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 Carl Johnson has had a varied career working from TV series to films, both as a compsoer and orchestrator. He has worked for such well known composers as: Mark Watters, Richard Stone, and James Horner.
How did you get involved with "Batman: The Animated Series"? I was working for Mark Watters during the latter part of 1991, and he recommended me to Shirley Walker, who was putting together her team for the Batman series. She first asked me to orchestrate for her, then invited me to write for the series. Do you have any memorable moment from your stint? I have many moments that seem to stick in my memory. One of the first was of observing one of Shirley's recording sessions at the "B" stage at Warner Brothers. The stage was still pretty new at that point and Bobby Rodriguez was still trying to get all the bugs rung out of the board. At one point there was some very loud feedback that came through the monitor mix. Shirley ripped off her headphones threw them on the conductor's podium and yelled, "God Dammit, Bobby! What’s going on?" It was at that point that I realized that Shirley was not demure! What did you think of the show? The show was really fun to work on. Shirley pioneered the concept of scoring it as if it were a feature film, complete with places where there was no music, and where the music made space for the sound effects. It gave the show a very non-cartoon feel. How come you didn't end up scoring more episodes? While I was working for Shirley, one of my episodes was aired on the Fox Kids' Network. Richard Stone, who was the head composer on another Warner Brothers series called Animaniacs just happened to walk through the room as one of his sons was watching my episode. Rich said he like the music so much that he sat down to watch the rest of the episode until my credit came on screen. He ended up asking Shirley for my name, and asked me to join his team for Animaniacs. I ended up working for Rich full-time for several years after that, and wasn't able to help out Shirley on too many of her other episodes. What was the average scoring like and how much creative control did you have (since Walker was listed as the Music Supervisor most times)? The scoring sessions were intense, but fun. The musicians really enjoyed the scores, and while Shirley was a perfectionist, she made room for the individual composers to experiment and learn. We generally had to record all the music for a 22-minute episode in one 3-hour session, so we had to move fast. There was no room for mistakes on the composition/music prep end. What was the collaborative process like (assuming you collaborated with the other composer) and how did you both decide who gets what? It wasn't really a collaboration as much as it was a Master Class. For my first episodes, Shirley would literally sit down at the piano, read my sketches, and make suggestions on how to improve what I'd written. For those unfamiliar with who you are, would you give us a little background. I graduated from the University of Kansas in 1988 with a degree in Music Theory. I went to USC and completed the film scoring program there in 1989. I worked for several years at a theme park design company, and started as a freelance composer in 1991. I've been very blessed to have been able to avoid a real job ever since. I've won two Emmy awards, and have written for lots of projects. (please see Swanderful Music for a full credit list.) Can I ask how you went from Care Bears, Piglet and Winnie the Pooh to "Twisted"? As the animation industry began to implode in the late '90's many of us who had been working steadily for Disney, Warner Brothers, Dreamworks, etc. found ourselves out of work. With nothing but animation credits, it was very hard to find work writing in other genres. Some of the projects I've taken since have been for the sole purpose of having "live-action" credits on my credit list. We have all had to re-invent ourselves in the intervening years, and often that means working on a surprising variety of projects... I see you've orchestrated for James Horner a couple times; do you like orchestrating or do you wish for more scoring assignments? I'd love more composition gigs, but I really enjoy orchestrating. It's good, hard, honest work and it pays well. I also get a kick out of writing for large orchestras. Most composers can only dream of how to voice a chord for 6 trumpets, 8 horns, 4 trombones and 2 tubas! Can you tell us about any upcoming projects you have? I’m currently writing music for a full-length musical theatre adaptation of Jan Karon's novel "At Home in Mitford". And lastly, if there are any comments you would like to make about your work on "Batman: The Animated Series", or anything else, please feel free. I consider Shirley and Don walker as friends and mentors. While visiting with Shirley during one of our many "career counseling sessions" she stressed the importance of having a successful life over having a successful career. She told me, "After it's all done, all your career has gotten you is money." Shirley left behind a whole community of musicians in Los Angeles that benefited from her guidance and artistry. For those of us who aspire to follow in her footsteps we should all try to remember how she was always offering a helping hand to other composers, particularly those just starting out. It is through personal contact, guidance and tutelage that our art is passed on. Sitting at home behind our computer screens may earn us a living, but only by reaching out to those who are starting out can we improve the industry for all of us. PUBLISHED: January 14, 2009 |