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OCT 26, 2015 / James Rogers

Synthwave of Horror Part 3: John Carpenter

Welcome to the final chapter in our Synthwave of

Horror series. After talking with some of the most

horrific electronic musicians about their craft, the man

whom they look to as their dark deity has finally cursed

us with his presence: John Carpenter, the writer,

director and musician behind some of the greatest

horror movies of the ‘80s and beyond, including

classics like The Thing and Halloween.

I talked with John at my normal interviewing haunt,

which now was more appropriate than ever: Escape From New York Pizza in San Francisco. He told me about everything

from his classic films and electronic scores to the movies that inspired him and the artists he inspired through his work. On

top of that, we touched on his first upcoming live show and his recently released album, Lost Themes.

This was a big year for you, John. You released your first album and announced your first-ever live show in Iceland. How

did that all come about? And why now?

You mean Lost Themes? Well, it came out in March, I believe, and it started out as an improvisational project with my son, my

godson, and myself. But eventually it grew into an album. It’s basically the theme music for the movies that are in your head.

And why do it now? Why not, man!

“I’ve always liked electronicmusic… The great thing is thatnow the music can speak foritself; it’s not just a score.”

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Fair point. Do you guys jam a lot?

Oh yeah, we jam all of the time.

It must be great to do that with them. So, what got you started making electronic music in the first place? Obviously, it

became a theme in your films… but why synths?

I’ve always liked electronic music, because in the old days you could sound big with just a keyboard. Double-tracking, triple-

tracking and multi-tracking yourself made a soundtrack become huge. So, that’s how it started, and as the technology grew, I

grew into the music. The great thing is that now the music can speak for itself; it’s not just a score.

Did you grow up in a musical household?

Yeah, actually, my father was a music teacher. He has a PhD from Eastman School of Music, and he taught at Western

Kentucky University. So as a kid, I played violin, piano, guitar, bass guitar, and what have you.

Is that connection part of the reason you wanted to make your own scores?

It’s one of the reasons. But before that, I fell in love with movies. When I was a little kid in my formative years, it was the

golden age of science fiction, and those movies really inspired me. So, when it came time to decide what I was going to do

with the rest of my life, I ended up going to USC to study film; and while I was there, I’d score my own movies and the

movies that my classmates would make. It all kind of was a parallel track, movies and music.

“Unfortunately, people don’t care about creative controlanymore. They just don’t give a shit—they just want thejob, and that’s it.”

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When you were at USC, you must have met some amazing directors. Who were some of your heroes?

USC has a great connection with Hollywood, so we had a lot of classic directors come talk to us, like Orson Welles, Alfred

Hitchcock, John Ford, Roman Polanski, and Michelangelo Antonioni, to name a few. It was a great time for movies; it was old

Hollywood meets new Hollywood. They told us about their experiences, the business and how it worked—it was just

amazing. But when I was studying, I wasn’t particularly studying horror—that’s just an offshoot of costume movies, thrillers

and suspense films.

What were some of your favorite movies that made you think, “I want to do that one day”?

It was more science fiction that got me. But the movie that made me want to direct was Forbidden Planet, which came out in

theaters in 1956. I wanted to do something like that.

"Forbidden Planet" Trailer

What about it struck you?

Well, you have to be an eight-year-old boy at the time, but let’s just say it blew my mind. The invisible monster, flying saucers

and robots—all of it was incredible.

I can see how the freedom they had in those movies inspired your later work. You always had creative control—you

made the score, wrote, directed, and everything in between.

They told us early on, when we were in film school, that if you ever made it to the big time, you needed to keep creative

control. That was something so valuable that you never gave it up. That was my career struggle—to get it and keep it. The

way I kept it was to do a lot of different things like directing, producing and making the music. That was just part of the gig,

and that’s something that has remained important to me.

Do you think you would have been able to make independent films the same way if you hadn’t held on to that freedom?

Are there specific films that…

Just pick a movie! All of them! That’s just the way it goes. And in a way, everything was independent back then. Most of my

films were exploitation movies. Assault on Precinct Thirteen was exploitation. Halloween was exploitation. The Fog was

exploitation. The first studio film I had was The Thing. Everything before that was exploitation. And unfortunately, people

don’t care about creative control anymore. I’ve seen it happen over the years. They just don’t give a shit about creative

control—they just want the job, and that’s it.

Do you think that has changed the way people make

horror? Is it more or less the same?

Oh, it’s like it always has been. There are good ones,

most of them are mediocre, and honestly, there are a

lot of shitty ones. Horror movies change with the times.

They’re elastic… They keep growing.

I think some of the best films from recent years share

some of the unique sounds and themes you

pioneered. Take stuff by Ti West and Adam Wingard,

or David Mitchell’s It Follows, that came out earlier

this year… Their films are full of homages to you.

That’s very nice! I think that’s partially because my music and my movies were simple. For the music especially, simple tracks

are the only things I know how to do. Anything complex, I can’t do it.

“I had three days to do themusic in Los Angeles withtwo synthesizers that werereally old. You had to tune upthose bad boys before youcould even play.”

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I actually spoke with Disasterpeace, aka Rich Vreeland, who scored It Follows, and he wanted me to thank you for

helping define the genre and the score he made.

