Executive producer ~ Angie Rowntree,  Producer Todd Carey,  Created by Michael Ninn

The Music of Catherine
Produced by Shaun Welch
Performed by Synthara Project
Created by Michael Ninn

From the beginning, I knew the music for the Catherine Series had to be as specific and signature as the imagery itself. Throughout my career, I’ve written and shaped the music for most of my films, always treating sound as more than just a backdrop — but as a voice, a character, and a force that carries the story forward.

The Catherine Series is no different. Every note, every rhythm, every silence has been crafted to mirror the tension, beauty, and haunting mystery of this world. The music doesn’t just accompany the images — it defines them.

For me, composing has always been inseparable from storytelling. Writing my own music allows me to shape emotion at its source — to create a direct dialogue between what is seen and what is heard. It is the bridge between image and meaning, and in Catherine, that bridge carries the audience deeper into a story that is as much felt as it is watched.

“In Catherine, the music doesn’t follow the story — it is the story.” ~ Ninn
ShaunWelchMusic.com

Broken Man
Produced by Shaun Welch
Performed by Synthara Project
Created by Michael Ninn

“Broken Man” began one late night in 2005, during the long hours Eddie Van Halen and I spent at the piano while working on the score for Sacred Sin. We had been circling melodies when I turned to him for a thought on where to take the music next. He leaned back, weary, and with a half-smile said, “I’m broken, man.” Then he walked away from the keys, stretched out on the sofa, and drifted into sleep. I stayed behind, finishing what we had started, writing the title into my notebook, then sketching out the lyrics that seemed to rise from his words. For twenty years they waited, until I finally returned to them — a fragment of Ed’s honesty, preserved in music.

Tell them I said Thank you
Tell them I still hear their applause
Tell them I am Thankful
Tell them I had my flaws.

Whisper I’m sorry
Whisper without any tears
Whisper forgiveness
Whisper all the wasted years.

There was no quiet in the storm
There was no quiet when I was born
You’re looking at the sum of who I am
You’re looking at the broken man
(A Broken Man)

Tell them I said Thank you (to the storm)
Tell them I still hear their applause
Tell them I am Thankful (I was born)
Tell them I had my flaws.

Whisper I’m sorry (who I am)
Whisper without any tears
Whisper forgiveness (broken man)
Whisper all the wasted years.

Tell them I said Thank you
Tell them I still hear their applause
Tell them I am Thankful
Tell them I had my flaws.

Whisper, I’m sorry
Whisper without any tears
Whisper forgiveness
Whisper all the wasted years.

Tell them I said Thank you (to the storm)
Tell them I still hear their applause
Tell them I am Thankful (I was born)
Tell Them
Tell Them
Tell Them

Slowly Dying ~
Produced by Shaun Welch
Performed by Synthara Project
Created by Michael Ninn

These memories are etched into my soul
Like ink upon a page, they won’t let go
The fire that burned so bright in our hearts now flickers and fades, tearing us apart.

I’m slowly dying in love
I’m trying to break free but it’s not enough
The spark we had is gone, lost in the night
I’m holding on to something that’s slipping out of sight

I’m slowly dying in love (dying, dying, dying)
I’m slowly dying in love (dying, dying, dying)

These memories are etched into my soul
Like ink upon a page, they won’t let go
The fire that burned so bright in our hearts
Now flickers and fades, tearing us apart (oh-oh)

I’m slowly dying in love (dying, dying, dying)
I’m trying to break free but it’s not enough (not enough)
The spark we had is gone, lost in the night (oh-oh)
I’m holding on to something that’s slipping out of sight (oh-oh)

These memories are etched into my soul
Like ink upon a page, they won’t let go
The fire that burned so bright in our hearts
Now flickers and fades, tearing us apart (oh-oh)

I’m slowly dying in love (dying, dying, dying)
I’m trying to break free but it’s not enough (not enough)
The spark we had is gone, lost in the night (oh-oh)
I’m holding on to something that’s slipping out of sight (oh-oh)

As the embers fade, and the night grows cold (dying, dying, dying)
I’m left with echoes of a love story untold
In the silence, where our whispers used to reside (dying, dying, dying)
I’m slowly dying in love, on this emotional tide

I’m slowly dying in love (dying, dying, dying)
I’m trying to break free but it’s not enough (not enough)
The spark we had is gone, lost in the night (oh-oh)
I’m holding on to something that’s slipping out of sight (oh-oh)

I’m slowly dying in love (dying, dying, dying)
I’m slowly dying in love…

Adagio

When I first wrote the score for my film Catherine, I never imagined the path it would open. When Eddie Van Halen heard the music, he asked to license it — and from there, an incredible creative partnership was born.

