Danny Elfman Talks Tim Burton and Why He Avoided Live Shows Until Now

Brianne Nemiroff

Danny Elfman is one of the most influential composers of his generation, known for his film soundtracks for “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “Beetlejuice.” Anyone who considers themselves a music fan is sure to have a favorite Elfman film score. Elfman is also highly regarded for his television work, writing themes for “The Simpsons” and “Desperate Housewives.” He has garnered 72 award nominations and 54 wins during his 28-year film career, including four Oscar nominations, three Golden Globe nominations and 10 Grammy nominations and a Grammy win for “Batman.”

Elfman is also well-known in Hollywood for collaborating with his good friend Tim Burton on 16 of his films. To celebrate 25 years of the duo’s artistry, they have created the box set “Danny Elfman & Tim Burton’s 25th Anniversary Music Box,” which was recently nominated for a Grammy. Elfman has also been performing around the world for “Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton,” crossing seven countries to perform newly created suites of the scores he did for the filmmaker. The tour’s next stop will be the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE on October 31 and November 1, and the Honda Center on November 2. Audiences can expect to hear a mix of fan favorites and Elfman’s personal favorites, as well as see Elfman reprise his singing role as Jack Skellington from “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

This is the second live show Elfman has done in Los Angeles since 1995, and Entertainment Voice sat down with him to discuss how he first got into music, why he enjoys working with Burton, and why he waited until their 25th anniversary to create orchestral suites of his film scores.

What drew you into becoming a film composer?

I had never intended on becoming a musician. I really owe it to a lot of lucky and strange circumstances. I moved schools, between middle school and high school. One of my new friends, who was a trumpet player, turned me on to this world of new music, [introducing me] to [Igor] Stravinsky. At 16- [or] 17-years-old, the first time I heard “Rite of Spring,” my world was never the same. I secretly picked up a violin, knowing I was going to spend a year traveling in West Africa. I visited my older brother, who’s a conga drummer, [and his troupe] in Paris and the director heard me practice and hired me, with only four months of training behind me. I was all of a sudden playing with a theatrical troupe, playing violin on stage and suddenly I thought, “What does this mean?” After a year of traveling, my brother started his own troupe called the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo and he inducted me to be their musical director, even though nobody read music and I didn’t [either]. [That started] seven or eight years of working with them. I taught myself to write compositions, how to transcribe [and do] notation. Everybody in the troupe had to play three instruments [so] we would all [switch] between wind and brass to all strings to all percussion. It was really crazy but that’s what we did.

I was [originally] interested in film [and in] becoming an editor or cinematographer. I thought when I got back from Africa, I would be going back to college and studying film. But at 19-years-old, I was in a street troupe, not knowing what my future was going to be. [Pursuing film] became more and more distant. I woke up one day in the late ’70s, listening to this new music out of England, called “ska” and I decided, “That’s it.” I started a ska band and hence the creation of Oingo Boingo, [which was] much different from the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo [musically].

I [worked with the band] for seven years, and I get this call from this young animator named Tim Burton [asking me to do the music] for “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.” I didn’t understand why he wanted me to do it or what he wanted me to do. At first, I thought he wanted me to do songs [for the film] but he wanted a score. So I decided to take a chance of [possibly] fucking up the film, which I thought I would very likely do, fully expecting it would get thrown out. But I thought it would be a good experience. To my astonishment, they [used it] and it instantly flung me into [this career].

After working with Tim Burton for 25 years, what is it about your relationship that keeps you collaborating? What do you think your collaborative projects bring to the industry that’s different?

We fell into a sympatico rhythm, some type of chemistry, which is not uncommon in film. Tim was giving me wonderful musical landscapes to work in, wide open canvases. In the early films, I was never intimidated. That’s where being in a rock band paid off for me. My attitude was always, “Fuck it. I’m just going to do this.” But [during the time] of his early films, there was no genre to turn to, no template. For “Beetlejuice,” “Pee-wee,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “Batman,” possibly even “Mars Attacks!” or even “Sleepy Hollow,” there was very little template in terms of the tone. I think for me that was really exciting. I was happy to return each time. I was glad to get the call.

