Luis was introducing to you Universo Alien Community, which is a Spanish-speaking community that he formed to speak about what “Alien” has been doing from the ‘79 till now, and from a year ago, he started interviewing actors from all the different movies, and he decided that he wanted to include personalities from from other parts of the movie, such as yourself, so he was very excited that he could contact you and and having you today is a pleasure for us, so he’s thanking you a lot for this appearance.
The pleasure is mine.
So the first question is, how did you get the offer for making the soundtrack for “Alien 3”?
Well, David Fincher heard my work on previous works in a theatre, as well on movies in a cinema but yeah, David Fincher... That was David Fincher’s first movie, and he was connected a little bit with the commercial, promotion, and music videos before his first feature, and he knew I worked with a friend of his, Mary Lambert, who also was doing music videos for Madonna and etc. And Mary Lambert hired me to work on “Pet Sematary”, the first Stephen King horror film, and also, David Fincher knew my theatre work on stage. So the combination between both led to making the decision to work on the movie.
So now that you have the job, how you get your inspiration to make the soundtrack? Did you listen to the previous soundtracks, or did you just decided not to listen to any of it so you can huh you could have, like, your own version of “Alien”?
Well, I saw the previous soundtracks once, in the theater as an audience member, and both of them were very good movies, and the soundtracks were very, very effective, but they were very very very different. And “Alien 3” was completely different from the first and second. “Alien 3” had more of a feeling and alienation, kind of desperate loneliness. The second movie was more action and the first movie movie was very effective in horror, in the sense that most of the setup was in the common life, everyday common life that everyone can identify with. And then all of a sudden, boom! The alien monster, you know, scared everyone, startled everyone. The second one was very much an action movie genre classic, where the monster’s – alien’s chasing the people throughout, and the third one was very very different because you don’t see the alien very much in the movie. And it also has a chase element, but it was less action, so it was very much about loneliness, and the alienation of humans. They were all prisoners, and all male prisoners, so in introducing Ripley to the situation where she is the only female brought on special considerations. Okay, that’s too much. [laughs] Okay.
No, it’s perfect... From the tracks you composed, most people can have their favorite, but for you, do you have a favorite one? Or any track that is more special than the rest?
Well, two parts. I have two favorites, in the sense that I like my usage – enjoy my usage of acoustic orchestration and electronic orchestration blended together, in a way that was very very rarely done in that era. And also, on the opposite side, I’m very happy with the last melody, last theme, of Ripley falling into the molten lead at the end. That theme of nobility and redemption, I think, emerges as my favorite thematic material.
Do you refer to ‘Adagio’ as the last melody?
Yes, and in that one, David Fincher has Ripley sacrificing herself in a very very Jesus-like pose. She is like this going down. So the religiosity of the theme was also very important.
We’re talking about eighteen years ago in 1992 when you composer the soundtrack; how do you remember that moment?
It’s only eighteen years ago? It sounds – feels like three lifetimes ago. It’s really only eighteen? [laughs]
Twenty-eight, sorry... So how do you remember that moment?
Well, I remember all the mistakes and corrections I should have made on every film. I remember all the disappointments more than the triumphs; that’s the way I am when I see something, I say, I should have done this or I should have done that; that’s the way I am, whether it’s 28 years ago or now. [laughs]
“Alien 3” has a lot of history related to the shooting of it. It had a lot of problems, changes of script, David Fincher had, as you as you commented, a very little experience on movies or on films, but did that affect to your work, or what you compose was what it was in the end, or you had to make changes, arranges?
Yes. There was a lot of friction between David Fincher and Joe Roth, who was, you know, the producer, at, I think it was Fox, I don’t remember. But, for example, Fincher had references to – religious references in the movie. And in the beginning – on the opening chorus, children’s chorus in the movie, I set the text ‘Agnus Dei’ to the movie. It was sung. And Joe Roth didn’t want any religious references, so there was a friction and tension between the producer and David Fincher. At the same time, there was a riot in Los Angeles there was a social upheaval because of the Rodney King incident. He was beaten by police and there were big riots in Los Angeles, which was shut down. It was fires and looting, and a very very very dangerous situation. In that situation, the studio had an excuse to take over the movie and push David Fincher aside. I don’t know what the details were between the studio and David Fincher, so I had to finish during the editing process with the studio and the editor, Terry Rawlings, and not David Fincher. David Fincher, who was out of the picture. And the studio want me to compose a new ending of the movie. Two different scores for Ripley falling in the lead. So I had two different versions, in the last minute, like, two weeks before the movie was released. So it affected the whole end of the movie. Also, the movie was nearly three hours long, I think, in the beginning of David’s cut. And they wanted to cut it down to two hours, so the whole hour got cut out of the movie, if I recall.
