[Interview] Daniel Davies Talks ‘Lost Themes IV’, ‘Halloween’, New Music, and More
John Carpenter‘s fourth album of original new music with his collaborators Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies is out now, and we talked to Davies earlier this month about playing guitar on Lost Themes IV: Noir and its predecessors, as well as the recent Halloween movie trilogy soundtracks, his own upcoming solo album Ghost of the Heart, and more.
Looking back at how the first Lost Themes album came about in 2015, Davies recalls, “John and Cody had been working on some ideas. Just casually they would hang out, watch a basketball game, plays some videogames, and then go down to the music room and record some music. Then John got a new music attorney, and she asked him if he had any material. The next thing you know, he did a deal with Sacred Bones.
“Then Cody moved to Japan, and at that time, about a year before that I had started dedicating myself to composing. He (Carpenter) asked me if I wanted to do it with him, then we could work on the songs that he and Cody had started, and then I would bring in some new ideas, and we would go back and forth with Cody in Japan. It all just evolved from there.
“That album was received well, so then we did another one, and then a tour, and then another one. We just have such a great time doing it that the inspiration is there, and we just keep going.”
While this trio taking on the soundtracks for the most recent three Halloween movies may seem like a no-brainer, Davies told us that it was Carpenter himself who first voiced the idea. “I think how it started was David Gordon Green and Danny McBride presented an idea to John and wanted to include him and Jamie Lee Curtis,” he said. “Malek Akkad and them and Blumhouse were all working on an idea.Â
“Then later John said, ‘They might be making a Halloween. Maybe we should see about doing the music and talk to David Gordon Green about it’. David Gordon Green thought that was a great idea, and it just kind of evolved from there. Then we were doing it.
“It was really fun do that. I remember we had written a whole bunch of music for the film, and it was the first time that David Gordon Green came and sat with us. Sitting with John and him together making the movie, and helping that story evolve was really incredible.”Â
In our relaxed video conversation on the new album’s release day, we also talked about the moment that Daniel truly realized how monumental it was to be composing the score for the 2018 Halloween requel. “There was a moment,” he said. “So we had a first sort of rough cut the film that we were working on, and it didn’t have the opening titles yet, so we hadn’t put the theme in, John’s original theme.
“There’s a long, first-person shot in that movie through the houses from Michael Myers’ perspective. That’s where we put in the Halloween theme for the first time, and the movie became Halloween suddenly. It was amazing. It was a really exciting moment. You get goosebumps. So that was one that I remember. That was quite striking, just a great memory from doing that.”
Following Lost Themes IV, Davies will next release his solo album Ghost of the Heart in June 21, and the band is currently working on the soundtrack for the upcoming A24 dark fantasy film Death of a Unicorn starring Jenna Ortega and Paul Rudd, but he teases that there is even more coming our way for Halloween this year.
“There’s going to be something special this Halloween,” he said.
And of course we talked about the Halloween holiday itself, as well as some of the inspirations for the new music of Noir, which range from classic black and white films to Metallica, his favorite tracks, and much more.
You can watch our full exclusive interview with Daniel Davies below.
Lost Themes IV: Noir is available now, from Sacred Bones Records. Order the album on vinyl here, or buy it on CD here or on cassette here.
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