When he was At the age of 8, John Carpenter picked up a violin. His father, a violinist and a music teacher, is his tutor. “The only problem,” Carpenter said by phone from his office in Los Angeles, “is that I have no talent.” That could be a bit of a mistake. Young Carpenter became a legendary horror director, scoring many of his most iconic films. His weird synth is now as much a part of his legacy as his image.
However, he never imagined he would become what he is now: a full-time professional musician. Carpenter released his last film, The wardsin 2011. In 2015, he made his official solo debut with Topic lost, released by the famous studio Sacred Bones, home of Amen Dunes, Zola Jesus and Jenny Hval. (As Carpenter puts it, “They specialize in all sorts of weird things.”)
Two more Topic lost installments followed. He played his first live show at Greece’s Piraeus Academy in Athens in 2016 and has gone on to perform throughout Europe, the UK and the US. Every new season of David Gordon Green Halloween series, including this month Halloween is overwritten by Carpenter with the collaboration of his son Cody Carpenter and godchild Daniel Davies.
After the failure of the violin, Carpenter turned to piano and guitar. But it’s listening to the soundtrack of 1956 Forbidden Planet that changed everything. “It has electronic music!” he said he’s still amazed. “This is already husband and wife, the Barrons. The score was transformative for me. I took me somewhere I didn’t expect to go.” Hoping to follow Barrons’ path, Carpenter eventually found his way to the synthesizer.
He said, “Cut to study in film school. “You are making a student film, you have no money. So what’s better than scoring yourself? And the same applies when I’m a low-budget filmmaker.” Carpenter remembers thinking, “Well, someday, maybe, I’ll have some money.” In the meantime, he’s honing his own score. “It’s totally a requirement of filmmaking, and it’s just seen as another creative element.”
His theme for Halloween, his third film, is still his most popular, but take a look at his discography and you’ll be surprised how well the music in his films is delivered. (Escape from New YorkSurprisingly interesting topic with low accuracy, surprisingly a personal favorite. It’s perfect for feeling cool as you walk around New York before the apocalypse.)
Carpenter has been passionate about cinematic storytelling since 2001 with Ghosts of Mars. Earlier this year he told New Yorkers about seeing yourself in a behind-the-scenes trailer from Mars and was shocked at how tired he looked. He remembers thinking, “I can’t do this anymore. It’s too rough.” However, the transition into a musician was “a total accident”, he says now.
