I first read about the film composer Mars, and his music production company Dead House Music, in the pages of Rue Morgue. I later met him at the Eerie Horror Film Festival, where we sat at adjoining vendor tables. It turned out that Mars had just scored a low budget horror film which I was briefly atatched to direct. We stayed in touch and ran into each other at various conventions, and when Fear Zone launched he was one of the first people I contacted to write for the site; he's written our Tone Zone music reviews ever since. I also interviewed him for CHEAP SCARES! Low Budget Horror Filmmakers Share Their Secrets, and I can tell you there are few people this talented and this nice toiling in the world of low budget horror films. In in a relatively short period of time, he's built up quite a body of musical work. Here's the score:



Let's start with a twofer: what were your formative interests in horror and music?


Goin' straight for the double word score right outta the gate I see. Well played sir, well played.

I was fortunate enough to have two early contributing factors that led me on the path towards being a "Horror Grandkid" (as Jovanka Vuckovic calls this generation of fan). When I was a kid, my family had an older cousin living with us who read magazines like FAMOUS MONSTERS and STARLOG, as well as the hardcover collections of TALES FROM THE CRYPT, so I was digging through those at a very young age.

He also was a KISS fan, so I think that was probably the very first band I ever listened to on my own. Looking back on it, there is a definable thru-line between horror films and my attraction to the gory theatrics of Gene Simmons.

The other stroke of luck was that on Saturday evenings, a local TV channel ran a Horror show called CREATURE FEATURES that was soooo cool. The host, Bob Wilkins, was this really mellow guy who didn't go the usual "Horror" host route. He didn't dress up or mug at the camera, he was just really laid back and funny. I saw the classic Universal films, the Hammer films, Godzilla flicks, and a slew of other stuff that varied wildly in quality I'm sure. But, I soaked it all up like a sponge. Thank you Bob, I owe you big time.

I was fortunate enough to attend a live event in honor of Bob before he passed on, and I'm truly grateful for that. It was in Sacramento, and was organized by Mr Lobo (host of the awesome show CINEMA INSOMNIA) and I got to shake Bob's hand which was a genuinely moving experience for me. I'm actually tearing up a bit as I write this. Damn. A very special night. Rest in peace, Bob.


You wear the follicles of someone who is or was a heavy metal musician.


Yeah, kinda unfashionable these days I suppose, but I don't care. Metal was a huge influence on me as a teen, even though I was learning the craft of symphonic composition as well.

I gravitated towards the extreme underground stuff pretty early on. So, when MTV was touting pretty boy hard rock acts like Bon Jovi , Motley Crue, and Poison as "Metal"... man, oh man, was I laughing my arse off.

Early thrash/death metal bands such as Venom, Motorhead, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Death, Dark Angel, Sodom, and Celtic Frost were my gospel back then. I couldn't get enough of the fast, evil sounding stuff.

Interestingly enough, a lot of those influences rear their head in the symphonic music I write these days, it just happens on a keyboard instead of a guitar. But, the chord progressions really do translate to horror music very well.

I played in various Metal and Goth acts in the 1990's, and perhaps it does make my version of a classical score a bit different as compared to musicians who were exclusively the product of music conservatory life.


Your first known credit was in the music department for THE HALFWAY HOUSE. Please elaborate.


Well, that actually came about as the result of me writing a fan letter to Kenneth J. Hall, who wrote & directed that film. I say "fan" because I was a huge fan of a film he'd acted in called FEAR OF A BLACK HAT, where he plays this shifty, douche bag record executive and he was just brilliant.

Anyway, I was scouring the Internet not long into my launch of Dead House and we crossed paths. He was in need of opening fanfare music for his newly founded FRIGHT FILM FACTORY and he gave me a crack at it. It worked out well, and I'm friends with Ken to this day. He's such a knowledgeable, cool guy and he helped me out by introducing me around and walking me through the beginning aspects of promoting my work at conventions and such. I worked with him again in 2007 on a short he did with Lynn Lowry, called NIGHT VISIT, and it was a blast. Anytime he calls, I'm there.


When did you become 'Mars'?


It was a cold and stormy night long ago. Foul winds blew down from the void of inky space, and my walls of reality were dissolved in howling eruptions from beyond the black that spans untold worlds.

Vomiting forth daemons from the red planet upon a sleeping mankind, I became the gateway for hordes of leathery creatures that used the radial symmetry of my corporeal form as a host vessel. Possessed by a malignant intelligence; I felt compelled to re-christen myself with a moniker more suited to my newly founded extra-terrestrial allegiances.

