Composer David Torn, whose original music was featured in The Big Lebowski and the title openers of Reversal of Fortune and Velvet Goldmine, has formally joined the spot market via JSM, New York.
In addition to some 80 film credits, Torn is also recognized for several albums, including Cloud About Mercury (ECM), Tripping Over God (CMP), and What Means Solid, Traveller? (also CMP). He has also released two sampler CDs, Tonal Textures and Pandora’s Toolbox. Torn describes his ambient musical style, in both pictures and albums, as "techno-organic."
"I heard [Torn’s] stuff, and it was pretty much a no-brainer," said JSM president/executive producer Joel Simon. "David is a unique talent. To have him here only strengthens the organization." For his film work, Torn will continue to be repped by Lesley Lotto of Whatever… Music Agency, Hollywood.
Torn said his interest in working with :30s began six or eight weeks ago, while he was watching TV with his son. The music he heard on commercials for Audi and Volkswagen, as well as for many dot-com companies, impressed him. "It seemed that creatives in advertising are more open-minded in terms of what’s modern than the film world [is]," he commented.
He believes the work he’s done for films is "directly transferable" to spots. "I’m used to seeing pictures, hearing the music of it, then coming up with something quickly," he said. "My music has always been very visual."
While composing music, Torn uses a computer to alter the sounds of live, stringed instruments, primarily the guitar. For some of his work—including his score for the movie Three Kings—he incorporated Middle Eastern instruments such as the oud and saz, which he plays proficiently. "I like the cutting-edge. … I’m not lax about moving forward sonically," he said.
Since entering the music industry in ’87, Torn has earned a living by freelancing in different capacities. He was an instrumentalist on recordings for k.d. lang, Me’shell Ndegeocello, Chocolate Genius and Jewel. He has also performed live with Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mick Ronson, Trilok Gurtu and Carter Burwell.
Though it has had little impact on his success, Torn is deaf in his right ear, due to a craniotomy he underwent in ’92 to remove a tumor. "In many ways it was a turning point in my music," he said. For two years after the operation, he said he had to re-learn how to listen to music, but his efforts have sharpened his tonal faculties. In ’94, Torn, Mick Karn and Terry Bozzio released the album Polytown (CMP). "It’s funny. [Today] I am often noted on the stereo effect of my music," Torn mused.
At JSM, Torn joins composers Billy Alessi, Bobby Alessi, Andy Bloch, Jamie Hartman, Ray Loewy, Gregg Mangiafico, Nile Rodgers, Morgan Visconti and Gareth Williams. They are repped internationally and on the East and West Coasts by senior producer Victoria Villalobos; and in the South and Midwest by sales rep Alyson Griffith.
