Cliff Martinez
Cliff Martinez
Cliff Martinezis an American musician and composer. Early in his career, Martinez was known as a drummer notably with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Captain Beefheart. Since the 1990s he has worked primarily as a film score composer, writing music for Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Drive, Only God Forgives, The Neon Demon, Contagion, Solaris, and Traffic...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionComposer
Date of Birth5 February 1954
CountryUnited States of America
boundaries guess learned
I guess what I've learned is that there are no boundaries when it comes to imagination. It's limitless.
background drums gone rock roll ten work
I've often thought that my background in rock 'n' roll has gone to waste in film work. My background was that I was a rock 'n' roll drummer and I don't think I used drums in my first ten years of film scoring.
created music
I think music will be created algorhythmically, all the things that we do will be boiled down to a little computer program.
amazed anybody anymore cd costs hard lower physical prevents sure throw
I'm not sure why anybody makes a physical CD anymore when the costs are so much lower to just throw it up on iTunes. And it doesn't seem that making a hard copy of something prevents pirating any less. I mean I'm amazed that they still do that.
alongside appears composer famous menu
You'll know if you're a famous composer if 20 years from now your name appears on a pull-down menu in Band in a Box, alongside Hans Zimmer.
strong jobs thinking
I actually don't see that strong of a connection between my background as a rock 'n roller and my early films. In a way I think your musical identity in film work is determined by the jobs that come your way.
home average years
I work at home but average 15,000 to 18,000 miles per year on my Honda.
country couple years
I got fed up with being in bands. I spent a couple of years touring the country in a smoked filled band, doing lots of drugs and being really unhealthy.
thinking people guy
I don't want to be typecast as the 'ambient guy' or someone who only does electronic scores. I think most of the work that comes my way is because people feel they know me musically.
band behind-the-scenes kind
I'm kind of an antisocial person. I realised when I was playing in bands that I wasn't that comfortable being on-stage, and I preferred to be behind-the-scenes. I like the seclusion of composing.
writing cutting waste
For me, the work begins with a rough cut of the film. I can't do much with the script. I've tried to write music to a script prior to seeing the film, but I've found it turns out to be a waste of time.
degrees demand isolation
Composing demands a degree of isolation.
diversity radio film
I've always been very left of center and the radio never had much diversity and film did.
writing years two
Singer/songwriters spend two or three years making an album, and then it goes up for sale and everybody pirates it and you don't make any money. Whereas, writing a film score you still get presented with a paycheck.