John Cody Carpenter (born May 7, 1984) is an American musician and composer. He is the son of film director
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...
and actress
Adrienne Barbeau
Adrienne Jo Barbeau (born June 11, 1945) is an American actress, singer and the author of three books. Barbeau came to prominence in the 1970s as Broadway's original Rizzo in the musical '' Grease'', and as Carol Traynor, the divorced daughter o ...
. Carpenter is mostly known for his work with his father and musician
Daniel Davies, as well as his various solo projects.
Early life
Carpenter was born on May 7, 1984, in Los Angeles, California. He began taking piano lessons at a very young age, and was always surrounded by instruments at both his mother's and father's house, who had separated shortly after his birth.
Carpenter started writing music at age 13, but admits he "didn't write anything of quality until I was into my mid-20s".
He has been referred to by his middle name 'Cody' since birth to avoid confusion with his father.
Career
With John Carpenter
Carpenter's first major musical contributions were to ''
Vampires
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deat ...
'' (1998) and ''
Ghosts of Mars
''Ghosts of Mars'' (titled onscreen as ''John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars'') is a 2001 American science fiction action horror film written, directed and scored by John Carpenter. It was produced by Screen Gems and distributed by Sony Pictures R ...
'' (2001), where he is credited as playing keyboards.
In 2005 and 2006, Carpenter composed and performed the soundtrack to both "
Cigarette Burns
Cigarette burns are usually deliberate injuries caused by pressing a lit cigarette to the skin. They are a common form of child abuse
Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological ...
" and "
Pro-Life
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of ...
", John Carpenter's two episodes in Showtime's ''
Masters of Horror
''Masters of Horror'' is an anthology television series created by director Mick Garris for the Showtime cable network.
Origin
In 2002, director Mick Garris invited some director friends to an informal dinner at a restaurant in Sherman Oaks, ...
'' anthology television series.
2015 saw the release of ''
Lost Themes
''Lost Themes'' is the debut studio album by American film director and composer John Carpenter. It was released on February 3, 2015, through Sacred Bones Records. Carpenter created ''Lost Themes'' in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter a ...
,'' the first musical collaboration of Carpenter, his father, and
Daniel Davies. The trio would continue to work together with 2016's ''
Lost Themes II
''Lost Themes II'' is the second studio album by American film director and composer John Carpenter. It was released on April 15, 2016, through Sacred Bones Records. The album was created in collaboration with Carpenter's son Cody Carpenter and h ...
'', after which they would embark on a European and North American tour performing popular themes from John Carpenter's films and material from both ''Lost Themes albums.''
In 2017, the trio would re-record a number of John Carpenter's best-known movie themes in for ''
Anthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998''.
In 2018, both Carpenters and Davies composed the score for ''
Halloween
Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. ...
'' (2018), and ''Lost Themes III'' in 2021. In 2022, they also composed the score for the remake ''
Firestarter''.
Solo work
Differing from his composing work and his collaborations with his father, Carpenter's solo work falls more in the genres of progressive rock and jazz fusion, with Carpenter listing such artists as Genesis, ELP, Vince DiCola, and T-Square as major influences.
Cody would release a number of solo albums exclusively on Bandcamp from 2014 to 2018.
In 2018, Carpenter released his first non-Bandcamp exclusive progressive rock album on Blue Canoe Records titled ''Cody Carpenter's Interdependence.''
This would be his first album in a series of Blue Canoe Records releases featuring recurring guest musicians such as
Jimmy Haslip
James Robert Haslip (born December 31, 1951) is an American bass guitarist who was a founding member of the jazz fusion group the Yellowjackets, which he left in 2012. He was also an early user of the five-string electric bass.
Early life and ...
,
Virgil Donati
Virgil Donati (born 22 October 1958) is an Australian drummer, composer and producer. He holds the drum sticks in the traditional style and is also proficient at the keyboard. Donati formed Planet X with Derek Sherinian and was the band's princ ...
, Scott Seiver, and Jimmy Branly.
He would follow up with 2019's ''Force of Nature'' and 2020's ''Control,'' both featuring many of the same guest musicians as well as PJ D'Atri, John Konesky, and Junior Braguinha.
As Ludrium and other contributions
Carpenter also has composed music under the moniker Ludrium.
His work as Ludrium leans more towards the broader genres of
synthwave
Synthwave (also called outrun, retrowave, or futuresynth) is an electronic music microgenre that is based predominantly on the music associated with action, science-fiction, and horror film soundtracks of the 1980s. Other influences are drawn fr ...
and
synth-pop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...
