Carter Burwell | Artist
Carter Burwell is an American film music composer born 1954 in New York City. Born into an affluent family, Burwell graduated from King School in Stamford, Connecticut, then attended Harvard where he studied maths but finished with a major in fine arts. He also contributed as a cartoonist for The Harvard Lampoon. With intentions of becoming an Architect, in the spring of 1977, a few months before graduation, Carter saw Iggy Pop, David Bowie, and Blondie in concert, and resolved to become a rock musician instead. After graduation, besides working writing computer code for a DNA Lab, Carter began hanging out at CBGB's, Danceteria, the Mudd Club and other punk venues in NYC. With his college roommate Chip Johannsen, he formed a "minimalist trance-dance synth-pop" duo called the Same and played gigs at GBGB. His next band Thick Pigeon was another duo, this time with bassist/vocalist Stanton Miranda. Thick Pigeon released one album Too Crazy Cowboys (1984) on the Factory label, with production by New Order members Gillian Gilbert and Stephen Morris. Around that time Burwell met fledgling filmmakers Joel and Ethan Cohen, who enlisted him to provide music for their first feature film "Blood Simple". This was the start of a long-working relationship with the Coen brotrhers, with Burwell providing music for every film they have made except one (Inside Llewyn Davis). From the late 80's Burwell would provide scores for many other name directors including Anthony Perkins, David Mamet, Stephen Frears, Spike Jonze, Mike Nichols, Lasse Hallström, Sidney Lumet, and Martin McDonagh. Recommended album releases include Fargo/Barton Fink (1996), Conspiracy Theory (1997), Being John Malkovich (1999), In Bruges (2008), Carol (2015), and The Banshees of Inisherin (2022). Burwell received his first Academy Award nomination for Carol, his second for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, and his third for The Banshees of Inisherin. When describing how he approached his first ever film composition, Burwell watched Hitchcock’s “The Birds” on TV and noticed that some of its most emotionally intense scenes had no music at all. “It was either bird sounds, edited bird sounds, or electronic creations of bird sounds—and that was a fantastic first lesson in what a film score can be” he said.
Artist Website: carterburwell.com
Featured Albums: Carter Burwell
Related Artists: Thick Pigeon
