_ _ __ __ _ | |__ _ __(_) ___ / _| / _` | | '_ \| '__| |/ _ \ |_ | (_| | | |_) | | | | __/ _| \__,_| |_.__/|_| |_|\___|_| _ _ ___ ___ _ ____ _____ _ __ ___ __ _| |_(_) ___ _ __ / __/ _ \| '_ \ \ / / _ \ '__/ __|/ _` | __| |/ _ \| '_ \ | (_| (_) | | | \ V / __/ | \__ \ (_| | |_| | (_) | | | | \___\___/|_| |_|\_/ \___|_| |___/\__,_|\__|_|\___/|_| |_| _ _ _ __ _(_) |_| |__ \ \ /\ / / | __| '_ \ \ V V /| | |_| | | | \_/\_/ |_|\__|_| |_| __ _ ___ _ _ \ \ ___ | |__ _ __ _ __ ___ ___ / __\__ _| | |_ _ _ __ ___ \ \/ _ \| '_ \| '_ \ | '_ ` _ \ / __|/ / / _` | | | | | | '_ ` _ \ /\_/ / (_) | | | | | | | | | | | | | (__/ /__| (_| | | | |_| | | | | | | \___/ \___/|_| |_|_| |_| |_| |_| |_|\___\____/\__,_|_|_|\__,_|_| |_| |_| ''---------------'' | o oo o o ooo | | o o o oo | | o = = = o o o| | ______________ | \\\\\///// |||| | | | | | || | |______|___ |__||||||||||||||_| |o o |\ //// ______ | / | _\__\ | / | /__/ _______ _____ _____________\_____/_________/ / --| | -__- \ / _________ --------------/ \ ------- ________________________ \ \ ___________________ |:|TX81Z ____ _ _ _ _ _|:| \ \ |_|____________________|_| \==[]====\ _________ / \ / /\ \ _______ / / \ \ _______ \ \ \ \ ____________\ \___\ \_______________/\ ____ -- _\____\ \_____\__ \ \ _ --__ /______| |_______\ \ \ --___________________________________________\/ By HouseFire Those who are familiar with Jon McCallum's work are probably most familiar with the Surf Nazis Must Die (1987) soundtrack-officially released on vinyl on Strange Discs in August of 2014. This work seems to both carry and completely overshadow the film. https://youtu.be/sntGQtZD_RA One is stolen away amid crashing waves and sparse, slamming rhythms with heavenly synths, sparkling wistfully on the surface, while moodily churning from melancholic depths, strange weather indeed. While the song "Nobody Goes Home"shreds through the water with frantic guitar riffs in a post-surf anthem of blood-soaked paranoia. https://youtu.be/thRsw2ilxTI His various other soundtrack works include Miami Connection (1987) (He also does the special effects in Miami Connection), Terror Eyes (1989), and Soultaker (1990) in addition to working on several other films including "LA Streetfighters" and "Phantasm 2". In this brief chat, we talk mostly about some of the synthesizers that are characteristic in his soundtrack work. HF: Thank you so much! I am thinking of where to begin. What brings you to Arkansas? JM: I had friends who moved here and liked it when I came to visit. I had gotten fed up with the whole big city thing. I actually had a lot of music gear stolen in LA and that was part of the reason too. HF: It is beautiful there. I visited a poet who lives deep in the woods of Fayetteville. She made the best meal with no electricity. Your soundtrack work has a distinctive mood and emotional quality that stands apart from others. What is this quality most informed by? Do you have a favorite composer? JM: Probably Vangelis would be one of my favorites, but there are so many I like. Who is the poet? Met quite a few artists and writers since being here. HF: C*Rose is her name JM: Okay, may run into her at some point. HF: Yes, if you are ever deep in the forest and come across her haven. Otherwise, I think she doesn't come down the mountain too often if she can help it. JM: Ha! I know a few people like that, I don't blame her. HF: I wanted to ask about what synthesizers were used in creating the iconic soundtrack for Surf Nazis Must Die. Also, did you write the music/ lyrics for Dragon Sound in Miami Connection? Lastly, are you currently working on any film or music projects and do you give live performances of your work? (I ask about Dragon Sound because I've had "Against The Ninja" in my head for a few years now. Very catchy.) JM: I wasn't musically trained but always liked music— especially soundtracks. When I was in film school, I bought a synthesizer as I wanted to be able to do my own music and sound effects for my short films instead