Horror movies of the 1980’s are sometimes remembered for their music just as much as they are for their scares. Just a quick online search will reveal how many people continue to hold on to this music. YouTube is full of entire soundtrack uploads while eBay is guaranteed to be auctioning a vinyl or two that would make horror fans drool.
Chris Burke is one of those composers that help define an era. Chris worked on such genre classics as Splatter University, The Toxic Avenger films, and The Refrigerator. He currently has a Kickstarter page set up so he can compile a list of his themes for release. HorrorGeekLife sat down with Chris to learn a bit about what was involved in producing these themes and what has inspired him to compile his work together.
The Kickstarter campaign will surely make many horror and Troma fans happy. Links for this and his other pages will be included below the interview.
HorrorGeekLife – It’s really awesome that you’ve decided to put this compilation together, what was your “I need to do this” moment?
Chris Burke – I had a month or so off in May-June and I dug into my old master files to see if I could cut together a short demo reel of the horror stuff I scored back in the 80s. I found that I only had about 12 or so tracks on HD, but I made a short demo and shared it with my friends online. The response was effusive, mostly at the fact that I had scored some films that they had seen.
So I thought about doing an unofficial release on band camp or something. Right around that time, John Carpenter was touring around, performing his film soundtracks live and I saw how much press that got. Then a month later Stranger Things was on Netflix and that was point where I thought- hmmm, maybe people like this stuff.
HorrorGeekLife – I remember getting excited when you mentioned in your video that you had done The Toxic Avenger and The Refrigerator. Did you get to go to Troma studios when you working on The Toxic Avenger?
Chris Burke – I did. I had actually already worked on a Troma film, as a location scout and a Production Assistant, and I had scored Splatter University, which was directed by Richard W. Haines who was also the editor at Troma. So I knew Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz from working production. I think Richard recommended to Lloyd that he give me a call regarding the Toxic Avenger music.
HorrorGeekLife – That’s really awesome!
Chris Burke – When Lloyd called me, I went in to meet with them and he said the film was The Health Club Horror. They later changed it to The Toxic Avenger.
HorrorGeekLife – Who were your inspirations when it came to scoring those early movies?
Chris Burke – I loved Ennio Morricone, who scored all those great “Spaghetti Westerns,” but I based my first score on the sound of a German New Wave synth band called DAF (Deutsche Americanische Freundschaft). They had a really driving bassy synth sound that I thought could work well for horror. But they had the advantage of having an arpeggiator, which basically automated a sequence of notes when you held down a chord.
Think early 80s synth pop or Giorgio Moroder’s disco hits. But DAF were much darker and more raw sounding. Since I didn’t have an arpeggiator, for Splatter University I played the notes by hand! Haha. Its a little dodgy sounding, but the director loved it. This was in 1981.
HorrorGeekLife – Was keyboard your primary instrument to begin with?
Chris Burke – I learned guitar as a kid. I was new to synthesizers when I scored Splatter. I tapped out the notes like I was typing a story. A weird, bloody story.
HorrorGeekLife – And it fits perfectly for the film!
Chris Burke – Thanks! I scored The Toxic Avenger three years later in 1983-84. By then I had better synths and other gear.
HorrorGeekLife – I re-watched The Refrigerator the other night and I noticed the song at the beginning reminded me of a Synclavier. Were you using one of those?
Chris Burke – I wasn’t. That would have been an Akai S-950 sampler. I used it for a lot of the textured sounds. The Synclavier was way out of my price range.
HorrorGeekLife – The sounds you got out of the Akai sounded great! They really help control the film’s mood.
Chris Burke – I should say that I co-scored The Refrigerator with Don Peterkofsky. He was hired first and did a lot of the Latin music in the film. I was hired later to score the horror scenes and some more of the darker stuff.
HorrorGeekLife – The music works well because the movie likes to be lighthearted but then it gets pretty dark. I love it.
Chris Burke – Yeah, I think it’s a very overlooked film. It’s has a low budget feel to it, but the script and the acting are very interesting.
HorrorGeekLife – The internet has really given the lovers of low budget and overlooked films a place to shine again. Because of this resurgence, would you come back to score another horror film if you were asked?
Chris Burke – I would definitely consider it. Putting this compilation together, I realized how much I miss doing this kind of work. After my 12 years as a film composer I moved into other media and eventually interactive sound and just got further from films.
HorrorGeekLife – What director would you like to compose for if given the chance?
Chris Burke – Well, I have always loved Alex Cox’s films – Repo Man, Syd and Nancy, etc. – and would love to work with him. Also, there are a spate of young directors out there, reinventing the horror film. Drew Goddard’s Cabin In The Woods is a good example. A friend of mine named Rich Vreeland scored It Follows not long ago and that’s another ground breaking horror film.
HorrorGeekLife – You’ve performed at many conventions and such, do you have any shows planned soon?
Chris Burke – Since 2001, I’ve mostly been writing and performing “chip music,” music made using vintage game consoles and handhelds like the Game Boy, Atari ST, Comodore 64, etc. I did this under the name glomag, which was a shortened version of my band from the 90s called Gloified Magnified, with my brother Dan.
I am doing it less and less, but still occasionally play a convention or a festival because I love it and a lot of my best friends are also doing it. I’ll be speaking at a festival in NYC next week called “Low Level”. I’m speaking about the horror compilation.