|
For the readers who don't know about you and your work, can you give us a little background? See websites: MySpace page Healthy Concerts.com site How did you get into composing? Studied theory and orchestration. What was your first scoring assignment, and what was your first solo project? Musical Director at the New Theatre in Hull 1970. Eternal Echoes solo piano CD. Your credits of working for film & television reads in part as a Who's Who in the scoring world, from Mike Post, Dick De Benedictis, Dennis McCarthy, to John Debney, Maurice Jarre, and Bill Conti; how did you get so well connected and what has the experience been like? I went to LA in 1980 and became associated with Dick De Benedictis who I worked with for 20 years on Paramount/Viacom TV projects. I was also the first to use sampling technology and was hired by many composers for this skill. From all that, what would you say you walked away with as a composer? A sense of creativity that very few people have. What's the typical process of working with a composer on a project? Time always being the issue -- there are many factors to consider IE: Computer programming, cues to be scored & copied, musicians to hire, engineers & studios, etc. As a fan of Post's work for "Magnum, pi", can I ask what you did for the series? I was hired as a composer to work on the Mike Post team. How did you meet Mike Post? And what is it like working with him? I was recommended to him -- he is very demanding, talented & organized Many composers that have scored with Post on various TV series, have gone on to some kind of fame in television scoring; can you tell us about some of the notable series you have worked on? "Magnum, pi", "Perry Mason", "Columbo", "Father Dowling", "In the Heat of the Night", "Matlock" & "Diagnosis Murder". How did you come to meet Maurice Jarre, what was it like working with him, and can you tell us what you did on the score to "Witness"? I was hired by Tri-Star as a sound designer; the whole score was achieved by 5 synthesists; Maurice was usually behind the glass in the control room but I did enjoy meeting Harrison Ford. Have you ever had a score rejected? Ever worked on a score that was a replacement? Or ever worked on a score with another composer, which was ultimately not used? No How did you get involved with "The Arrival" (Arthur Kempel) and as a ghostwriter, what did you do for the project? I was a composer for several cues. Arthur was a great man and a great composer. "In the Heat of the Night" featured one of TV's (and film's) most popular and famous pieces of music. Can you reminisce with us about working on the song, and can you tell us about how the song was redone for television? Yes -- it was arranged and produced by me; the singer was Bill Champlin. The original was by Quincy Jones What instruments do you play? Mainly Piano; have also studied viola, violin, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, harp & harmonica as well as various synthesizers & computer programming Can you name some of your favorite scores by other composers? "The Mission", "Untouchables", Spaggetti Westerns, all of the James Newton Howard scores, James Horner's "Titanic". Who are some of your favorite composers? James Newton Howard, John Williams, Ennio Morricone, James Horner, Alan Silvestri, Christopher Stone, Bach, Beethoven, Rachmaninov. Out of all the film & television projects you have worked on, what are some of your favorites and why? "The Arrival" was the most fun for me as I was given a free reign -- also all the Viacom projects were fun, had good budgets and provided me later on with a good pension. Can you tell us about any of your upcoming projects? I am now retired and do occasional piano concerts plus I do some music therapy for the disabled. Finally, if there is anything you'd like to say, that wasn't covered, please feel free to, and thank you for the interview. From a young boy aged 5, I followed my heart with my passion and have had a blessed life. Music has helped me travel all over the world and I never worried about money as it always came from my talent when I needed it. I found that if there was anything I needed to learn, I would attach myself to an expert in that particular field some names that should be mentioned are: Published: December 8, 2010 |