Josh Mancell (born November 13, 1969) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist who writes music for film, television, and

video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

. He is best known for his work on the ''

Crash Bandicoot ''Crash Bandicoot'' is a video game franchise originally developed by Naughty Dog as an exclusive for Sony's PlayStation console. It has seen numerous installments created by various developers and published on multiple platforms. The series c ...

'' and ''

Jak and Daxter ''Jak and Daxter'' is a platform video game franchise created by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin and owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series was originally developed by Naughty Dog with a number of installments being outsourced to Re ...

'' series of video games. Mancell has received two

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...

nominations for his work on the

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

, ''

Clifford the Big Red Dog ''Clifford the Big Red Dog'' is an American children's book series which focuses on the adventures of an 8-year old blonde haired girl named Emily Elizabeth and her titular pet: a gigantic, red-furred dog named Clifford. It was first published ...

''.

Early life and education

Mancell was born on November 13, 1969, in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

. He attended

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...

. As a child, Mancell learned to play the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, and

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and was a "rabid record geek". The exposure of playing music in different types of bands (such as

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who play while marching. Historically they were used in armed forces and many marching bands remain military bands. Others are still associated with military units or emulate a military sty ...

s, and

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

s), combined with fandom in many genres, led Mancell to pursue a composing career. He was encouraged by his college professors to move to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to write music for film and television.

Career

Mancell has developed a successful career writing musical scores for film and television. In film, he has scored a range of films such as '' Bongwater'' (starring

Luke Wilson Luke Cunningham Wilson (born September 21, 1971) is an American actor. Wilson's prominent film roles have included '' Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Blue Streak'' (1999), '' My Dog Skip'' (2000), '' Legally Blonde'' (2001), ''The Royal Tenenbaums' ...

Alicia Witt Alicia Roanne Witt (born August 21, 1975) is an American actress and musician. She first came to fame as a child actress after being discovered by David Lynch, who cast her in ''Dune'' (1984) and ''Twin Peaks'' (1990). Witt was a regular on Cyb ...

and

Jack Black Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for roles in family and comedy films, in addition to his voice work in animated films. His awards include a Children's and Family Emmy ...

) and '' Love Comes to the Executioner'' (starring

Jonathan Tucker Jonathan Moss Tucker (born May 31, 1982) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the films ''The Virgin Suicides'' (1999), ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' (2003), ''Hostage'' (2005), '' In the Valley of Elah'' (2007), '' The Ruins'' (2 ...

Ginnifer Goodwin Ginnifer Goodwin (born Jennifer Michelle Goodwin on May 22, 1978) is an American actress. She starred as Margene Heffman in the HBO drama series ''Big Love'' (2006–2011), Mary Margaret Blanchard, Snow White / Mary Margaret Blanchard in the Am ...

and

Jeremy Renner Jeremy Lee Renner (born January 7, 1971) is an American actor. He began his career by appearing in independent films such as ''Dahmer (film), Dahmer'' (2002) and ''Neo Ned'' (2005), then supporting roles in bigger films, such as ''S.W.A.T. (20 ...

) as well as contributing music to the cult indie ''

Chuck & Buck ''Chuck & Buck'' is a 2000 American black comedy drama film directed by Miguel Arteta and produced by Matthew Greenfield. It was written by and starred Mike White in the leading role. Arteta, Greenfield, and White met and first collaborated at ...

'' (

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...

winner). Mancell's music has been used for the animated television shows ''

Gary the Rat ''Gary the Rat'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by the Cullen Brothers for Spike TV (previously known as TNN) and animated by Spike Animation Studios. It was produced by Grammnet Productions and Cheyenne Enterprises and distribut ...

'' (starring

Kelsey Grammer Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained fame for his role as the psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1984–1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993–2004, and again F ...

), ''

Shorty McShorts' Shorts ''Shorty McShorts' Shorts'' is an American animated anthology short series, which consisted of 4-/5-minute shorts. It aired from July 28, 2006, to May 25, 2007. Summary Initially conceived as a short pilot program for Disney TV Animation, prod ...

'' (starring

Wilmer Valderrama Wilmer Eduardo Valderrama ( ; born January 30, 1980) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Fez in the sitcom '' That '70s Show'' (1998–2006), his current role as Special Agent Nick Torres in '' NCIS'' (2016–present), and Agu ...

