Twisters,” like its predecessor, was shot in Oklahoma, it seems appropriate that Oklahoma music artists would be among voices on the soundtrack.

Wyatt Flores, who was raised in Morrison and Stillwater, teamed with Virginia teen Jake Kohn for the song “Before I Do” on the “Twisters” soundtrack.

Also among 29 tracks on the album is a three-way team-up of Oklahoma artists. Wilderado, Ken Pomeroy and James McAlister collaborated to cover “Wall of Death.”

Oklahoma also pops up in song titles. “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” performed by North Carolina native Luke Combs, was the first single released from the soundtrack. Louisiana native Lainey Wilson contributed the song “Out of Oklahoma.” And the Red Clay Strays, from Alabama, tackle “Caddo County,” a song that bears the same name as an Oklahoma county. Presumably, it’s a cover of the “Caddo County” song written by Verlon Thompson of Binger, Oklahoma.

Rainer, while exploring Turkey Mountain with family members, took part in a phone interview with the Tulsa World to talk about his connection to the “Twisters” soundtrack and movie. It’s possible that he may appear in the film.

Rainer said he became involved with the soundtrack through McAlister, whose local roots include being part of the Broken Arrow-born group Ester Drang. Rainer said McAlister lives in Los Angeles now and is friends with “Twisters” director Lee Isaac Chung.

“And then I think James has done a couple of jobs with the person producing the film, so they asked him to do a version of ‘Wall of Death,’” Rainer said. “He and I have worked together for a long time, so he asked me to put a vocal on it.”

Rainer said the studio wanted to add female vocals. It was suggested the female vocals could be provided by Pomeroy, a Tulsa-based Native artist whose work was heard in the shot-in-Oklahoma television series “Reservation Dogs.”

Rainer said he felt honored to take part in the soundtrack because “Twister” is so “legendary” in his past. Didn’t everybody who was around in 1996 see the blockbuster film?

“So it was just such a cool thing to get asked to do,” he said.

Also, Rainer is a fan of “Minari,” a 2020 shot-in-Oklahoma film that earned six Academy Award nominations. The nominations included best picture and best director. The director of “Minari” is the director of “Twisters.”

“So when I saw that I just thought, man, this is such a beautiful thing to be a part of,” Rainer said.

“Wall of Death,” the song covered by Wilderado, Pomeroy and McAlister on the soundtrack, was written by English music artist Richard Thompson and first appeared on the critically acclaimed 1982 Richard and Linda Thompson album “Shoot out the Lights.” R.E.M. covered “Wall of Death“ on a 1994 Richard Thompson tribute album, and the R.E.M. version was later used as a B-side for the single “E-Bow the Letter” from the 1996 album “New Adventures in Hi-Fi.”

Rainer had never heard “Wall of Death” until he was tasked with performing it for the soundtrack, “but it’s actually really cool. I mean, the lyrics are incredible. ... It kinds of likens all of our life and experiences to a carnival ride.”

Once Rainer “tried on” the song, how did it fit?

“It’s kind of funny,” he said. “When I was recording my vocal, none of us knew it was actually going to be used, so I did it really fast and just kind of sent it back over to James to see if it was something that would work and that’s what they ended up keeping. So you’ll have to tell me how it fits. But I thought it was cool. I think we kind of did it just straightforward and campfire-like because that’s what they requested, since that’s the way the scene was going to be.”

Scene? Rainer, Pomeroy and McAlister might appear in the film.

“Well, I can’t say if I am in it or not because I haven’t seen the edit,” Rainer said. “But, last I heard, we are.”

Rainer said the three music artists were invited to a day of filming.

“I guess we’re supposed to just be this group of people just kind of hanging out with guitars as the lead actors have a conversation, walking through this parking lot,” he said. “We filmed all night long. So I’m not sure if we’ll be in it or not, but we were there. That’s for sure.

Regardless, Wilderado will be part of a soundtrack for the first time. The group’s music previously was part of a trailer for “Tully,” a 2018 film starring Charlize Theron.

Another milestone: Wilderado (Rainer, Tyler Wimpee, Justin Kila) will headline Cain’s Ballroom for the first time. A new tour, launching June 7 in St. Louis, will include an Oct. 26 homecoming show at Cain’s. A new album (“Talker,” via Bright Antenna Records) will be released about one month prior.

Rainer, asked what he wants people to know about the album, said, “I think the simplest thing for me to say is just that we spent every last second necessary to make sure it ended up being exactly the way we wanted it to be. I think that was, for me, my biggest risk in making another record was feeling forced or rushing through decisions.

“But we were allowed the time to take our time and make it be just the way we wanted it to be. It really did turn out that way. At the end of the day, everything else is secondary to that. You hope once you get it right for yourself and it says what you have to say that it stands the opportunity to connect with someone else, but that’s really out of our hands. So we control what we can control, and we’re very happy and proud of of it as a whole.”

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