I posted this on Compuserve...just passing this along here as well on the topic
of the music for A CALL TO ARMS.
I suppose we could've stayed with the safe choice, with Chris, or done
a nice, safe, droning Voyager style score that you don't even notice, but
we're looking to take chances, and that means some people will like what you
do, some won't. Some won't like it because it's different. Neil Gaiman told
me that a number of fans of any form, including his own, say they want
something new and challenging that takes chances...but it they don't like the
form of that chance, they blame you for somehow doing it wrong...and they
want the next new thing to be just like the last thing you did.
I can't tell you the number of people who said "why can't you just do
the John Williams style music instead of this?" Because it's been done, and
it's cliche, and by god we're going to push what's "expected" to try some new
things. Otherwise what the hell's the point?
"Of course, you've been through this before. I seem to recall a lot of
people complaining when Christopher Franke replaced the composer for the
pilot. I don't doubt that a lot of the people screaming loudest now are the
very ones who complained about Franke when he started."
I don't know about the latter, but I can sure confirm the former. And
that's why I sometimes wish the viewer responses were logged as much as my
own have been. When we brought in Chris to replace Stewart Copeland, you
can't *believe* how much email I got from people saying to trash him, fire
him, it's that "euro-trash techno-crap" most called it. "He uses sounds and
banging instead of music," people complained (which he did mainly in the
first two seasons), "it's distracting and it's not appropriate, get rid of
him."
But we didn't. I told people to give him time to settle into the show,
and on the other hand to let them get used to a different kind of sound than
what they expected. ("I guess you couldn't afford to hire a real composer
like TNG uses," was another popular line.)
Evan ain't Chris, nor should he be, nor should he *have* to be. He is
a brilliantly talented composer. This is his first shot at a dramatic
series, and as he settles in (as Chris settled in), I think people are going
to be as loyal to what he's doing in Crusade as they were to Chris in B5.
He's a classically trained composer, who threw it all away to come study jazz
under some of the best jazz men in Chicago...washing dishes to support
himself when he had been at the top of his field in China...because he loves
music, and loves to experiment, and he took a chance.
In the course of Crusade, we're going to see some places we've never
seen before...and thanks to Evan, we're going to hear some things we've never
heard before. He's a find, and a genuine, fresh talent, and I stand behind
him 100%.
And the people who say they are fans of Chris Franke's should think
twice before doing to him what so many people did so rudely to Chris when he
first came aboard.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com