Thank you. I think that’s great, man.

Can you walk me through what you think makes a good horror song? Who comes to mind when you think of good horror

music?

The Jaws theme comes to mind and then, well, anything that Goblin did. I mean, they were just talented, amazing guys!

They’re really good. If you keep things repetitive and minor with low notes, you can make something horrifying.

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Jaws Theme Song

What about The Thing, that’s still one of my favorites… I know you didn’t make the soundtrack for that one, but can you

tell me how that came about?

No one asked me to do the music for that, so I decided to work with Ennio Morricone. I flew to Rome, and he didn’t speak

English, I didn’t speak Italian, so we had a translator, and we just talked about the music and produced a really beautiful

score for it. I just said for the title, “Do something that’s simple,” and he did, and it turned out creepy and great. The rest of

the score, he came up with. That guy’s a brilliant, brilliant composer.

The Thing Main Theme

How about Big Trouble in Little China? That was a great mixture of horror and comedy, which has made sort of a

resurgence in recent years.

Right, so that was a kung fu ghost story comedy, which was really fun to play with. It was offered to me, and I wanted to do it.

So I teamed up with Kurt Russell again—he and I are friends—and we had a great time making it, and it turned out to be a

real blast. It was really fun playing with San Francisco like that, but most of that movie was done on the film set. There really

isn’t an underworld under Chinatown. For the score, we just kept it moody and upbeat and went up with the action.

Big Trouble In Little China Trailer HD

Halloween still stands out as one of your most classic horrors. When I was talking to Disasterpeace, he touched on the

idea of the dissonance and space between notes creating tension, but also that electronic is otherworldly in itself. If you

hear a shrill violin, you know what it is, but electronic music could be anything. You definitely did that same sort of thing

with that film.

“People love going on roller coasters, they love going tohorror movies, they love going to haunted houses. It’s auniversal thing, and I’ve been happy to do it with mymovies and my music.”

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I agree; he’s got it. I didn’t think in those terms back then. With Halloween, for instance, I had a little piano theme that was

repetitive and creepy, and we just put it in the movie. We shot that movie in 20 days. When it was cut together, we just

realized it needed some music. So I had three days to do the music in Los Angeles with two synthesizers that were really

old. You had to tune up those bad boys before you could even play. So I went in there, and in three days produced the

Halloween soundtrack. That was it! It was real simple. I’m a real simple, basic guy, so I made a simple soundtrack.

Halloween Last Asult (11)

I think that simplicity spoke to a lot of people. For instance, there are a lot of electronic artists out there that you’ve

directly influenced. They share some of your classic themes, but more on the extreme. For instance, there’s Carpenter

Brut and Perturbator doing it in France, and in Finland there’s GosT. Do you think it’s interesting that you’ve had such an

impact on people with your music?

I think that’s flattering… I mean, I’d love to hear them. But I doubt I was that much of an influence…

Carpenter Brut even named himself after you!

Okay, that’s not bad. I guess I’m glad to have made an impact!

What do you love about making movies in general? And what about making horror, specifically?

Horror found me; I didn’t start out to make it. I wanted to make Westerns, actually, but horror found me first. I made a

successful horror movie in Halloween. So I just made a whole bunch of horror films, but I’ve made others. I’ve gotten to

make things like Star Man and Big Trouble in Little China. They were all generally fantasy-related, true, but I got to do a lot of

things. Honestly, I think I’ve had a great career; I wouldn’t change a thing.

How’s it been spending a large part of your career scaring people? What’s been great about that?

I just think it’s a really fun thing to. I mean, people have loved being scared for generations; they’ve always loved it. People

love going on roller coasters, they love going to horror movies, they love going to haunted houses. It’s a universal thing, and

I’ve been happy to do it with my movies and my music.

What else should we expect from your live show, and anything else in the works?

I’ve played in bands, but I’ve never been onstage doing music like this, so it should be interesting. We’ve got Tenacious D’s

band playing in the show, too. It should be a blast. Hopefully we’ll have some more dates in America, so keep your eyes

peeled for that.

As a last note, how does it feel to have had such a big impact on horror music, horror movies, and movies in general?

What do you think about this new generation of people that are listening to and watching your stuff and really taking it

on and making it their own?

I think it’s great. It’s really flattering and makes me feel good to have been a part of it. But what I really want is for anybody

who’s young and making music, or movies, is to make it their own. Tell your own story. Get down inside, and invent

something new. Come up with some new way of expressing yourself that we haven’t seen before. Don’t copy—that’s the

biggest thing. Make something new for us all to see.

Check out John at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival (ATP) in Keflavík, Iceland, July 1–3, 2016. Click here for tickets and more

information.

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JOHN CARPENTER to perform his �lm scores LIVE for 1st time ever at ATP Iceland 2016

And just because here’s “A Question of Blood” by John Carpenter with visuals by Jean-Michel Jarre.

Jean-Michel Jarre, John Carpenter - A Question of Blood

For comic book fans out there, John Carpenter’s Tales for a HalloweeNight (put together by the man himself) will come out

on Halloween night.

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Synthwave of Horror Part 1: Disasterpeace Synthwave of Horror Part 2: GosT

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