OR:

I was in a band that had too many guys named "Chris" in it. I'm a red head, so there ya go.


Your first credit as composer for a film soundtrack was on a film shot here in Buffalo called PRISON OF THE PSYCHOTIC DAMNED. I swore never to promote this thing, and yet this is the second time this week I'm mentioning it! How did you come to be involved in this, and what did you learn working on it?


Ah yes, the film that never quite goes away completely... like a syphilitic outbreak.

'Naw, I don't have any regrets about that flick, it got me my first feature length credit and opened more doors for me. Plus, I met both you and the brilliant David Kann, who runs Darkside Films, through that project. I've gone on to do better things with both you guys, with more cool projects ahead.

The producer became aware of me from an interview I'd done in Rue Morgue , and figured he'd get me cheap. I was just starting out, so I was glad to do whatever I could. I've stayed friendly with all the actresses who were in the film: I co-wrote a song with Demona Bast, had a one of a kind phone conversation with Susan Adriensen (remember that one, Susie?) who has gone on to direct projects of her own, and I've composed for Melantha, who has also directed features since then.

On the negative side of this film, I learned that not all people in the film business feel compelled to honor commitments and contracts.

So, to any beginners out there: be careful going into projects and try to be sure that there will be other benefits to your career beyond just a paycheck. That way, you still win in the end.


You also scored a low budgeter called COUNTESS BATHORIA'S GRAVEYARD PICTURE SHOW, co-directed by Melantha and Jimmy O, aka Jimmy Burril. How did working on this project compare to those that came before it?


It was awesome and terrible in varying degrees, but the end result was really cool, and that is what matters. I'd certainly work with her again.

Mel is a very smart woman, and has a clear idea of what she is after almost to a fault. Once she has her mind set on something, it's not easy to get other ideas past her. But, I'm not dissing her, because she has a refined vision for how she wants things to be, and that is how a director should feel in my opinion.

We butted heads here and there, in fact she absolutely hated the first pass I did of the film's score, which had never happened to me before. But I was willing to go back and add the things she really wanted, and turn it into more of a traditional horror score which made her happy. I'm very pleased with the final result, and I think the film turned out great which is really to her credit. She worked very hard on putting all the elements together, it and it shows.


The documentary you scored, LOVECRAFT: FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN, received quite a bit of attention.


Yeah, we won "Best Documentary" at the 2008 ComiCon, which is no small feat.
It was invited up to Montreal and held over for a theatrical run at the Cinema Du-Parc, which is crazy prestigious. I guess I got to contribute to a classy picture after all, Ha!

It's all pretty humbling. That whole project was such an intensive labor of love and I think every element of the film just oozes with passion. It's a really well made documentary, with some of my genre heroes in it (John Carpenter, Guillermo del Toro, Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub, Stuart Gordon) and I am proud as I can be to have been able to score it. Anyone that knows me knows what a Lovecraft junkie I am. So that was a dream project for me, that was a long time coming. My friend Andrew Migliore at Lurker Films introduced me to the director, Frank Woodward. Both those dudes are ridiculously great people to boot. I've really been blessed with meeting some cool cats in this biz.


Right now, you're scoring DEMON DIVAS AND THE LANES OF DAMNATION (formerly COVENTRY LANES), written and directed by my friend Mike Watt and starring some of my favorite actresses. How did you land this gig?


I met Mike & Amy a few years ago at a convention we were all special guests at called "It Came From Lake Michigan" which was a blast. I just got into a lot of late night crazyness, and I met them at one of the drunken after-show parties. We've kept in contact, and when this project came along, we just decided to find a way to make it work.

It's a great homage to 80's films like "Night Of The Demons" and "Sorority Babes In The Slime Ball Bowl-O-Rama" and I've really enjoyed digging out a lot of the classic synth tones for it. Not a single sound in the score will be newer than about 1988 or so.


I was fascinated to see that INTO THE BASEMENT, another new project, was written by Nicholas Grabowsky, who had some success with a horror film novelization a few years ago.


Nick is such a great writer, and (I know I sound like a broken record here), such a great guy. His latest book, RED WET DIRT, is so imaginative and creepy, I love his stuff. I'm looking forward to working on this film. It's a collaboration between him and Norm Applegate, who wrote the original short story that the screenplay is based upon. The director, J.L. Botehlo, is planning a pretty gruesome, no-holds-barred kind of presentation, so I think it is gonna be something fans will really enjoy.