These things that you have very fresh memories from that exact moment. Do you had a close relationship with David Fincher in that?
Yes, he was very very very very respectful and very – he was very respectful of my role as a composer. He would say, That’s why I had hired you: Because you know what you’re doing. And then he left me alone and respected my creative instincts.
You say that you great soundtracks that, you’re a great artist, and David Fincher
saw that, and for you it’s whatever David Fincher says. Here in Spain we have a phrase that says, ‘What do you say goes to mass’. It means that it’s almost like a religious law. So David Fincher was right... The community of Universo Alien is very active on social media, and there they publish curiosities; our birthday wishes for actors, producers, composers, everyone related; and Luis announce the interview there, your interview, and ask the community to post some questions that they would like to ask you. And a lot of fans stated that they’re fans of your work. They also mentioned that they, from “Alien 3” they principally love ‘Adagio’. Luis reckons that you already know that. Just to confirm it. And they are asking, How was the creative process? We have already asked you that question; and, Would you work again in an “Alien” movie in the future if you were offered the soundtrack?
Yes. It depends on the director and the cast, you know? I think the first three movies had wonderful talented actors, amazing actors. So that’s very important to me, you know, the quality of the acting and the director. I think David Fincher was a very courageous director; he took chances. And that’s what I really respect and gravitated
towards in that project... Of course it’s not up to me, you know? Not my decision.
We’re speaking a lot of the first three movies, but have you have you gone to a theatre; have you seen the latest movies?
I haven’t; I’ve been a bad boy!
You made your soundtrack, and that’s a final point of the saga for you.
Yeah. I’m a peace-loving man; I’m not attracted to violence very much, or people getting killed, you know? I like peaceful things as my problem.
Considering all the changes and different versions of the movie, were your soundtrack the only soundtrack, or were there alternative soundtracks?
The only soundtrack – the only other alternative was more of me, more of my own soundtrack, you know, that they cut out, you know, a lot.
And the another question from another fan of the social media is, What inspired you when you composed the soundtrack of the movie? Where you got your inspiration from?
I can’t rely on inspiration, but I’m very good in reacting to the performances, or also the atmosphere of the environment. I think David Fincher wanted the audience to feel uncomfortable in various rooms of the prison ship: every room, every environment should seem unsettling. And the fact that the the actor Charles Dance, who was the romantic interest for Sigourney Weaver, the Ripley character – he was killed really early in a movie, so the audience was completely thrown off guard. And so the inspiration of the whole movie was a feeling of uneasiness in one’s own environment... Or maybe my fans online wanted me to say I got my inspiration by falling in love with a beautiful woman with black hair who, when we when we made love, I realized she was an alien! [laughs]... But unfortunately, it’s more technical than that. It’s reacting to the edit and the actors.
You’ve commented earlier that, what do you remember the most is the mistakes or the disappointments more than the good work, but are you satisfied of how the soundtrack turn out?
No. Because I thought – I am very disappointed that David Fincher wasn’t there when we were mixing in the movie to the dialogue. And it was only Joe Roth and Terry Rawlings, who was the editor. I missed David Fincher’s input, and I was very – I was never happy with the mix of the soundtrack music with the sound effects of the movie, or the dialogue of the movie, and I think that would have been improved if David Fincher was working with me on the dubbing stage.
Luis says that it’s not possible, but wouldn’t it be great if we could go back and do “Alien 3” again?
Okay... if the contract also reads I can be 28 years younger.
When Luis prepared the interview, we were working together; we were going across all the movies you worked on. And there are a lot of movies that we both love, and we were we made a special pause on “Batman Forever” and “Batman and Robin”. We are big fans of Batman as well, but we were debating that maybe those movies are not aging good enough; that we had memories of how great they were when we saw them as kids, but nowadays you watch them again and they’re not aging well. And what do you think of that? And also, can you tell us about how, like, what those movies meant for you, for your composition?