What we offer, what he offers, I can never tell you if I brought anything to the industry. I think he brought a unique sensibility as all [real] directors do. They bring a sense that becomes theirs through their own vision. He definitely brought some strange, both dark and sweet sensibilities to his films. It was his own particular style that he brought to his films, and still does.

If I just look at the basis of over the last 28 years of imitation, I’ve had some kind of impact but I don’t know what it is other than that I keep hearing [excerpts of mine] over and over, usually from Tim’s films. At first it would really annoy me. Often other composers would be doing what I’ve been doing, [sometimes] better. Over time, people kept telling me that it was a compliment. For somebody’s work to influence another’s work is a compliment. I always attempted [to find inspiration from my] influences, but I always look towards dead composers.

Who are your current inspirations?

If it weren’t for Bernard Herrmann, I wouldn’t have come to film music. I was a film music fan starting at the age of 12. If Ray Harryhausen and Bernard Herrmann were associated with a film, it would be my favorite film of the year. I grew up on the science fiction/fantasy film scores [Herrmann] did in the ’60s. But later on as I got older, I saw the incredible work he did with Alfred Hitchcock and other directors and realized when I became a film composer, I would aim for his [talent] in terms of versatility. He could do anything, any style. He could switch between very light, very dark, comic and romantic. When I started, that was the high mark, always looking to find something else that’s just the opposite of what I’ve done.

Out of all of your scores, is there one particular character theme or scene that you had a tough time scoring?

Early on, I learned that I couldn’t do romantic comedies. What should have been the easiest job for most composers [was] the hardest for me. Give me a light contemporary film in a movie and I have no idea what to do. I’ll do anything with the word “very” in front of it. I’m just as happy with very dark or very silly, very absurd, romantic [or] tense. In fact, my pleasure is going between these elements. I like writing old-fashioned romance. I like writing something modern, minimal and strange. I love mixing the little films and the big films. Since I’m a total Gemini, my happiest years are ones that are the antithesis of each other.

Is there a particular score that you have noticed become a fan favorite?

Usually, it’s going to be “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Edward Scissorhands” or “Batman.” “Alice [in Wonderland]” is one of my personal favorites. “Alice” was one of those melodies that got stuck in my head.

You’ve been asked many times to compose suites of your works. Why did you put off the opportunity for so long?

To make it sound right, it was going to be a lot of work, to orchestrate it differently for stage than the studio. I didn’t come up writing concert music. The first orchestra I ever sat next to was for “Pee-wee.” There’s a luxury in the studio that you don’t have on stage. If you’re looking for a cello line, you can lean on the celli’s [microphone]. On stage, you have to change [the orchestration]. I never listen to my own work. It gets me aggravated. For the 25th anniversary of working with Tim, I put together a box set that forced me to go back to all of my early masters, demos and rough mixes. I went through everything and it forced me to listen to everything again. At the end of that, my agent asked me if I was interested in doing a concert of all of [my] work with Tim, asking for 15 suites. I realized if I was ever going to do it, it was [when it was] the most fresh in my mind and [I was] committed to creating those suites.

I really tried to make a challenge out of it. I didn’t want it to be one main title [track] after another, one big hit parade. I wanted each suite to feel complete, to have something for someone who might be a fan of the score [and is] able to recognize the intricacies, [as well] as look for areas that were personal favorites. I [also] had to write original [sections], a bridge, a solo or everything. I kept it fun for myself. It became this huge puzzle. Tim’s films tend to be melodic, so [it involved] 15 suites, 45 themes [and] how to assemble all of those. Then my agent asked me to sing a few of Jack Skellington’s songs. Without thinking about it, I said, “Yes.” Eight months later, I had this show coming up and I never sang [the songs] in a single performance from top to bottom. I realize I didn’t always put in a place to breathe! [The songs] were difficult! I remember sitting outside of Albert Hall in London. I’ve had stage fright for 28 years. I’m not a natural. I’m one of those “crowds terrify me, but I can do this” performers. I look over to my right and Helena Bonham Carter, who plays Sally, is [lying] like a rag doll on the floor getting into character. I said to her, “I don’t know if I can do this.” She said, “You know what? Fuck it and have fun!” I walked out and had one of the best nights of my life. I’m really glad I did it.

“Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton” will be at Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE Oct. 30 – Nov. 1.