Saturday, July 25, 2009

A video to check out! Sure it's for a shark book related contest, but it's pretty creepy!

So I've taken the plunge and entered into a little contest to attempt to get my likeness placed into the next book in Steve Alten's MEG (big badass shark novel) series. Sure, you may call it cheesy, but since Alten is one of my favorite authors, I think its pretty cool.

Here is a trailer for his latest book entry in Alten's MEG series, entitled MEG: HELL'S AQUARIUM. There's more than just crazy giant shark action. There's environmental issues, theories on previously extinct sea creatures, and, of course, flesh flinging in all directions! It's a great, suspenseful summertime read...especially if you're at the beach!

So, the more you click on THIS LINK, the better my chances of getting into the book. Also, you should check out the book, because, like I said, it's really fun, and really suspenseful!

Enjoy!

Friday, July 10, 2009

My first interview with a Soundtrack composer, or How awesome it would be to be in San Diego between July 23-25


So, as many of you know, I've been a soundtrack / film score fiend for as long as I can remember. I collect scores (on CD and vinyl), and I used to do some soundtrack copywriting for Muze, before they were bought by Macrovision. That little void was what prompted me to pitch an idea to Examiner - to allow me to share my knowledge and passion for soundtracks with the masses via their site. Soon after, in addition to being Heavy Metal Examiner, I became Soundtracks Examiner.

It's been a rough road, because soundtracks are like the red-headed stepchild of the music industry - unless it's a Broadway musical, a Disney production, or Twilight, most people don't really care about soundtracks. It's definitely been an uphill battle to share the joys that film scores bring me.

However, today is a banner-day for me, as I have posted my first interview with a composer...and not just any ol' lacky from Media Ventures / Remote Control Productions (though they do seem to nab a lot of the high-profile movies these days). I was given the opportunity to spend some time with Battlestar Galactica / Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles / Eureka music-meister Bear McCreary.

Here's a taste:

On the subject of Battlestar Galactica, word is out that you’ve completed compiling the music for the Season 4 two-disc set. How did this project grow beyond the confines of one disc?

Fans have been bugging me for a two-disc album since the beginning of Season 4. I’ve honestly been fighting it. I wanted to compose a nice companion piece the ever-expanding BSG universe. I don’t like having filler on my soundtrack albums, so if a cue isn’t good enough for me to put it on CD, I don’t put it on for the sake of filling space. So I really didn’t think I could fill two CDs, but when I got to the end, I realized that the finale alone had over 60 minutes of scoring that I thought was really good. There was maybe 100 minutes of music in that episode, but there was about 65 minutes of it that was worth putting on CD. So it was then that I realized that we really did have to do a two-CD set to do the show justice. I mentioned it to La-La Land Records, and I believe their words to me were, “well, duh!”

Regarding your latest release, Caprica, it sounds to me more emotive and character-centric than the Battlestar scores, which are very atmospheric, encapsulating all the action and drama of the environment.

Well, Caprica has a much smaller cast, and that cast can essentially be divided into two families – The Adamas and the Graystones. So I wrote two themes, one for each family, and they serve as the thematic thread that ties the Caprica score together. Battlestar, as you mentioned, tends to be attached to arcs, subplots, and sometimes thematic ideas. There are also themes for every single character on the show, and there are at least 50 of those alone, not that they all get used all the time. So Caprica was a very different approach.


Check out the full monstrosity here!

Thanks!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

You guys deal with Michael Jackson, I'll concern myself with Midnight


With so many celebrity deaths bombarding the public conscience over the past couple weeks, one would think that the wave had finally ended. But just this morning, I awoke to find the following blog entry from legendary progressive/power metal band Crimson Glory in my email bin:

"On July 8, 2009, founding member and original frontman Midnight passed away at 3:30am surrounded by his family. The band is deeply saddened by the passing of their friend and brother. An official statement will be forthcoming later today or tomorrow."

Those three little sentences shook me to the core; not only because I am a fan of CG and Midnight’s later work, but because I had also been recently emailing back and forth with the man about conducting an interview to be featured here at Examiner. I’m having a REALLY difficult time writing this, because I now have to discuss one of metal’s unspoken great singers in the past tense.

I've done a rather extensive eulogy/tribute to Midnight, and felt it more appropriate to place it in a public forum, so even people who were not aware of him can now get at least a glimpse of his creativity here.