“As a composer of music for film, I have had the opportunity to score a wide variety of films from the sweeping studio epic to the intimate independent drama and they all have presented unique challenges. I have found over the years however, that the more money that is tied up in a film, the more requests there are for the composer to make safer choices and for the composer to present the more predictable options to the filmmakers. Thus my continuing interest in working in the world of independent filmmaking.
“When I read Paul’s script for “Crash”, I was immediately inspired to write for this film. The intricate plot, so masterfully woven around the wonderfully drawn characters, demanded a uniquely beautiful score. And in this case, this complete lack of financial resources, with which on could have resorted to the “tried and true” formulas of “successful film scoring”, turned out to be a huge blessing.
“Many composers start off their careers in “the bedroom” so to speak; in a small room, with their cherished equipment, building their music piece by piece, single handedly. For this score I returned to “the bedroom” and forced myself to find new and refreshing solutions to the challenge of writing this music. I am very proud of this score and sincerely hope that you, the audience, find it as engaging to listen to as I did to compose, and that through this album you can appreciate the beauty of this wonderfully crafted film.”
— Mark Isham
“I can’t actually remember the first time I heard one of Mark’s scores.
“I mean, I remember the date – it was the winter of 1983. And I remember the theater I was in, and I remember the movie – Never Cry Wolf. But I don’t remember hearing the score. Hearing isn’t nearly good enough to describe that experience. I absorbed it. The score came right through my skin, gnawed its way through my muscles and sinew and seeped into the bones. That’s how I remember it and over 20 years later it is easy to bring that memory back in full stereo just by closing my eyes. P “From that point his scores just kept getting better. Trouble In Mind, The Moderns, A River Runs Through It, Romeo Is Bleeding, Nell… how much room do I have? Not that much.
“There isn’t a survivor in Hollywood who hasn’t lost a piece of his soul to a studio – and I’m sure it has happened to Mark, but I can’t recall an instance where he didn’t deliver on that promise you expect of a great artist – to move you in ways you never expected, by means unseen and previously unexplored, which upon hearing seem to have always existed.
“I’ve worked exclusively with Mark since 1996, when I begged him to do television, and the pilot for my series EZ Streets (for which he won an Emmy – an amazing feat, seeing that the critically acclaimed series didn’t last a full week before being yanked from the air). I’ve never had a lot of money to lure him, but in exchange I keep my expectations low – I merely asked him, each time, to completely forget everything he has ever done and reinvent himself, from the tips of his toes to where his fingers meet the keyboard. And he has never failed to do so.
“Listen and see if you don’t agree.”
–Paul Haggis, Director of Crash