), and ''

'' (starring

John Ritter Johnathan Southworth Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American comedian and actor. He was a son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason Ritter, Jason and Tyler Ritter. He is best known for ...

), which has earned him two Emmy nominations. Mancell is known for his music in video games including

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

's ''

'' and ''

'' series, and other titles such as '' Johnny Mnemonic: The Interactive Action Movie'' and ''

Interstate '82 ''Interstate '82'' is a vehicular combat video game developed and published by Activision for Microsoft Windows in 1999. Setting The game is set in the Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American S ...

''. This work was done with the assistance of

Mutato Muzika Mutato Muzika is an American music production company established and owned by Devo co-founder and lead singer Mark Mothersbaugh in 1989. The name is a portmanteau of the words ''mutant'' and ''potato'', a reference to Mothersbaugh's longstanding ...

, the music production company which

Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American musician and composer. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead vocalist and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 20 single in the US ...

formed with several other former members of

Devo Devo is an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs ( Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 ...

including his brother,

Bob Mothersbaugh Robert Leroy Mothersbaugh Jr. (; born August 11, 1952), also known by his stage name Bob 1, is an American musician, singer, songwriter and composer. Mothersbaugh's music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as ...

Musical groups

Mancell has been a member of the following bands and musical groups outside of his solo composing career: * The Millionaires – punk rock/garage band (1995–1996) * Uluteka – acid jazz/lounge band (1996) *

– music production company (1992–2007) * The Dining Room Set – power pop/mod/soul (1999) * The Wipeouters – surf/electronic (2001) * The Moon Upstairs – psychedelic rock (2006–2010) * Exploding Flowers – pop/post-punk/power pop (2010–present)

Musical style and influences

Mancell's influences include electronic artists such as

Mouse on Mars Mouse on Mars is a German electronic music duo formed in 1993 by Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma. Their music is a blend of electronic genres including IDM, dub, krautrock, breakbeat and ambient, featuring heavy use of organic analog synth and ...

A Guy Called Gerald Gerald Rydel Simpson (born 1967), better known as A Guy Called Gerald, is a British record producer and musician. He was an early member of the electronic group 808 State, contributing to their debut LP '' Newbuild'' (1988) and hit single " ...

Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), known professionally as Aphex Twin, is a British musician, composer and DJ active in electronic music since 1988. His idiosyncratic work has drawn on many styles, including techno, ambient music, ambi ...

Juan Atkins Juan Atkins (born September 12, 1962), also known as Model 500 and Infiniti, is an American record producer and DJ from Detroit, Michigan. ''Mixmag'' has described him as "the original pioneer of Detroit techno." He has been a member of the Belle ...

Richard H. Kirk Richard Harold Kirk (21 March 1956 – 21 September 2021) was an English composer, musician and producer. He is best known for his work in electronic music, and for co-founding the influential music group Cabaret Voltaire in 1973. As a solo art ...

and

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...

, as well as progressive rock band

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

. He has cited their "interesting rhythmic elements" and said that "melodically they're simple but kind of leftfield too".

Works

Video games

Film

Television

*''

Adventures in Wonderland Adventures in Wonderland may refer to: * ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'', 1865 English children's novel by Lewis Carroll * ''Adventures in Wonderland'' (1992 TV series), 1992–1995 American live-action/puppet musical television series based ...

'' (1992) – with Mark Mothersbaugh * ''Futurequest'' (1994) * ''

'' (2000) – with Mark Mothersbaugh * '' The Groovenians'' – with Mark Mothersbaugh,

Bob Casale Robert Edward Casale Jr. (born Robert Edward Pizzute Jr.; July 14, 1952 – February 17, 2014), or "Bob 2", was an American musician, composer and record producer. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as the rhythm guitarist and keyboardi ...

, Albert Fox, Al Mothersbaugh,

, Andrew Todd, and Pat Irwin (additional music) * ''

'' (2003) * ''

'' (2006) ("Dudley and Nestor Do Nothing") * ''The Bite-Sized Adventures of Sam Sandwich'' (2011)

References

External links

* * *
Exploding Flowers Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mancell, Josh 1969 births 20th-century American composers 21st-century American composers American film score composers American male film score composers American male television composers American multi-instrumentalists American television composers American video game composers Living people Musicians from Ann Arbor, Michigan