New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ CineMedia Promotions) Varèse Sarabande Records will release the JOHN WICK - Original Motion Picture
Soundtrack digitally on October 21 and on CD October 27, 2014. The soundtrack features original score composed by Tyler Bates (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, SUPER) and Joel J. Richard (COMPOUND FRACTURE, TV's RAVENSWOOD). The album also features the songs "Evil Man Blues" performed by The Candy Shop Boys, "
In My Mind" performed by M86 & Susie Q, and "Who You Talkin' To Man" performed by Ciscandra Nostalghia and co-written by Nostalghia and Bates.
"Joel and I have been friends for fifteen years, and we share many common interests and taste in music. We have aimed towards working together for some time," said Bates. When approached by the directors, Chad Stahelski and Dave Leitch, Bates immediately thought of working with Joel Richard. "Joel came to the table with great ideas and a sensibility that was exactly as I felt we should approach the music."
"Chad and Dave expressed that they wanted a fun, raw, aggressive, unorthodox score that was in line with John Wick's hitman alter ego/former life, while at the same time representing John's emotional connection to his wife," described Richard. "There was also an emphasis on wanting to use music to help differentiate the various set-pieces and fight sequences."
An ex-hitman comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him. With New York City as his bullet-riddled playground, JOHN WICK (Keanu Reeves) is a fresh and stylized take on the "assassin genre."
"The first words of direction from the directors were that they wanted the score to kick ass in the same aesthetic paradigm that IS John Wick's world," Bates explained. "Joel and I discussed what we felt would be an effective and interesting approach to establishing a tone for the underscore that seamlessly transitioned into the more rocking aspects of the score."
"The initial goal was to get into the headspace of John Wick and the tone/essence of John's story first, rather than jumping right into applying music to picture," said Richard. "The opening sequence was the first scene tackled. It was originally much longer and contained elements from the end of the film. It felt like a logical place to begin the writing process given that the original cut of the scene contained both elements of John mourning his wife and his inner bad-ass."
Summit Entertainment presents JOHN WICK in theaters on October 24, 2014. JOHN WICK - Original Motion Picture
Soundtrack from Varèse Sarabande Records will be available digitally on October 21 and on CD October 27, 2014.
ABOUT TYLER BATES
Los Angeles born composer Tyler Bates' profound ability to create new worlds of atmospheric soundscapes fused with traditional orchestra led to groundbreaking scores for Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead and 300 films. Transcending pop culture, 300 sold nearly 400,000 albums, making it one of the most popular score albums of the 21st century.
In the mid-1990's, Bates founded the band Pet with singer-songwriter Lisa Papineau and signed with Atlantic Records. Their song "Lil Boots" featured on the soundtrack for Crow: City of Angels, hit the platinum sales mark before the band embarked on its first national tour with such groups as Blink 182,
Limp Bizkit and Social Distortion.
Bates' authentic approach drew the attention
James Gunn, which led to scores for Gunn's entry to the Marvel universe GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, the horror-comedy SLITHER, and his comically tragic superhero classic, SUPER. Notable filmmakers continue to seek Tyler's talent, including Joe Johnston,
William Friedkin, and rock icon director Rob Zombie, with whom he collaborated on several films including two HALLOWEEN films, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, Zombie's slapstick cartoon THE HAUNTED WORLD OF EL SUPERBEASTO, as well as string arrangements on his album Hellbilly Deluxe2: Noble Jackal.
Successful titles such as ARMY OF TWO: 40TH DAY, TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON, and the 2013 smash, GOD OF WAR ASCENSION, has established Tyler Bates as one of today's top composers for video games in addition to his film and television work. The authenticity of his music attracted the attention of Atlanta bred DJ, Le Castle Vania. An instant connection was made when the two artists met, resulting in collaborations on Le Castle Vania's forthcoming release on Mousetrap/EMI records, founded by world renown electronic artist, Deadmau5e. Bates' TV credits include the hit Showtime series CALIFORNICATION and the current WGN series SALEM.
ABOUT JOEL J. RICHARD
Joel Richard fuses time-honored musicality with moving atmospheric experimentation. With equal measure, his versatile talent serves raw and unbridled industrial rock-influenced compositions, and beautifully intimate acoustic ensemble scores.
In 1999, within 3 weeks of interning at Hans Zimmer's Media Ventures, Joel was recruited by music editor Brian Richards (FIGHT CLUB) of Media Cutters—where he honed his eye for matching score to picture. By 2001 prominent composers John Powell and Gavin Greenaway noticed Joel's talents and fostered his skills as a composer. Richard collaborated with Powell on numerous scores; including the Universal Studios hit THE BOURNE IDENTITY
Richard scored the psychological thriller BETWEEN, indie dramas LOCKED and POPE DREAMS, and the award-winning film MARIO'S STORY. Joel's knack for inventive hybrid composition is evident in his scores for the ABC Family mini-series FALLEN, as well as Ridley and Tony Scott's Emmy nominated THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, and the newly released thriller/family-drama COMPOUND FRACTURE. He has written music for multiple seasons of the hit show PRETTY LITTLE LIARS and scored the ABC Family series RAVENSWOOD.
