As you may or may not know, I am a vinyl record junkie! The largest part of my collection is compiled of horror film scores. One day, while looking through my favorite vinyl record collecting groups, one of the members posted a link about a limited edition vinyl for the upcoming documentary Scream, Queen. My Nightmare on Elm Street. The site stated it was limited to 100 copies and included a print signed by the star of the documentary, Mark Patton. The score was from composer Alexander Taylor. When I received my record and pulled out the bright pink vinyl, dropped the needle and was blown away. I was in synthwave Heaven.
Once in a while, you come across a score that tells you a story, without using visuals. Scream, Queen, My Nightmare On Elm Street is one of those scores. When I finished listening, I hopped onto Google and started to look up Alexander Taylor and see why I hadn't heard of him prior before this. I found some of Alexander's other music on various streaming sites. I was instantly a fan of all of his work!
I reached out to Alexander to see if I could ask him a few questions. He generously agreed and I'm happy to present that interview now. Once your done reading this interview, I would invite you to check out his music. You will not be disappointed!
***Editor's Note: Be sure to follow us on Social Media as we will be giving away a SIGNED copy of Alexander Taylor's score of Scream, Queen!***
SP: How long have you been composing music?
AT: I actually have a pretty different background than a lot of my contemporaries in my industry. I didn’t study composition in college. I actually studied motion picture production, focusing mainly on directing. I was the only one in our class that had any musical background since I spent most of high school trying to be a rockstar. Most of the film students couldn’t afford a composer, so I pretty much became a composer out of necessity. I scored all of my own films as well as most of my classmates, and the classes below. I didn’t realize how invaluable that was until I met other composers who actually studied composing.
Since I was directing often, it gave me really good insight as to what filmmakers look for in a score. When to go big, when to pull back, and when to bow out and let the story tell itself without music. I think that's why I tend to work well with directors since I know their pain, haha. You still tell a story, but instead you are using a musical language.
So long answer short, it’s been about 11 years.
SP: If you could collaborate with any composer, who would you choose and why?
AT: Oh I love this question! Honestly, if I could work with Benjamin Wallfisch, that would be amazing. He’s constantly pushing the boundaries between electronic and orchestral music, and I think we have similar sensibilities. I could learn so much from him, too.
Plus, he’s also a truly kind person. I sat in on a few sessions with him while I was interning at Remote Control Productions(Hans Zimmer’s studio) in 2018, and he was fantastic and very nurturing. Literally, all of the same things could be said about Junkie XL. The man is also so kind and giving, especially to young composers.
SP: What are your top 3 favorite film scores?
AT: This is one of the toughest questions you can ask a composer, haha.
SP: What are your top 3 favorite horror movies?
AT: And this is the toughest question you can ask a horror fan. These might seem “basic” since they show up in most people's lists, but they are classics for good reason.
SP: When you are scoring a movie, such as Scream, Queen!, are you able to see the film prior to composing the music?
AT: Of course! When you write for film, 9/10 times you are scoring to picture. Very rarely do you not have a cut of the film to work with.
SP: Were you able to work either directly or indirectly with Mark Patton? If so, what was working with Mark like?
AT: While I was writing, I spoke only with the directors, Roman and Tyler. They are amazing. I started working very closely with Mark after the score was finished. Mainly at festival circuits, premiers, and press junkets. We’ve been coordinating on the release of the soundtrack through Notefornote Music and 1984 Publishing.
He’s absolutely amazing. I’ve said this before, but it’s true; talking with Mark is like therapy. He genuinely cares about every person he comes in contact with, and can pull from his wealth of wild experiences to give sound, thoughtful advice. There is so so so much more to mark’s life than his acting career. They don’t even go into most of it in the doc since they focused mainly on how NIGHTMARE 2 affected his life, but safe to say, Mark needs to write a book about his life and experiences. I’d be first in line to buy it.
SP: Your song Emergence from the score for Animal Among Us gave me vibes from Disasterpiece's. It Follows. Who do you draw your inspiration from?
AT: Yeah, I get that a ton for that score. It honestly wasn't intentional, but I take it as a compliment because Rich is incredibly talented, so thanks! I think we are both clearly inspired by John Carpenter, so we are pulling from the same well. Same can be said about Michael and Kyle with their STRANGER THINGS work.
I draw inspiration from tons of people, honestly, and not even necessarily composers. In fact, I think it’s best to try to avoid sounding like other composers because then everything becomes kind of bland, you know? I’ve worked very hard to develop what I consider a fairly unique sound, which I think stems from my non-traditional background.
But to name a few artists that I can’t help but be inspired by: Nick Cave, Tom Waits, TV on the Radio, Leonard Cohen.
SP Are there any new projects that you have been working on that we can look forward to?
AT There are a few films I’ve scored coming out soon. The Dead of Night, which is a southwestern thriller starring Matthew Lawrence and Lance Henriksen. It's very lonely, desolate, and introspective; kind of a refreshing slow-burn. I love horror films that make you want to live in the locations, which this film certainly does (minus the murders and all).
Dreamcatcher is another film I'm really excited for. I jumped onto this immediately after The Dead of Night, which was awesome because they were so vastly different in style. With The Dead of Night, I tried to stay as organic as possible with the score since that reflected the landscape of the southwest desert. With Dreamcatcher, I got to return to my
rockstar
roots. Tons of guitar, punchy synthesizers, and in-your-face hooks. You can clearly hear that I had a lot of fun with this score. Dreamcatcher is smart, meta, fun, and indulgently stylized. Both scores will be available for purchase or on Spotify when the proper time comes.
As of now, I’m actually signed on to roughly 9 feature films for next year. All horror/thriller. Fingers crossed things pull together in this country so we can safely get back to work. WEAR A MASK.
SP: Where can people follow you and listen to your music?
AT:
You can find my website here:
Thanks so much for reaching out, and I hope to talk with you more!
Happy Haunts,
Alex