Paul Haslinger (born 11 December 1962) is an Austrian-born composer and musician currently based in Los Angeles, California.
Life and career
Haslinger was born in Linz, Upper Austria, Austria. After studying classical music in Vienna, Austria, Haslinger joined the German electronic music group, Tangerine Dream in 1986. During the following 5 years he recorded a total of 15 albums with the group, participated in 4 international tours and collaborated on a number of soundtracks, including Miracle Mile, Near Dark, and Shy People. The soundtrack album for the Miramar release Canyon Dreams, earned Haslinger his first Grammy nomination in 1991.
Haslinger decided to leave the group and move to Los Angeles in 1992. The Blue Room project, in collaboration with Peter Baumann, was recorded but never released on Private Music. Subsequently, Haslinger set up his own studio operation in West Hollywood, CA, named The Assembly Room, and released 3 solo albums, Future Primitive (1994), World Without Rules (1996), and Score (1999).
In 1998, he was asked to join the team around film composer Graeme Revell, working as a programmer and arranger for projects such as Chinese Box, The Negotiator, The Siege, Pitch Black, Blow and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. It was during this time that Haslinger decided to redirect his creative effort towards film scoring specifically and music-to-picture applications in general. After getting his start with a series of experimental Computer Graphic scores (Planetary Traveler, The Story of Computer Graphics), he earned his first solo feature credit with the 2000 HBO film Cheaters, which also marked the directorial debut of John Stockwell. The movie established Haslinger as a new voice in film scoring, blending song and score elements into a more integrated approach, aiming to combine the best of traditional orchestral scoring technique, with up to date music production, as it is typically only employed on album production. The approach was successful, and Haslinger has worked on every John Stockwell film since (Crazy/Beautiful, Blue Crush, Into The Blue, Turistas).
Steven Spielberg's 2002 Minority Report marks the first time Haslinger’s music was licensed to replace musical song elements used in the film soundtrack. To date, existing music of Haslingers’ has been licensed for over 20 feature films, including Batman Begins, The Mothman Prophecies and An Inconvenient Truth.
In 2003, Haslinger scored his first film to open No.1 at the US box office, Underworld, directed by Len Wiseman. The score soundtrack was released on Lakeshore Records, and based on the success of this album Haslinger was approached by Canadian/French game developer UbiSoft in 2005 to write music for his first computer game, Far Cry Instincts. The working relationship continues, and recently Haslinger has finished producing the music for Rainbow Six Vegas, the latest in the Tom Clancy inspired series of computer games, to be released in late 2006.
Haslinger favors a recording studio based production style, working in close collaboration with musicians and using multi-tracking and non-linear editing techniques as part of his creative process. He describes the studio itself as his main instrument.
In recent years, a core group of collaborators has established itself around Haslinger, including jazz trumpet player Jon Hassell, Brian Williams (aka Lustmord), guitarists Adam Jones (Tool) and Peter Maunu, Lebanese musician AJ Racy, and singers Sussan Deyhim, Nona Hendryx and Lori Carson. This group was prominently featured in the score for the Showtime Mini-Series, Sleeper Cell. The music for Sleeper Cell I: The Enemy Is Here earned Haslinger his first Emmy nomination in 2006.
Current releases include Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009) and the upcoming "X-men Origins: Wolverine Video Game from Activision and Raven Software.
Discography
Solo
- Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (OST, 2009)
- While She Was Out (OST, 2008)
- Need For Speed: Undercover (OST, 2008)
- Death Race (OST, 2008)
- Shoot Em Up (OST, 2007)
- Vacancy (OST, 2007)
- Sleeper Cell 2: American Terror (OST, 2007)
- Turistas (OST, 2007)
- Crank (OST, 2006)
- Sleeper Cell (OST, 2006)
- Girl Next Door (OST, 2004)
- Underworld (OST, 2003)
- Crazy/Beautiful (OST, 2001)
- Score (1999)
- Planetary Traveler (OST, 1998)
- World Without Rules (1996)
- Future Primitive (1994)
Coma Virus
- Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (OST, 2001)
- Red Planet (OST, 2000)
- The Siege Soundtrack (OST, 1998)
- The Negotiator (1998)
- Phoenix (OST, 1998)
- The Chinese Box (OST, 1997)
With Lightwave
- Bleue Comme Une Orange (2004)
- Mundis Subterraneus (1995)
- Tycho Brahe (1993)
- Vault IV (2004)
- Zoning (OST, 1996)
- Catch Me If You Can (OST, 1994)
- Deadly Care (OST, 1992)
- L'Affaire Wallraff (OST, 1991)
- Canyon Dreams (OST, 1991)
- Dead Solid Perfect (OST, 1990)
- Melrose (1990)
- Destination Berlin (1989)
- Lily On the Beach (1989)
- Miracle Mile (OST, 1988)
- Optical Race (1988)
- Live Miles (1988)
- Shy People (OST, 1987)
- Three O'Clock High (OST, 1987)
- Near Dark (OST, 1987)
- Tyger (1987)
- Underwater Sunlight (1986)
Filmography
Solo
- Rainbow Drive (1989)
- Catch Me If You Can (1989)
- The Man Inside (L'Affaire Wallraff) (1989)
- Destination Berlin (1989)
- Dead Solid Perfect (1988)
- Miracle Mile (1988)
- Zoning (1987)
- Red Nights (1987)
- Tonight's The Night (1987)
- Deadly Care (1987)
- Shy People (1987)
- Three O'Clock High (1987)
- Near Dark (1987)
- Canyon Dreams (1987)
- City of Shadows / Nightmare City (1986)
- Red Heat (1986)
Collaborators
Awards
- Grammy Nomination (w/ Tangerine Dream) - Canyon Dreams (1991)
- Emmy Nomination - Sleeper Cell (2006)
External links
