Graeme Revell (born 23 October 1955) is a New Zealand musician and composer. He came to prominence in the 1980s as the leader of the industrial rock/electronic rock group SPK. Since the 1990s he has worked primarily as a film score composer.[1]
Graeme Revell | |
|---|---|
| Born | 23 October 1955 Auckland, New Zealand |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Awards | |
Some of Revell's best known film scores include Dead Calm (1989), The Crow (1994), Street Fighter (1994), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995), From Dusk till Dawn (1996), The Craft (1996), The Saint (1997), The Negotiator (1998), Bride of Chucky (1998), Titan A.E. (2000), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), Daredevil (2003), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), and Sin City (2005). He is also known for his frequent collaborations with director David Twohy, having scored Below (2002) and the Riddick franchise. He is an eight-time recipient of the BMI Film Music Award, including the Richard Kirk Career Achievement Award,[2] and an AACTA Award winner.[3]
Biography
editEarly life
editRevell attended Auckland Grammar School, where he finished his final year in 7A. As an orderly in an insane asylum in Australia in the late 70's, he and one of the patients formed one of industrial music's first bands, SPK, as an outgrowth of his interest in music therapy. He spent the next decade making music that ranged from extreme to beautiful to academic and earning a reputation for wild stage stunts that included accidentally setting an audience member on fire with a flamethrower.[4] Revell's break came in 1989, when he scored the Australian film Dead Calm. A Hollywood agent, Richard Kraft, heard it and tracked him down. Since then, he moved to Hollywood, working with everything from 85-piece orchestras for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, to Tuvan singers and Armenian stringed instruments for The Crow, to brassy jazz and hip-hop rhythm loops for Fled, with Laurence Fishburne and Stephen Baldwin.[4]
Education and training
editRevell is a classically trained pianist and French horn player, but also graduated from the University of Auckland with degrees in economics and political science.[5]
Vocational pursuits
editHe worked as a regional planner in both Australia and Indonesia, and was also an orderly in an Australian psychiatric hospital.[citation needed]
Musical career
editRevell was a founding member of the industrial music band SPK, playing keyboards and percussion. The SPK single, "In Flagrante Delicto", was the basis for the Dead Calm film score (his first) that won him an Australian Film Industry award in 1989.[5]
Most of Revell's subsequent projects were film scores. But in 1997, he teamed up with Roger Mason to create a non-film music album Vision II – Spirit of Rumi, released through New York based Angel Records. The two coproduced, supplied some of the instrumental accompaniment, and set to music 11 poems by renowned 13th century Persian poet Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī. Vocals were provided by Noa, Lori Garson, Esther Dobong'Na Essiene a.k.a. Estha Divine, and the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.[6]
In 2002–03, he assisted the rock band Evanescence on their debut album, Fallen, in which he is credited for doing most of the string arrangements. He has also done string arrangements for Ludus, Stefy, Biffy Clyro and The Wombats.
Style
editRevell's musical style is predominantly electronic and computer-based, yet often utilises classical instruments or entire arrangements for certain pieces (similar to his contemporary counterparts, Hans Zimmer and Mark Isham). The orchestral scores that Revell has composed have changed throughout his career—from Bernard Herrmann-like pieces to Ennio Morricone-influenced works. "Whenever I write songs, I always have visual images in mind, and I have always changed styles dramatically. That's not good for a long-term rock career, but it's good if you want to score films."[4] "I'm trying to bring a dose of class to Hollywood," he said. "I want my music to be the real thing instead of some terrible synthesized thing thrown together in a week. I don't want to sound just like everybody else."[4]
Revell's music is often re-used from movie to movie[citation needed] and in more recent times he has collaborated with other artists on their albums. After the success of his soundtrack on Red Planet where he used the voice of French singer Emma Shapplin to back up and often lead his score, he collaborated with her on her own album Etterna, producing all of her songs. He has recently been interviewed for the independent documentary Finding Kraftland.