of editing in something already done. I was fascinated by what people like John Carpenter were doing, sometimes simple but really effective— like using a high pitch tone to carry a scene. Or the heartbeat in "Dawn of the Dead" or "Midnight Express"- I decided on a Sequential Circuits Pro One as I couldn't play and it had a 40 step note sequencer built in. In the beginning, I was driving the neighbors insane. Suddenly, I found myself doing my friends' short films also and two of them went on to make features after college so I ended up doing those. Angelo Janotti did the Dragon Sound songs, he was the only member of Dragon Sound not in Y.K.Kim's Taekwando school. I did the special makeup effects and handed the producer a tape of "Surf Nazis Must Die" so I ended up scoring on that too. On "Surf Nazis", I used the Pro One and mostly a Casio CZ-5000. https://youtu.be/G-JAhvkRCfo For a while, Casio were making programmable keyboards and they were great. It had an 8-stage envelope amp and filter- which was unusual for the time. Another reason I got it is that it had an 8-track sequencer and I only had a Tascam 4-track cassette to record to so I figured I wouldn't have to bounce tracks so much if I built some up on the Casio first. HF: Very interesting! Yes, it makes total sense to use the sequencer, Casio, and 4-track that way. Was that a Tascam 424? JM: We ended up mixing in a professional mixing house-JDH Sound that had done films like "Driving Miss Daisy" The mixers were really worried that I was bringing music in on a cassette. We had a test mix a few weeks before the final to check how the dialog, sound effects, and music were coming. When the mixers played the music on the big speakers, they were blown away and one of them said, "I'm buying you sushi lunch so you can tell me how you did this on a cassette!" HF: That's great! Sushi lunch to confound them with your four-track wizardry! JM: It was a Tascam 244. It ran at double speed and had a built in DBX so it sounded surprisingly good. HF: Yes, there is a DBX option on the back of the 424 which I must always check after transporting it as it gets switched off. JM: I bought a 324 some years ago so I could transfer all the old masters. It has that option too. HF: That's quite the console! Thank you, by the way, for these detailed responses. What is your current studio set-up? JM: I mostly use a laptop now but still have the CZ- 5000 and some newer Roland ones. HF: Very nice. Do you have recordings of your current works? You have given graciously of your time today. It is an honor to speak with you. Is there anything you'd like to add? Any good books? JM: In Miami Connection I used a Korg DSS-1 which was neat as it was a sampler but also had two types of synthesis. Also had a DDD-1 drum machine and a Yamaha TX-81z. https://youtu.be/cKYlILIoDyc Favorite book is Lonesome Dove. I don't do much scoring anymore. There's a Miami Connection LP for the background score in the works. But it's hard to go and remix these for LP's and try to remember your mindset 30 years back. HF: Wonderful! I will keep a lookout for the Miami Connection LP. I was just listening to the TX-81z- fantastic synth. Is that Lonesome Dove the western novel? I haven't read it but can imagine Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall from the tv show. JM: Yes, that's Lonesome Dove, the western. The book was incredible. I saw the mini-series later but it was nothing close to the book. TX-81z was FM synthesis- like the DX-7 and hard to program but I finally made some patches I used a lot, some ended up in the movie, "Soultaker". It was handy as it could split into 4 different sounds at once- which I'd sometimes sample as one big layered patch I could use on the DSS-1. https://youtu.be/p9nxR-wUQBY HF: I'm haven't seen Soultaker (1990) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgpvXuCPpa0 but I'm looking at the synopsis right now. Looks good! I thank you so much for your time today. JM: You're welcome!