Way back before 1980, prior to 'Disco Dancer' breaking into the collective consciousness of filmgoers, I had come to Chennai to compose for a film called 'Suraksha.'
When Kubrick called me about 'The Shining,' it was very strange. He first asked me to write music for his film, but I instead gave him suggestions about some of my pieces. I told him about 'The Awakening of Jacob,' which he did use in 'The Shining.'
I have tremendous respect for film composers.
I think there has never ever been a career like John Williams'. That whole 'Jaws' phenomenon - there's nobody that knows how to use music like Spielberg, and John is just the perfect analog to Spielberg.
The main difference I'd say is that European cinema has always used less music than American cinema for historical reasons.
I was obsessed with 'The Twilight Zone' as a kid, and one of those things I didn't realize until I was in college was that I had been listening to Bernard Herrmann all my life.
Jerry Goldsmith is the #1 composer working now. He's open to new ideas and always inventing.
I never dreamed of writing for concert or opera. I always dreamed, if I was a composer, to write music for films.
