JC CARROLL

FILM & VIDEO

MUSIC PRODUCTION

From the Sound of the Suburbs to the Sound of the Cinema

JC CARROLL

LETS TALK ABOUT A CROCK OF GOLD

I was thrilled to be asked to put a team together to make some music for the Shane McGowan biopic a Crock of Gold. It was my chance to visit my Irish roots and work with some great people to help tell the story of this inspirational second generation Irishman. As usual, Julian asked some interesting questions and wanted some really special music and this soundtrack took me on a journey to discover deeper roots of music like Turlough O'Carolan O'Carolan. I also got to work with the wonderful original bass player of Shane's band Shanne Bradley and a great uillean Piper called Dickie Deegan.

BIG SCREEN PRODUCTIONS AND ART HOUSE AND ONLINE GUERILLA VIDEO

As part of the Punk ethic I have always produced my own records...I have been making videos for some of my Independent records for about 15 years at first with phone cameras and lo-fi production techniques. This is part of what I do people like what I produce and have been commissioning me to do, POP videos with Animation and animated lyrics sometimes I do this as a package with the music production it's worth getting in touch with me and I will talk about your project. It doesn't matter if it's a movie or a small band video I am interested.

15+

MOVIE PRODUCTION

78+

MUSIC VIDEO

FILMS

FEATURED PROJECTS

I got my first break in the movie business by playing Accordion on a movie called Loch Ness where I actually appeared in the movie wearing a kilt and a sporran with the name of the James Bond film written on the back of it; the next Accordion movie was a wonderful film called Don Juan DiMarco featuring Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando and Faye Dunaway wow what a cast I had a tiny part where I played Accordion the Mandolin and I got to visit the Studio whilst the wonderful late Michael Kamen was conducting musicians, you always have to start somewhere and I started off at the bottom hustling bits and pieces of work tiny clips of music that solve problems for different scenes. I was lucky to be part of the team that worked on a few movies when I was the guy that did ethnic musician instruments, and a bit of rock 'n' roll. I soon learned that providing cues for Films was not about stamping your own identity on somebody else's work it was about enhancing it. One of the funnest early things I did was some sexy music for a film called Angels and virgins produced by Dina DeLaurentis. I had to come up with some music for a sex scene and I did a sort of Barry White groove in my basement with a couple of cheap mikes a drum kit and a bass guitar. I added some synth strings and some other parts and sent it off to the production team. they loved it and they told me they were going to replace the strings at Abbey Road, wow, I assumed that I would have to rerecord the Drums and Bass because we were going to Abbey Road, but NO the production people said they were fine. It was then I learned that you could use a cheap Mike on a big movie. When I am not working on big projects for production houses I work on my own films and videos. It is a way of honing my craft. Also the timeline of Music production is very similar to the timeline on music production. It's the same thing. I'm very grateful for some of the work I have been given because, I have been asked to produce different types of music that I would never have made in the past and I have learnt from this process. I do everything from mediaeval music to up-to-date pop music. Sometimes you have to use the exact instruments but sometimes you can use your imagination because after all people don't actually see you playing the music they just hear it, that is the magic of soundtrack work.

THE GOLBORNE VARIATIONS
FLAVOUR

The Golborne Variations is a an award-winning art house movie about the sites and sounds and smells of the road in North Kensington. The project started as the Jamm session with superstar bass player Guy Pratt Rockin' around an Arabic bass scale. They played a slow version of it and then they did a fast version of it. Luckily it was all recorded at Westbourne Studios and JC went back to his own studio and the project ended up over half an hour not content with a fantastic piece of music. JC decided he would turn the project into a movie with very basic cameras strapped to his car. He drove up to Portobello Road at 5 o'clock in the morning and filmed the market setting up including shots of sunrise over the iconic Tick tower, this is a lo-fi project done with basic cameras and it was a learn as you go project. Eventually it was cut into a movie and shown at the prestigious port developed film festival where curator Jonathan Barnett asked JC to perform it live at their annual festival was another step forward backwards he assembled a 12 piece band to play live to a cut of the film without music and received to standing ovation and a prestigious Portobello Film Festival best movie award . it was the beginning of many audiovisual projects JC was to embark on.

