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John Carpenter is a silver-screen legend and something of a god in the horror industry.
His score work, with those haunting synths, defined the sound of the genre for a generation.
I thought, what am I doing here?
Im too old, and I have nothing to say to anybody.
Oh, God no!
What does he think about the theme from one of his classics,Escape From New York?
He likes it, but musically its still third rate.
It was a rush job that he did himself because they didnt have the money to pay anyone else.
My son is a consummate musician.
He can play like nobodys business, especially on the keyboards and the piano.
Hes also just a great engineer.
The three of us, you know, weve done a whole bunch of albums.
So, its pretty quick thinking, and the music is effortless.
Let me tell you, I had tube synths in those days.
Then we did a spotting session with David Gordon Green.
This is from the old days; directors used to have spotting sessions with composers.
They sit down and watch and ask the director, What do you think about this scene?
What was your idea here?
And David is very literate in music.
He can talk about it, and what I want to get from him is the emotion.
What do you want to feel in this scene and how can we best achieve it?
He knows what he wants, so off we went.
It was fun to do.
Its improvised, pretty much.
My son did a couple of pieces on his own.
He did the music when their family is in the restaurant and they play the muzak in the background.
Really proud of him.
I love the piano.
Ive really changed since then.
It seems like you dont hold your earlier work as so sacred that it cant be touched.
You seem like youve stayed curious.You have to be open to the new.
You have to, or youre dead.
Nowadays, are you kidding?
Its heaven, but theres certain sounds that you cant get.
It just doesnt sound so real, so that we do live.
She did such a great job in this movie.
Shes great, isnt she?
And Laurie, she has PTSD.
Shes a survivor of just amazing abuse.
And I know thats not how you prefer to work.
Whats your approach to fitting music in a film?Wow.
Thats a lot of music.
Sometimes if you let a scene play in silence its more effective, but its all choice.
Its all instinct, This feels good here.
Plus, I dont want to work that hard.
Youve describe your music as carpet within a movie.Its carpet.
Well, I put carpet down so its nice and smooth.
You dont have to think about anything.
Everything is beautiful and wonderful.
I provide that for the scene.
I support the emotion in the scenes without getting in the way.
Mickey Mouse goes back to that Walt Disney movie with Stravinsky,Fantasia.
Take a step andBUM BUM BUM tell you how to feel!Everything tells you how to feel.
A lot of movies are like that, especially at certain moments of heroic music stop it!
Or dead-baby music starts and youre supposed to get all emotional!
Thats a little rough, you know?
I think some of the best Mickey Mouse music today is done by Hans Zimmer, who is brilliant.
Think about the Captain Jack theme fromPirates of the Caribbean.
You have to have it.
Theres one scene where Laurie is searching for Michael in the house.
Shes got the shotgun, and shes got a flashlight.
Let it be quiet, because you get more and more nervous.
Theres nothing, just sound effects.Wait a minute.
Somethings going to come.Its that anticipation made it even scarier.
I mightve done it otherwise, but thats what made it extra special.
And I dont think about anything else.
What does this need?
And I improvise it.
So it just comes out.
Doing original music where theres no movie, thats a whole different ball game.
I made movies in the beginning that didnt have any money for music.
Ive read you describe yourself as having limited musical ability.Thats the truth.
I have limited chops.
So how are you so good at making these really enduring film scores?
Im crazy, and Im empathic.
No, I really honestly dont know.
I just feel my way along with music, because as an art form music is just unique.
I remember what I was doing when I heard this!
It affects your emotions as well as everything else.
I guess thats what I tune into.
Do you intuit the music differently when its not the images you made onscreen?I do.
Its fun, because its challenging, because its not mine.
At the same time its refreshing, because all the pressures off me.
I really love it.
God, is it easier.
Any director works like a dog.
Its the hours, the stress, everything.
Its killer, and after a while I just cant do it.
I get really burned out.
I cant take it.
Its physical, its emotional, its your private life.
It takes a toll on everything.
You have this mistress thats so demanding.
Jesus, lighten up!
After a while I just had to stop.
I could go back and do it now again.
Ive rested a while.
I pick the right project.
I approach it correctly.
Id do something new.
I dont want whine here, but Im gonna whine.
I just dont have to go through that anymore.
Im just overjoyed by that.
You dont like to watch your movies, either.My films?
Oh, God no.
I still think about certain scenes I did and think, Why did I do that?
Are you kidding me?
Ive pulled the wool over their eyes!
Im criticizing it heavy duty, but I wouldnt go back and do anything different.
I just dont like it.
Heres the joyful thing about this project, is that David is such a talented director.
He really constructed these scenes beautifully, unlike a lot of the sequels.
It was a joy to score this.
Hes really got a lot of talent.
So it is joyful.
Its also very difficult sometimes, and thats okay.
Part of the job.
Did you know youre big in hip-hop?Oh my God.
Ive heard rumors about it.
You have to realize one thing about my career and me: Nobody tells me anything.
I have never gotten a letter.
I have never been informed.
I probably have never been paid.
That would be terrible.
I hope thats not true.
Im John Carpenter, I guess.
My movies are on a bunch of lists.[Laughs.]
Oh God, that would be funny if I did that!
The answer to that is no.
I never think that way.
I do know that Im John Carpenter.
I do understand that.
I understand that psychologically and I understand it career-wise.
Ive got that have a reputation.
People love who I am some people.
Some people dont give a shit, and they dont know, and thats fine.
And now I can sit home and watch basketball, and I dont worry about that.
I was very influenced by Bernard Herrmann and his body of work.
He did science-fiction films.
He did Alfred Hitchcocks movies.
He had certain chord patterns that I followed in my music.
Even now I can hear them.
So I stole that chord pattern from him.
Dimitri Tiomkin is one of my all-time favorites because of his versatility.
He could do anything.
He did spectacles and Westerns and loves stories.
I cant even get near what he was doing.
But the most influential score on my life wasForbidden Planet, a science-fiction movie.
Its all electronic music, and its still an astonishing-sounding soundtrack.
I love it still.
It may sound corny nowadays.
When I heard his music I thought, Oh God, something bad is happening.
And I love modern guys.
I love Hans Zimmer, and in the near-past, Tangerine Dream.
You dont like watching your movies, but you tour playing your music.
Its pretty simple, but it sounds okay.
But this is from a guy who can barely play.
Its second rate, third rate.
I listen toPrecinct 13now and it is so stupidly simple.
Oh my, God.
I just didnt realize!
I guess its effective, but my God, its embarrassing.
I agree with you.
It wasnt a horror thing.
I read an interview in which you said horror was an especially enduring genre of cinema.
People have always loved it, and every generation reinvents it anew.
You look at the Universal monsters in the 30s.
It keeps doing that, and that gives me a great hope that it will be around forever.
Different cultures laugh at comedies differently not horror.
A horrible-looking thing comes in the room and we all scream and run every country, everybody.
So I think it will always be with us, as its durable.
It can stand in for various thing.
Godzilla started as this radioactive monster that takes vengeance on humanity.
Well, then he becomes a childrens monster in later movies.
Then he becomes a defender of the environment for Gods sake.
Hes there for all of it.
It just shows you what it’s possible for you to do with this stuff.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