Another project that you worked on, which I'm looking forward to, is BLACK DEVIL DOLL.


I demo-ed some really cool, retro/slasher style stuff to them, but I'm not sure how much will make it into the movie. Sadly, I haven't heard from Shawn in a long time, and I'm not sure why. We really seemed to see the music eye-to-eye, and he seemed to love what I'd composed thus far, but I guess they chose another direction. Who knows? I was so into what they were trying to accomplish with that film, that I was willing to work for t-shirts, so it couldn't have been a $ issue. In any event, I hope the film does well for them, I know it's been a lot of work.


Okay, enough with the resume! What do you love about film music, as opposed to other music?


Film music is one of the last frontiers of popular media that allows the art to speak for itself. What I mean is that (for the most part) it really doesn't matter what the composer looks like, what fashions they wear, how they are marketed, or whether they have a flashy light show, or whatever. It is the music and the music alone that determines whether people are moved by it. It can be invisible, although it is tied to a visual medium, the composer can still be transparent and have his/her work appreciated on it's own merit. There are not many aspects of pop culture that can make the same claim.


What is the most "challenging" aspect of working on low budget features?


Trying to earn a consistent living at it. Seriously, every salary negotiation I've ever entered into on a Horror film begins with some variation on the words "We don't have much money/this is a great vehicle for promotion/people are signed on for the love of it..."etc.

I kid you not; without fail.

I think everyone should just take it as a given that we all understand there is no real money to go around, and just get on with it. If I was in this for just $, I'd have picked a different genre.

I do this because I love horror films and I believe they deserve to have quality, original music in them. Not some tired library music, or awful garage bands masquerading as a soundtrack.

Aside from that, most indie films go way over their time schedules, and so usually I end up with having to finish more than one film simultaneously, because one film has taken so long to edit, that it overlaps into the time I have set aside for other projects. That can be a drag.


You do quite a few conventions, promoting the projects you've worked on.


Yeah, that is something I decided to do very early on, to set me apart from the slew of composers who never leave their apartments. When I score a project, I'll also be out on the film festival/convention scene promoting it. It's just something that I like to do, as I'm a pretty social kind of guy. Plus, I'm a fan of genre film, so going to conventions is something I'd want to do whether I was working in the biz or not.

I get to meet fans, and actors, and other genre professionals, and directors, and (occasionally) other musicians each year. Who could ask for more? With the economy being such a bummer right now, I may have to cut back this year, but hopefully not too much.


What are some of your future projects?


Do I get to discuss SLIME CITY MASSACRE? Yep, I just signed on to score the sequel to your slimy classic, which is something I'm very much looking forward to. That film's reputation just continues to grow and grow for all the right reasons, and I think the sequel will blow people away.

I've completed the music selections for the DVD adaptation of Stephen Romano's brilliant book "SHOCK FESTIVAL". His vision is amazing, and this release is just going to kill from the minute it hits the shelves, I promise you. I adopted the mindset of Stephen's fictional composer , Jimmy Cooper Jones, and wrote some really gritty, 1970's/80's exploitation style music that sounds like Euro-sleaze, funk, and surf music all mashed up.

I started with lots of great old school synth tones, and retro drum/bass/horn arrangements that I "aged" with lo-fi equalization, and other sonic tricks to make them sound as authentic as I could manage. It was a lot of work, but well worth it.

Next up, I have WOn TON BABY, which is a horror film that will incorporate a great deal of comedy as well. Suzi Lorraine (who will also be assistant directing) and Debbie Rochan (hmm, she's in a lot of stuff I'm doing this year....) are both in it.

The script is friggin' great, and if it translates to the screen, it's gonna be a classic. The director, James Morgart, is a real fan of music and is quite knowledgeable, so I'm looking forward to working with him.

There are a few more Lovecraft films that are in the works, which always makes me happy. One is a stop-motion film based upon "The Doom That Came To Sarnath," which is one of my favorite stories, so that is gonna be cool. That is for Red Hatchet Films.

I'll be directing a few short films this summer, one for myself and another for 1 Shot Studios in PA, so that should be cool.

I've broadened my horizons a bit, moving into writing more and more these days. Currently I write audio reviews for FearZone.com, FANTASTIQUE Magazine, and Rue Morgue .

All very cool.

What can I say?

Being in this business is just damn cool.

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