John Carpenter | Artist
John Carpenter is an American filmmaker, composer, and actor born 1948 in Carthage, New York. He is most commonly associated with horror, action and science fiction films, and is generally recognized as a master of the horror genre. John's father, music professor Howard Ralph Carpenter, took a job at Western Kentucky University and the family relocated to Bowling Green, Kentucky. For much of his childhood, John and family lived in a log cabin on the university campus. He was interested in films from an early age, particularly the westerns of Howard Hawks and John Ford, and 1950s low-budget horror films such as The Thing from Another World (which he would remake as The Thing) and sci-fi like Godzilla and Forbidden Planet. Carpenter began making short horror films on 8mm before even starting high school. At age 14 in 1962, he made a few major short films: Godzilla vs. Gorgo, using claymation, and the sci-fi western Terror from Space. After High School he enrolled at Western Kentucky University for two years as an English major, but transferred to the USC School of Cinematic Arts in California in 1968 to study filmmaking. He would ultimately drop out of school in his final semester to make his first feature film. Carpenter has stated that it was his father's work as a music teacher that sparked his interest to make music. This was to play a major role in his later career: he composed the music to most of his films, and the soundtrack to many of those became "cult" collector items. A 21st-Century revival of his music is due largely to the Death Waltz record company, which reissued several of his soundtracks. Carpenter is credited with 29 full-length soundtrack albums, about half of which are collaborations with fellow musicians such as Alan Howarth, Jim Lang, Cody Carpenter (his son), Daniel Davies (son of Dave Davies of The Kinks), and Ennio Morricone. From a musical perspective, standout albums include Halloween (1978), Escape From New York (1981), Halloween II (1991), Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1983), The Fog (1984 ) and Prince of Darkness (1987). Carpenter was an early adopter of synthesizers since his film debut Dark Star, when he used an EMS VCS3 synth. Carpenter narrates the documentary film The Rise of the Synths, which explores the origins and growth of the synthwave genre, and features numerous interviews with synthwave artists who cite him and other electronic pioneers such as Vangelis, Giorgio Moroder and Tangerine Dream as significant influences. The renewed interest in Carpenter's music prompted him, for the first time, to tour as a musician. As of 2016, he was more focused on his music career than filmmaking. Carpenter holds a commercial pilot's license and flies helicopters. He has included helicopters in his films, many of which feature him in a cameo role as a pilot.
Artist Website: theofficialjohncarpenter.com
Featured Albums: John Carpenter
Related Artists: Alan Howarth, Cody Carpenter, Daniel Davies