That partnership reached its peak when Eddie and I sat side by side, scoring my film Sacred Sin. What many people don’t know is that beyond the guitar, Eddie was a classically trained pianist — and yes, he also played cello. Some of my fondest memories are of him at the piano or bowing the cello while I shaped melodies on keys beside him.

Some songs arrive out of exhaustion, almost as an afterthought — but they stay because of the truth behind them. Broken Man was born one late night while working on the score for Sacred Sin with Eddie Van Halen. We had been at the piano together for hours, shaping a chorus, circling melodies. I remember turning to Ed, asking what he thought about a bridge. He leaned back, weary, and said quietly: “I’m broken, man. I’m done for the night.” Then he stretched out on the sofa, leaving the room in silence.
I jotted the words down — Broken Man — almost casually. But later, those two words became more than just fatigue. They carried a weight Ed must have been feeling, something deeper that I didn’t fully see until after his passing. When I returned to the music years later, the chord changes and melody line were still there, waiting. And so were Ed’s words — not just spoken, but written. The lyrics to Broken Man were him.
This song is both a memory and a reminder: that sometimes truth slips out when the night is long, when the music stops, and when the guard comes down.

EVERY INCH OF YOU

Produced by Shaun Welch
Performed by Synthara Project
Created by Michael Ninn

Your eyes…
Your lies…
Your touch…
Slow kiss…
Let’s start with this…

I want… the silence between your words
The heat beneath your skin
The ache that fills the distance
The fire we kept within.

I miss… the way you breathe my name
Like prayer wrapped in sin
Every inch I never touched
Calling me again

I remember the way your breath
Paused between need and surrender…
The echo of your mouth
Pressed against mine…
As if silence were holy.
You said nothing.
But I heard everything.

Every inch of you
Every part I knew
Every breath we stole
Still burns me through
Every inch of you
I surrender to
Your ghost, your fire
Your forbidden truth

I crave… the pull beneath the surface
The noise behind your calm
The way we fell apart
So slowly, like a psalm

I trace you in the dark
Fingertips on memory
Your kiss still haunts my spine
You were never just a body

I never meant to leave pieces of you
Scattered in my veins.
But every time I close my eyes,
You come back.
Not as memory…
But as hunger.
And I feed it.

Touch me again…
Don’t make me wake alone…
You still live in the silence…
You never left, did you?

Every inch of you
Every part I knew
Still dancing on my skin
Like shadows do
Every inch of you
Still pulling me through
The hunger, the silence
The truth… is you

Run Mother Fucker

Run Mother Fucker
Run Mother Fucker
You’d better run, Mother Fucker
Don’t be a dumb Mother Fucker

Run Mother Fucker
Run Mother Fucker
You’d better run, Mother Fucker
Don’t be a dumb Mother Fucker

RUN!

Some songs arrive out of exhaustion, almost as an afterthought — but they stay because of the truth behind them. Broken Man was born one late night while working on the score for Sacred Sin with Eddie Van Halen. We had been at the piano together for hours, shaping a chorus, circling melodies. I remember turning to Ed, asking what he thought about a bridge. He leaned back, weary, and said quietly: “I’m broken, man. I’m done for the night.” Then he stretched out on the sofa, leaving the room in silence.
I jotted the words down — Broken Man — almost casually. But later, those two words became more than just fatigue. They carried a weight Ed must have been feeling, something deeper that I didn’t fully see until after his passing. When I returned to the music years later, the chord changes and melody line were still there, waiting. And so were Ed’s words — not just spoken, but written. The lyrics to Broken Man were him.
This song is both a memory and a reminder: that sometimes truth slips out when the night is long, when the music stops, and when the guard comes down.