Collaborators
editRevell has been assisted in sound design by Brian Williams, who creates dark ambient music under the German language black humorous pseudonym Lustmord.[7]
Awards and nominations
editOn 18 May 2005, Revell was honored at the annual BMI Film & TV Awards with the Richard Kirk Award for Outstanding Career Achievement.[8]
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
edit| 1994[9] | Nominee
Saturn Award |
Best Music
Hard Target (1993) |
ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards
edit| 1993[9] | Winner
ASCAP Award |
Top Box Office Films
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992) |
International Film Music Critics Award (IFMCA)
edit| 2008[9] | Nominee
IFMCA Award |
Best Original Score for a Documentary Film
Darfur Now (2007) |
World Soundtrack Awards
edit| 2001[9] | Nominee
World Soundtrack Award |
Best Original Score of the Year Not Released on an Album
Blow (2001) |
Venice Film Festival
edit| 1997[9] | Winner
Golden Osella |
Best Score
Chinese Box (1997) |
Online Film & Television Association
editSource:[9]
| 2001 | Winner
OFTA Television Award |
Best Music in a Motion Picture or Miniseries
Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001) |
| Best New Theme Song in a Motion Picture or Miniseries
Dune (2000) | ||
| Nominee
OFTA Television Award |
Best Music in a Motion Picture or Miniseries
Dune (2000) | |
| Best New Theme Song in a Motion Picture or Miniseries
Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001) |
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
editSource:[9]
| 2003 | Nominee
Chainsaw Award |
Best Score
Below (2002) |
| 1997 | Nominee
Chainsaw Award |
Best Score
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) |
| 1994 | Winner
Chainsaw Award |
Best Soundtrack
The Crow (1994) |
BMI Film & TV Awards
edit| 2009[9] | Winner
BMI Film Music Award |
Pineapple Express (2008) |
Works
editTheatrical film
edit1980s
edit| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Dead Calm | Phillip Noyce |
1990s
edit2000s
edit2010s
edit| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Unthinkable | Gregor Jordan |
| The Experiment | Paul T. Scheuring | |
| Kites: The Remix | Anurag Basu | |
| Kites | ||
| 2011 | Shark Night | David R. Ellis |
| 2013 | Riddick | David Twohy |
Television film
edit| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Psycho IV: The Beginning | Mick Garris |
| 1995 | Down Came a Blackbird | Jonathan Sanger |
| 1998 | Dennis the Menace Strikes Again | Charles T. Kanganis |
Television series
edit| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1988 | Bangkok Hilton |
| 2000 | Frank Herbert's Dune |
| 2001 | Anne Frank: The Whole Story |
| 2002–2003 | CSI: Miami |
| 2008–2009 | Eleventh Hour |
| 2009–2010 | The Forgotten |
| Dark Blue | |
| 2012 | The River |
| 2014–2015 | Gotham |
Video games
edit| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Call of Duty 2 |
| Call of Duty 2: Big Red One |
References
edit- ^ Jason Buchanan (2013). "Graeme Revell". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
- ^ "Graeme Revell to Receive Richard Kirk Award for Outstanding Career Achievement at BMI Film/TV Dinner". Bmi.com. 11 April 2005. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
- ^ "Past Awards | AACTA". Aacta.org. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
- ^ a b c d Strauss, Neil (4 July 1996). "The Pop Life". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
- ^ a b "Graeme Revell". IMDb. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
- ^ Carol Wright (18 March 1997). "Vision 2: Spirit of Rumi - Graeme Revell | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
- ^ John Bush. "Lustmord | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
- ^ "BMI Honors Composers of Top Movies, TV Shows and Cable Programs at 2005 Film/TV Awards". Bmi.com. 18 May 2005. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Graeme Revell". IMDb. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
External links
edit
- Official website
- Graeme Revell at IMDb
- Graeme Revell discography at Discogs
