Episode Details

Join Justin and crew as they chat with prolific film composer Richard Band within the Sanctuary of the Strange!

Richard Band bio:

"Richard Howard Band is an American composer of film and television music. He has scored more than 100 films, including From Beyond which won the award for Best Original Soundtrack at the Sitges - Catalan International Film Festival. His score for Re-Animator was lauded by the magazine Music From the Movies, which said, "Band's music is dark and direct, creating an intense and eerie atmosphere, but always with a humorous touch... Surely, Richard Band is one of the most underrated composers in the film business."

By the mid-80's Band was renowned for scoring horror and Sci-Fi films by employing strong, memorable and most often very melodic themes all recorded with orchestra. Films like 'Mutant (1984)', 'The Alchemist (1983)', 'The House on Sorority Row (1983)', 'Troll (1986)' and 'The Day Time Ended (1979)' all feature beautiful and lyrical themes that seem to operate as the antithesis of the genre for which the films were produced. As Band explains in liner notes in some of his soundtrack releases, he believes that "film scores exist to add a third dimension to a two-dimensional medium".

As the son of independent film producer, director and writer Albert Band, Richard and his brother Charles Band pursued their father's ambitions in film. Where Charles became a prolific producer, director and distributor, Richard's music and cinematic talent led him into the realm of film composing. Becoming interested in music while living in Europe, Richard toured with various rock groups between 1965 and 1971 before returning to the US. After studying music formally for several years Richard made his scoring debut, alongside Jerry Goldsmith's son Joel Goldsmith, on Compass Films production of 'Laserblast (1978)'. Richard rapidly moved from electronic to orchestral music, resulting in a number of full-bodied, orchestral thematic soundtracks that gave melodic power to a number of movies several of which Charles produced for Empire Pictures, among them The Day Time Ended (1979), Troll (1986), Zone Troopers (1985), ReAnimator (1985), Prison (1987), Ghoulies (1985) and From Beyond (1986).

He also brought on famed composer Shirley Walker as conductor and co-orchestrator on his score for Ghost Warrior (performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, 1984) as well as Ghoulies (1985). It was for the Universal 3D release of Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn (1983), that Richard composed one of his most epic, and adventurous scores.

Beyond Charles' productions, Richard Band showed his diversity with the comedies Lunch Wagon (1981) and Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype (1980), while writing the chillingly melodic score for the slasher favorite The House on Sorority Row (1983). Richard found new acclaim when he teamed with filmmaker Stuart Gordon for the blackly comic Re-Animator (1985), a soundtrack famed for its tribute to the work of Psycho composer Bernard Herrmann. Band's H.P. Lovecraft-themed collaborations with Gordon include the otherworldly tonalities of From Beyond (1986) and the terrifying vengeance of Castle Freak (1995).

The director and composer also adapted the work of Edgar Allen Poe with darkly religious inquisition for their adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum (1991), with Band exploring one of L