MusicRadar
The No.1 website for musicians
Tom Morello on the Iron Man 2 soundtrack
"I put big fat rock on the score"
Joe Bosso, Fri 30 Apr 2010, 2:03 am UTC
"There's two elements to something like this. On the one hand, I'm creating wholly original material, building a track from scratch. And the second part of it, be it a symphony section or even just a drum loop, I'm doing what I can to augment what's there and make it as effective as possible."
Have there been film scores from that past that you referenced or composers who have influenced you?
"That's a good question. You know, I never looked at this like, 'How can I emulate this classic film score composer?' And I'm sure the people involved with the picture didn't see it that way, either. They didn't hire me to squeeze me into some other box; they hired me to be Tom Morello. They wanted me to bring the big fat rock to the score and be as heavy and electric as possible.
"Actually, to expand on your question, a very key part of this was that they specifically didn't want me to reference other film scores or do things that have already been done before. Paying homage to classic composers isn't the game here; doing something new and cool is. Hopefully, I've done just that."
When working on a project like this, how much music are you supposed to come up with? Are you given a set number of minutes?
"You know, you'd think that, but the answer is no. I wasn't really told, 'OK, we need X number of minutes of rock, Tom.' Because there was always a new cut of the movie, everything was always changing. Every few days I'd get a call from John who would say, 'All right, Tom, got some more scenes to send your way.' You have to be ready for anything they throw at you."
John Debney score with sections of Tom Morello's work from Iron Man 2
AC/DC songs figure prominently in the picture. Were you given any direction as to how to work around them?
"Those scenes didn't even get to me. I don't think they wanted any other kind of music getting in the way. It's not like they gave me the whole film and said, 'OK, go crazy, Tom.' They only gave me what they needed me for, nothing more."
Obviously, you're famous for your inventive bag of audio tricks. Does that ever figure into the discussions? Did John or anybody say, 'Hey, we really like what you did on Bulls On Parade. Could you give us a little taste of that?'
[laughs] "Not so much. I was pretty much given free reign to do whatever came into my head - within the constraints of tempo and key. I tend to work in 4/4 time, and when the score was in these more exotic, orchestral time signatures, that could be a challenge to my dexterity. But hey, it was a challenge I was fiercely determined to rise to and meet."
Were other musicians working with you on your tracks, or did you do it all yourself?
"When I was creating the original music, I brought in the Freedom Fighter Orchestra, the guys who play with me in The Nightwatchman and Street Sweeper Social Club - that would be Dave Gibbs on bass and Eric Gardner on drums. They were the backing band for the raw tracks."
