He helped create the slasher movie genre and coined that piano melody from the Halloween soundtrack. Now John Carpenter has released his third standalone album with son Cody and Daniel Davies. Prog catches up with the acclaimed director, screenwriter and synthwave pioneer to find out more.

Words: Malcolm Dome

John Carpenter: slowing down? As if!

Images: Sophie Gransard

J  ohn Carpenter has a self-deprecating interest in his age. “Who’d have thought that at my age [he’s 73] I’d be lucky enough to have a second career? But here I am!” he says with a laugh.

The quietly spoken Carpenter has long been acclaimed as one of the all time masters of the horror movie genre, thanks to directing iconic films such as Halloween, The Thing and They Live. He’s also shown his versatility with Assault On Precinct 13, Big Trouble In Little China and Escape From New York.

But in recent years, he’s eschewed the familiar role behind the camera to concentrate on his musical abilities. Carpenter had already displayed a talent for electronic themes by composing the soundtracks for a number of his movies (“It was cheaper for me to do it, rather than bring in someone else,” he says). But with the arrival of the Lost Themes album in 2015, he suddenly became a significant and serious musician.

Maybe that shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. After all, his scores for Halloween and Assault On Precinct 13 have long since been regarded both as pioneering and a major inspiration for the whole synthwave movement. Yet mention his importance to this style of music and what you get from him is almost a shrug of the shoulders.