Last week, Tom Morello confirmed that he was contributing to the soundtrack of Marvel Studio’s Iron Man 2. But the man who is actually behind the score to this summer’s most anticipated block buster is Academy Award Nominated composer John Debney, who has worked on everything from movies like Sin City to The Passion Of The Christ. Metal Insider caught up with Debney to talk about his experience with the Rage Against The Machine guitarist, what we can expect from Iron Man 2, and what it takes to make it in the movie composition business.
A few weeks ago, Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello confirmed that he was contributing your score for Iron Man 2. Could you give us a little more insight as to his involvement with this project? How has your experience working with Morello been?
Having been a fan of Tom’s for quite awhile, I was thrilled when our director Jon Favreau asked me if I’d consider having Tom play on the soundtrack. My answer was a very enthusiastic “yes” and was thrilled with what Tom brought to the score. Tom and I worked closely together as Tom added his unique guitar sound to the score. I would write the pieces and then Tom and I would work on guitar parts. I’m thrilled with the outcome as Tom’s personality shines through.
For the next few days, I’m going to attempt to sum up SXSW. I say attempt, because trying to talk about the annual rite of passage for bands, journalists and the music industry at large is like taking a camera phone picture of the Grand Canyon. My trip started with Motorhead, well, Lemmy, actually. With his film having debuted earlier that week, Lemmy gave a keynote interview. The interview was candid and funny, with the frontman speaking about scoring acid for Jimi Hendrix as a roadie (“he’d take 7 tabs and give me 3, which I thought was liberal”), and whether he gave advice to up and coming bands (“the mistakes I made don’t exist any more. Make your own mistakes, motherfucker.”)
Then it was off to a Wacken Records party, where Orphaned Land and Suidakra hung out. Watch this space for an interview with Suidakra. From then, it was on to the Prosthetic/Action PR/Metal Sucks showcase at Mohawk. The instrumental sounds of Mondo Drag led off Action PR’s showcase, where we found out they were tapped to replace Nebula for the following night’s Tee Pee Records showcase because Nebula broke up last night. Other highlights included The Funeral Pyre and Bison BC.
When you’re told you have VIP passes to Motorhead, that’s something you can’t pass up, so Rob from Metal Injection and I made it over to the Austin Music Hall as quickly as we could (it involved a pedicab). It was worth it to see Motorhead from onstage. From there, it was back to Mohawk to see High On Fire, and we can report that the new material sounds even better live. There’s stuff I’m leaving out, but that’s because I have to run off to Full Metal Texas. Check in soon!
Darkest Hour guitarist Mike Schleibaum wrote a great post for the No Label Needed contest urging people to vote for their favorite bands. Iron Thrones ultimately won the contest, but Schleibaum weighed in on his five favorite bands of the contest. Currently on the road with The Dillinger Escape Plan in support of their final album for Victory Records, look for the band to announce their new label home shortly.
Orwell “The Distance” – La Crosse, WI. This song right here is an epic thrash journey and they are by far one of the best bands in the contest. A heavy Swedish thrash influence is obvious but Orwell also displays the power, aggression, and grove of most modern American metal bands. Orwell’s almost “And Justice For All….” style song writing, is something I personally love.
Iron Thrones “Cover of Smoke” – Minneapolis, MN: Cool FUCKING epic metal! I liked this allot and really felt like it was fresh sounding. The music is melodic metal but intelligently and tastefully done. I appreciate the direct vocal delivery as it gives the music a lot of room to be melodic but still very heavy. Sure there is plenty of Opeth, Muse, Cave In, and even Poison The Well but hidden in this song is also something special.
Iris Divine “Unspoken Tragedy” - Alexandria, VA. Ok this might seem out of left field but I loved this. Sure they’re from my hometown area and all…and look It’s a little more melodic vocally then I usually like my metal. But these vocals compliment this music really well. The tune itself has a math-y almost Pantera meets tool grove.
Falling to Pieces “This Broken Vow” – Bay Area, CA – This band is a perfect example of how awesome the blending of European and American metal styles can be. From the opening riff you know this tune is going to be a rage’er. As the Dark Lord would say himself “the force is strong with this one.” I think the guitar riffage and singing would totally shine through under the guidance of Machine and Crew.
8 Infinite Suns “The Cleanse” – Los Angeles, CA – Really clean sounding heavy stuff. You can hear the Soilwork influence but that’s ok, it’s a good thing. Something about this tune really grabbed my attention. I guess its the classic feel and energy. It has both while still feeling young and exciting.
Metal By Numbers is a weekly column in which we look at the top metal sellers and debuts of the week as well as what’s getting played at metal radio courtesy of radio trade magazine FMQB, whose metal panel consists of about 80 college and commercial stations that have metal shows, as well as SiriusXM, Music Choice, and more.
Unlike last week, a lot of new metal releases just came out. But the most impressive debut came from Demon Hunter’s fifth album World Is A Thorn, which ranked at #38 this week and sold over 13,900 copies. This is a great debut for any metal band, Christian or not. Demon Hunter also was FMQB’s most added at metal radio, while thrash legends Overkill topped FMQB’s top ten at metal radio.
Marc Meltzer reports in from Austin on The Sword performance…
The Sword is from Austin and seeing them open for Motorhead at Stubbs BBQ was going to be perfect. There was no way it couldn’t be. It was raining all day, but the skies opened up in time for The Sword to take the stage. What’s better than drinking beer outside listen to some heavy as balls metal? The band played about 45 minutes and sprinkled in 3 new jams from the upcoming album to go along with songs from catalogue as well as a cover of Thin Lizzy’s “Cold Sweat.”
Last week, Tom Morello confirmed that he was contributing to the soundtrack of Marvel Studio’s Iron Man 2. But the man who is actually behind the score to this summer’s most anticipated block buster is Academy Award Nominated composer John Debney, who has worked on everything from movies like Sin City to The Passion Of The Christ. Metal Insider caught up with Debney to talk about his experience with the Rage Against The Machine guitarist, what we can expect from Iron Man 2, and what it takes to make it in the movie composition business.
Posted by Zach Shaw on Thu, Mar 18, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Interviews