Cover of the ‘Rocko’s Modern Life’ soundtrack album.
This month, Nickelodeon Records released the soundtrack for “Rocko’s Modern Life,” the unhinged (and often mischievously adult) 90s cartoon, created by Joe Murray, about a put-upon wallaby.
The music for the show was composed by Pat Irwin. A member of the B-52s at the time, Irwin’s music was like a surf-rock/lounge jazz descendant of the antic music of Looney Tunes composer Carl Stalling — badass guitars, swirling organs, skittering drums, trombone and clarinet thrown in for good measure, and an overall approach suggestive of a kind of musical dissociative disorder. Divorced from the visuals, it’s a fantastically demented listening experience — a true cartoon for the ears.
The soundtrack is now available to stream/download; this writer is crossing his fingers for a vinyl release.
In a recent interview, Pat told Forbes about his work on the show, the new release, and the music he’s been making lately.
Pat, how did you come to work on the music for “Rocko’s Modern Life”?
Nickelodeon was a fairly new network and they were just starting to create original animation. I was in a band at the time called The Raybeats and we had some fans at the network. As it happened, the Raybeats were playing an infamous art show called the Times Square Show on 42nd Street and some executives from the network came down to see us. As far as I remember, I was interviewing for the job for “Rocko’s Modern Life” the next day.
What brief were you given?
I wasn’t really given a brief. I remember talking about influences and cartoons. I mentioned, of course, the Warner Brothers cartoons but I also talked about Road Runner, “Top Cat,” and “Rocky and Bullwinkle.”
I remember the creator of “Rocko,” Joe Murray, talking to me about the drawings and the colors that he used. I loved his attention to detail and wanted to bring that into the score. There are no right angles in the animation. That stuck with me. He also talked about sensory overload. The brief was very conversational. I remember Joe once saying to me, “climb the ladder of anxiety.”
I was given an animatic and storyboards. I still have the storyboards somewhere.
How would you describe your musical influences for “Rocko”? I hear surf rock, bachelor pad lounge music, some hectic jazz, and the influence of Carl Stalling in there…
[For the theme] I was hearing some sort of a combination of Iggy Pop’s “Lust For Life” and Benny Goodman’s “Sing Sing Sing.”
Carl Stalling was definitely an influence, that music is on another level. I grew up listening to instrumental rock and roll: the Ventures, Link Wray… Pipeline by the Chantays is a big one. The sound of that record shattered me. Booker T. & the M.G.’s was also a big influence. Steve Cropper on 11. And, of course, Link Wray on 12.
Were the recording sessions as lunatic and enjoyable as they sound?
Yes.
We recorded and mixed each episode of “Rocko” in a day. We’d set up around 8 or 9 a.m. and the rhythm section would arrive first.
Kevin Norton played drums and David Hofstra played bass. Those two played on every episode of Rocko. The music would not exist if it wasn’t for those two. (Kevin was playing with the great Anthony Braxton at the time of the recording. I knew Dave from the Raybeats. He was a childhood friend of Jody Harris, the guitar player in the Raybeats. Dave had been in bands with both Don Christensen and Jody from the Raybeats. He also played with John Zorn, and the Microscopic Septet.)
Art Baron played most of the trombone that you hear. Art was in the Duke Ellington Orchestra! I take great pleasure in saying that. Duke Ellington is one of my favorite composers. Art is a master musician and has also played with, among many others, Stevie Wonder and B.B. King.
Rob DeBellis plays the woodwinds. At the time of the recording Rob was playing with Muhal Richard Abrams and Don Byron. If I wrote it, Rob could play it. I started out playing the clarinet on the soundtrack but that didn’t last long. Rob has been playing in the “Lion King” orchestra on Broadway since we did the original “Rocko” recordings.
I play all the guitar and keyboards. For me the recording sessions were what I thought making records was going to be like. We’d set up, play it one time through, and go for a take. The guys who did the mixing and recording were fantastic. Robert FitzSimons did the first season and Patrick Derivaz engineered and mixed the rest. I’m friends with them both to this day.
After each mix I’d dash down to FedEx to get the stereo mix onto the last truck out to the airport for the overnight flight to LA. It was pretty intense. After a couple times of barely making it to FedEx on time, the guys on the loading dock got to know me pretty well. One in particular was a Rocko fan and he also knew that I was with the B-52s.
I remember the panic of it all and having to meet the deadlines. Joe would send me his notes by fax and I would just go for it. He was fantastic to work with.
How did this soundtrack release come about, and what does it mean to you?
It means the world to me. To this day people still watch this show and I meet people who say they grew up watching it. I never imagined that this music would see the light of day and I think the time was right for a release. It’s the 30th anniversary of “Rocko.” Let’s celebrate and get the music out there!
Lately you’ve been making music with a group named SUSS?
I just finished up a rehearsal with SUSS — we’re currently playing a series of concerts at the Culture Lab in Long Island City, in Queens NY. We’re basing the series around playing an entire side of our double LP on consecutive Fridays. We’ve played two nights and we’ve got two to go. Each side of the record has a different name and a different vibe. SUSS is an ambient music band that uses instruments that for the most part are associated with country music — primarily, a pedal steel guitar but we use other acoustic instruments as well. But, we also use electronics and loops. We just played the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee which was a real thrill.
SUSS makes the kind of music that I want to hear. I like pushing sounds beyond the ordinary.