London a Modern Babylon
Julien Temple Award Winning Documentary

London the modern Babylon is an amazing movie. It's a love letter to London put together with the usual fast editing that we've come to expect from Julian and Caroline (Juliens editor). I was asked to provide lots of different types of music for this movie. Everything from 1920s Music to a apocalyptic future PUNK ROCK. People think of me as the guy that plays PUNK ROCK but I have studied and have I studied different types of music and it was a real pleasure to work on this for Julien and his team if you get a chance to go and see it, definitely check it out, I am happy to say I solved some problems and helped make this film the magnificent spectacle that it is.

Oil City Confidential
Julien Temples Dr Feelgood Movie

It was great to work with the producer Richard England on this beautifully crafted picture of one of the best love bands from the pre-punk scene. Heroes of pub RobK Dr. Feelgood carved a unique path across the Music business in the 70s and explaining how they fit in Julian needed lots of different types of music to illustrate the genius of Dr Feelgood . I had to jump through hoops in certain parts of the movie I had to reproduce a song that was being performed at a concert in the yearly 70s but change the lyrics and the music while still sounding like the band on stage were performing it it was an interesting challenge, but as with all these movies I learned so much about fantastic music and I'd like to think I help solve some difficult copyright problems by composing music which fill the gaps and illustrates the points and helps keep the vibe Rockin'

SERVICES

WHAT SERVICE DOES JC OFFER

FILM MUSIC PRODUCTION

Composes Records and masters original music for Film Projects. Back in the day if you were making a movie, you would have to hire a fixer a Music Producer studio and musicians. JC does all of these things in his studios in France and in England he can work remotely strangely enough the earliest 21st century synthesis at the Accordian is one of his main tours, as it can be made to sound like strings brass clarinets. JC has a full library of modern orchestral sounds as well as a great collection of interesting string instruments Mandolas mandolins, banjos, zithers and guitars these are the tools of trades and some instruments are much more evocative than others. They can tell stories or they can put you in places for example and Accordion can take you from Paris to Eastern Europe to Mexico just with a different type of playing waltz can take you to Vienna.

Fixer and Musical Director

Puts together a team of musicians that can deliver what the director wants. Sometimes only the original music will do but sometimes the original music is very very expensive and a well played substitute will save thousands of pounds. Sometimes you need this played by musicians sometimes it can be programmed and occasionally something completely different. Will make the images on the film come to life.

CONTRACTS and PAPERWORK

Provides the production team with a one stop shop with clear contracts buy outs waivers and hassle free Music

MUSIC VIDEO

JC can provide Pre and Post Production Graphics and Animation for Music Videos and Explainer Videos

STORY

STORY BEHIND JC CARROLL

JC has been involved in movies since he first appeared on Michael White's URGGH a music war this was a concert movie filmed in Los Angeles where the members performed along with other new Wave bands like the police. Not a very good start but a chance meeting with Film composer Michael Kamen and Work in The House band of a pantomime got him noticed.. for JC it all started with the Accordion he got sessions working on Loch Ness and Don Juan DiMarco later working for Michael Kamen's team. People realised that he was really flexible and able produce music in various different genres that began a long-standing relationship with producer Stephen Malit and director Julien Temple starting with the Dr. Feelgood biopic oil city confidential. In the film soundtrack where JC is a problem solver he brings a different attitude to his work and can in one movie flit from 1930s tea dance music to nineteen seventies disco to chanson to rock 'n' roll he has studied it all. Two stand out movies are Temples “London a Modern Babylon “ and the epic “Crock of Gold- a few rounds with Shane McGowan”

Films with scores or contributions by JC Carroll
Urgh! A Music War (1981)
Don Juan DeMarco (1994)
Loch Ness (1996)
Hannibal Rising (2007)
Straightheads (2007)
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (2007)
Stardust (2007)
Virgin Territory (2008)
Telstar (2008)
Oil City Confidential (2009)
Johnny English Reborn (2011)
The Golborne Variations (2011)
London Modern Babylon (2012)
Looking for Johnny (2014)
Six Bullets to Hell (2014)
The Invisible Woman (2013)
Hector (2015)
The Goldborne Variations
Amar Akbar & Tony (2015)
The Marriage of Reason and Squalor (2015)
Let Me Go (2016)
Sad Vacation (2018)
Suggs: My Life Story (2018)
We Are the League (2019)
Crock of Gold (2020)

JC CARROLL