The Girl In The Picture

The girl in the picture
Is all that I see
She’s haunting my dreams
She’s touching me
I reach through the shadows
I pray she is true
But the girl in the picture
Won’t look at you

Some songs arrive out of exhaustion, almost as an afterthought — but they stay because of the truth behind them. Broken Man was born one late night while working on the score for Sacred Sin with Eddie Van Halen. We had been at the piano together for hours, shaping a chorus, circling melodies. I remember turning to Ed, asking what he thought about a bridge. He leaned back, weary, and said quietly: “I’m broken, man. I’m done for the night.” Then he stretched out on the sofa, leaving the room in silence.
I jotted the words down — Broken Man — almost casually. But later, those two words became more than just fatigue. They carried a weight Ed must have been feeling, something deeper that I didn’t fully see until after his passing. When I returned to the music years later, the chord changes and melody line were still there, waiting. And so were Ed’s words — not just spoken, but written. The lyrics to Broken Man were him.
This song is both a memory and a reminder: that sometimes truth slips out when the night is long, when the music stops, and when the guard comes down.

FALLING AWAY

Produced by Shaun Welch
Performed by Synthara Project
Created by Michael Ninn

CRY TO THE SKY

Produced by Shaun Welch
Performed by Synthara Project
Created by Michael Ninn

Never These Walls

Let wisdom raise you.
Let patience raise you.
Let God raise you.
But not these walls… never these walls.
So don’t let these walls raise you, child.
Let wisdom raise you.
Let patience raise you.
Let God raise you.
But not these walls… never these walls.

Some songs arrive out of exhaustion, almost as an afterthought — but they stay because of the truth behind them. Broken Man was born one late night while working on the score for Sacred Sin with Eddie Van Halen. We had been at the piano together for hours, shaping a chorus, circling melodies. I remember turning to Ed, asking what he thought about a bridge. He leaned back, weary, and said quietly: “I’m broken, man. I’m done for the night.” Then he stretched out on the sofa, leaving the room in silence.
I jotted the words down — Broken Man — almost casually. But later, those two words became more than just fatigue. They carried a weight Ed must have been feeling, something deeper that I didn’t fully see until after his passing. When I returned to the music years later, the chord changes and melody line were still there, waiting. And so were Ed’s words — not just spoken, but written. The lyrics to Broken Man were him.
This song is both a memory and a reminder: that sometimes truth slips out when the night is long, when the music stops, and when the guard comes down.

PIPER FAWN
Movement One

Produced by Shaun Welch
Performed by Synthara Project
Created by Michael Ninn

I have lived here 300 years
And never once saw a ghost…

MOVEMENT 2
Zámek Berštejn

MOVEMENT 3
The Hunger Wall

In 2005, I began production on Catherine, a film unlike anything I had made before. At the center of it was a story that needed to be told—and a piece of music that would change everything.

French ~ Spanish ~ German

A Film. A Soundtrack.
A Secret That Took Two Decades to Share.

That music caught the attention of Eddie

What followed was not just a collaboration, but a creative collision. Eddie didn’t just score Catherine—he became part of it. His music, his spirit, and our conversations during those days shaped the very soul of this film.

For nearly 20 years, I’ve never fully told the story. Not about the music that never made it into the final cut. Not about the long hours in his studio. Not about what it meant to work with a man whose legend was only rivaled by his complexity.

Until now.

THE FIRST MEETING

MOVING FORWARDS

SOBRIETY

5150

A Film. A Soundtrack.
A Secret That Took Two Decades to Share.

In 2005, I began production on Catherine, a film unlike anything I had made before. At the center of it was a story that needed to be told—and a piece of music that would change everything.

That music caught the attention of Eddie Van Halen.

What followed was not just a collaboration, but a creative collision. Eddie didn’t just score Catherine—he became part of it. His music, his spirit, and our conversations during those days shaped the very soul of this film.

For nearly 20 years, I’ve never fully told the story. Not about the music that never made it into the final cut. Not about the long hours in his studio. Not about what it meant to work with a man whose legend was only rivaled by his complexity.

Until now.

THE FIRST MEETING

MOVING FORWARDS

SOBRIETY

5150