, although still retaining some of the
progressive
Progressive may refer to:
Politics
* Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform
** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context
* Progressive realism, an American foreign policy pa ...
stylings of his solo works.
In 2018, Carpenter released his first album as Ludrium titled Reflections on Lakeshore Records. He would follow up this album with 2019's Stargazer, released independently.
That same year, Carpenter would work with English composer Mark Day on ''Shadow Spirits Vol 1.'' 影なる霊魂, a
chiptune soundtrack album to a videogame that does not exist.
Carpenter would perform backup keyboards for composer
Vince DiCola
Vincent Louis "Vince" DiCola (born November 11, 1957) is an American composer, keyboardist and arranger. He has composed scores for films such as '' Staying Alive'', ''Rocky IV'', and '' The Transformers: The Movie''. DiCola also pioneered the u ...
in multiple live music performances in 2019 and 2018, playing music from DiCola's movie and videogame soundtracks. Carpenter has listed DiCola as one of his primary musical influences.
Carpenter has also contributed musically to many other artists' work in many different genres.
Discography
Cody Carpenter solo albums
*''Cody Carpenter's Interdependence'' (2018)
*''Force of Nature'' (2019)
*''Control'' (2020)
*''Memories and Dreams'' (2021)
*''Balance of Extremes'' (2022)
Piano Solo albums
*''Piano Improvisations: The Major Arcana'' (2020)
Compilation albums
-- Electronic - compilation albums
*''Neon Sludge 2014-2018'' (2018.09.25)
-- Prog Rock / Fusion - compilation albums
*''Mind Over Matter 2014-2018 Vol. 1'' (2018.11.14)
*''Mind Over Matter 2014-2018 Vol. 2'' (2018.11.21)
As Ludrium - synthwave/synth-pop albums
*''Reflections'' (2018) – (As ‘Ludrium')
*''Stargazer'' (2019) – (As ‘Ludrium')
*''Alternate Universe Reimagined'' (2021 remastered from 2017)
Soundtrack albums
*''The Legend of Ludrium'' (2020)
Collaboration albums
*''Shadow Spirits Vol 1. 影なる霊魂'' (2018) – (With Mark Day)
*''The Last Flight SHMUP Tribute Song'' (2019) – (With Brandon Klopp)
TV, film, and videogame
*''
Vampires
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deat ...
'' (1998) – (As contributor/musician)
*''
Ghosts of Mars
''Ghosts of Mars'' (titled onscreen as ''John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars'') is a 2001 American science fiction action horror film written, directed and scored by John Carpenter. It was produced by Screen Gems and distributed by Sony Pictures R ...
'' (2001) – (As contributor/musician)
*''
Cigarette Burns
Cigarette burns are usually deliberate injuries caused by pressing a lit cigarette to the skin. They are a common form of child abuse
Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological ...
'' (2005)
*''
Pro-Life
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of ...
'' (2006)
*''Condemned'' (2016) – (As contributor/musician)
*''Tap Track Heroes'' (2016)
*''
Halloween
Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. ...
'' (2018)
*Astro Aqua Kitty (2021) – (As contributor/musician)
*''
Halloween Kills
''Halloween Kills'' is a 2021 American slasher film directed by David Gordon Green and co-written by Green, Danny McBride and Scott Teems. It is the sequel to 2018's ''Halloween'' and the twelfth installment in the'' Halloween'' franchise. The f ...
'' (2021)
*''
Firestarter'' (2022)
*''
Halloween Ends
''Halloween Ends'' is a 2022 American slasher film directed by David Gordon Green and co-written by Green, Danny McBride, Paul Brad Logan and Chris Bernier. It is the sequel to ''Halloween Kills'' (2021), the thirteenth installment in the ''H ...
'' (2022)
Other artist collaborations
*
Simulakrum Lab
Simulakrum Lab is an Italian synthwave/ retrowave music project created by composer and sound designer Paolo Prevosto.
Guests who collaborated in the first album "''Simulakrum Lab''" (2013) were:
* Claudio Simonetti (composer, together with Gob ...
*Confrontational
*Ultraboss
*PJ D'Atri
*Dance With The Dead
*Beckett
*Powernerd
*Scythe Saga
*Oceanside85
*Penix
*Diamond Field
*Keith Horn
References
External links
*
*
Cody Carpenteron Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carpenter, Chris
1984 births
American film score composers
American keyboardists
American male film score composers
American television composers
Living people
Male television composers
Video game composers