I understand. Personally, I prefer other scores I did in that period; for example, “Heat”, you know, Michael Mann’s “Heat”. I don’t know how it translates. Also I prefer “Interview with a Vampire”, “Michael Collins”, or “Butcher Boy”, and all those in that middle ‘90s period. However, I think the approach of the “Batman” movies changed radically, and when we were working on especially “Batman Forever”, the emphasis was on comic book-like disposable culture. Almost comedy; almost, you know, very very very very not deep filmmaking. Everything was to be thrown away, not taken serious, and that emphasis changed recently in the recent Batman movies, and also of course in the recent “Joker”. It’s a turn from something that was very comedic to something that’s very very serious, and I think it’s hard to go back and look at the original intent. They weren’t made to be a serious cinema under any circumstances.
“Heat” was a great movie, and you made a great work, but, well, every, like, everyone made a great job: directors, actors the script; everything around that movie is greats so he reckons you must have it in your heart in a special place.
It’s not my job to have my heart involved; I have to – my job is to do the best I can with the work offered to me... My heart is always in what is put before me, but I don’t have the I don’t have the luxury to write the script.
He says that he’s not a professional interviewer, he doesn’t make money on this, and so he’s not professionally involved; he doesn’t have a script. Usually what likes to just talk about anything that comes to his mind, and we’ve been covering “Alien 3” and other movies in which you’ve participated, but suddenly a question came to his mind, and it is a question that he does to every person related to “Alien” that he interviews and is, Aside from all the anecdotes you’ve already told us, do you remember anything else funny, or not funny, or something that you have you have it very fresh in your mind related to ‘Alien 3”?
It’s not very funny, but I remember the studio asked me to write two themes, as I mentioned, two for the finale, you know, where the ‘Adagio’ theme was. So I had 24 hours to compose it before an orchestra came in, and I was working in the studio, and I couldn’t go home; I couldn’t go back to my hotel to sleep, so I slept in the isolation booth with drum sets, with the drums. And it was very very cold, and I put all the drums on top of me to stay warm, and it was a very very difficult night, because I didn’t sleep for 48 hours, and then finally I had to go to sleep, and I slept in a very very very cold room in in that last night, and I don’t think I could do it again... That’s nothing compared to the millions of refugees that haven’t slept for weeks and weeks, trying to find a place to sleep, that’s not comparing to something really really serious, but still, it was uncomfortable for me.
Did you have any interactions or any contact with the actors, with the cast? Sigourney Weaver or Charles, or...?
Yes, I see them at movie premieres, and sometimes awards ceremonies and things like that. And they were always very very very friendly, and very warm.
And while while the movie was shooting, did you ever go to the set?
Yes. Yes, I went to the set in Pinewood Studios in London. They were shooting in that studio in Pinewood, in England.
Aside from the edit of the movie, did you ever – you went to the Pinewood set, but did you have any interaction with the actors, or just what you saw on the edit?
I had interactions with the actors, but only in a in a social way, you know, saying ‘Hello, hello, hello’, you know? And, ‘Goodbye, goodbye, nice meeting you, nice meeting you.’ And I didn’t function as a composer on the set; it was just purely social.
How was going on stage and the Oscars award for “Frida”? Congratulations for the Oscar.
It felt like when you go to the dentist’s, and they give you, you know, that they tried to numb your body and numb your teeth with anesthesia. So when they announced my name, I thought, I was, you know, just totally drugged, you know? But I remember thanking the women in the production, because it was a about a woman, you know? Directed by a woman, edited by woman, and Salma was very instrumental in, you know, producing this project as well, so... and I also thanked Mexico, and hoping that there would be more bridges between the nations, especially when they are neighbors.
You have an amazing career with great soundtracks; do you have any personal favorite? That’s quite a difficult question, we know?
My personal favorite is the next work I haven’t written yet.
Oh! That’s a great answer!... So we get into the final moments of the interview; we had a great moment with you, knowing more about “Alien 3” and your work. It was great for us Lluis has the last question and it is: Imagine that you had the chance of interviewing Elliot Goldenthal but what would be the question you make yourself?
Well I can’t imagine doing a better job than very very very very simple questions that – the most important thing to me, the most important thing is the people who are listening to music. The most important thing is the fans who, after these many years, still do the me the honor of listening to the score. That’s the most important thing to me, and I couldn’t possibly imagine doing any better better job or improving on the interview if I ask the questions.
Lluis wants to to thank you for these moments with all the fans of the Spanish-speaking community. It’s not easy to find websites in Spanish with all the information about “Alien” and all the movies, and the fact that they can watch the interview and understand it is of great pleasure to them, and Lluis wants to thank you in advance, and unless you have you want to add something or comment on anything that we may have skipped we want to thank you for your time today.
Only one thing is my great shame that my Spanish isn’t better than that it should be. Thank you.
Thanks to you. It was a pleasure.