Jerry Goldsmith, Max Steiner, Harry Manfredini, György Ligeti, Bernard Herrmann, Krzysztof Penderecki, Quincy Jones, Iannis Xenakis, John Cage, Miles Davis, Charles Wuorinen, Ray Des Roches, Max Roach, Francois Kevorkian, Brian Eno, Edgar Varese, Bela Bartok, Clara Rockmore, Gustav Holst, Anton Webern, John Coltrane
TOM BURNS began his formal musical training at age fourteen
with composer and percussionist Jack Winters, a veteran of the
New York City avant-garde music scene. He also performed
with the New Jersey Percussion Ensemble under the
direction of world-renowned percussionist Ray Des Roches.
Tom trained as a recording engineer in New York with dance
music pioneer François Kevorkian. He soon found himself hired
as a sound editor for several major label recording
projects, as well as working on Kevorkian’s own
moody, percussion-heavy dance tracks.
It was this professional experience in the music industry
that inspired Tom to open the music production company
REALLY HORRIBLE MUSIC and to score his first feature film, Alan
Rowe Kelly’s I’LL BURY YOU TOMORROW. Tom’s haunting
original score earned him the Silver Medal of Excellence
at the 2004 Film & Music Festival in Park City, Utah.
Tom Burns’ scoring style is a blend of traditional orchestral
instrumentation and subtle sound design. His technical approach
to scoring THE BLOOD SHED involved careful consideration of the
director’s vision, and of the film’s location and characters. He
cites the legendary film scores of Max Steiner, Bernard Herrmann
and Jerry Goldsmith as some of his strongest influences when
writing music for film.
Film scoring aside, Tom is also one half of the popular indie rock duo
THE KIMBALLS. With music partner Michael Mark, THE KIMBALLS
have just released GREAT FACE FOR RADIO, the eagerly awaited follow-up
to their critically acclaimed debut album, NUMBER ONE. Get them both at
CD Baby or at the iTunes Music Store!
