Any Artists Here Among Us Elfman Fans?

[Anonymous]

. I myself am a sculptor and a musician. I have found Danny Elfman’s music to be quite inspiring and thought provoking. It truly feeds my creativity in all my artistic endevours. I am so thankful for his music, because it always lifts my spirit. He should have sainthood bestowed upon him when he dies. That’s how wonderful his music is. Does anyone else feel this way, artist or not?

[Anonymous]

Sainthood? I think Mr. Elfman would roll over in his grave (just like them playing the “Simpsons” theme at his funeral hehehe).

Knight (Yes, his music is awesome. What else can I say? I’m a fan)

[Anonymous]

im a musican .. clarinet , bass clarinet , trombone , piano , guitar , bass guitar , bassoon , oboe , trumpet , flute .. and i write my own symphonic peices for my high school band ( becasue of Mr. Elfman i did a Nightmare B4 X-mas medly). Elfman is a great inspiration for me

[Anonymous]

im a composer and i play the violin.
elfman is a great inspiration for me, too.

[Anonymous]

I’m not a musician of any kind, but I find much inspiration with Elfman’s music.

As a writer and director, I always listen to film scores when I write. I have to try and find a score that fits the tone and atmosphere of what I’m writing, and I’ve found Elfman music often fits perfectly.

[Anonymous]

Yep, I’m a musician – mostly woodwinds, but a little bit o’ everything. Stephanie – double reeds rule!!! (I’m an oboist, but I always dig out the English horn whenever the need arises).

-Erika

[Anonymous]

Mainly T-bone myself. Followed by baritone, tuba, guitar, and bass. Music is one of the biggest parts of my life. I listen to it, play it, and sometimes write it. I don’t plan on writing in the future, but of all the little things I’ve done before, there’s been a huge Elfman influence. I find that the reason I like Danny so much is because most of the things that I’ve heard from him are things that I would want to hear. Hard to explain. Anyway….so yeah he’s awesome.

[Anonymous]

Score another for the double reeds!
I play the bassoon, saxophone, piano, little bit of trombone, trumpet, and violin. I also write music; from String Quartets, and Piano works, to concert band pieces, and full orchestral works (including an hour long Oratorio and a short Opera).
For my own personal therapy I write songs (a few I’ve turned into Jazz charts), and find great comfort in playing them. As for Elfman’s influence, I too gravitated towards his particular sound and it was his music that I first emulated while trying to teach myself orchestration (however, he is not the only one).
As for my other creative endeavors (writing, painting, filmmaking) I have found that when you boil everything down what we are as creators are unique creatures born out of ALL of our influences. I find that just the fact that someone creates something I enjoy makes me want to create as well. It’s a viscous circle, I know, but one I wouldn’t give up for the world. I’ve made it through some terrible situations by creating something out of nothing. And just one of those responsible for my drive to do that is Danny Elfman, but certainly not the only one.

Nat

“Write something no matter what. Just create!”
– a teacher dear to my heart

[Anonymous]

I’m a musician, also. I mostly compose music with my computer and my keyboard, but I play clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, accordian, a little bit of cello and I’m just learning to play violin (got a nice one yesterday at a yardsale for 37$. SCORE!!). So, basically I’ll learn to play any instrument I can get my hands on. I also write, draw, sculpt. . . you name it.

[Anonymous]

Yes.

Does that answer the question? I’ve painted and drawn Elfman. Not obsessively, but those are two things I did.

And I’ve given up on a clearer “We Did It There,” I don’t know where to find whether there’s a possibility of Music For a Darkened Theatre 3 (and 4 and 5, he’s done a lot), and it’s not dead to me.

“Where did my lucky star go?”

[Anonymous]

I’m no musician. There are many things in which I cannot do, and music does not like me. So, I listen to it, instead. For the most part, I write and draw. Lots.

I like writing poems and short stories. Mainstream and horror are pretty much a given, but sometimes I venture into metafiction and literary for a change.

As for the drawing bit, I work with pen-and-ink, graphite, and the occasional acrylic (although with the acrylic, it’s limited to the painting of actual objects, like boxes, or walls, what with me sucking at painting things like pictures).

Charcoal is my favorite medium, so we get along rather well.

Mostly I draw still-life compositions of anything interesting I’ve got lying around. Or of someone like Danny or E.A. Poe (not that I’ve got them lying around, henceforth this would be the portrait section).

Or from albums or comics or anything else I can find–just to see if I can draw it. And, when in doubt, I draw my dog.

[Anonymous]

Well, I’m a composer and a musician too. I play the piano since I’m 4years old, and I compose since I’m twelve.
I’ve always been inspired by Danny’s music. About every year, I play a Danny Elfman medley that I arrange myself for the piano at the end of my concerts, in Switzerland. People seem to like it. If you want to hear my work, here you go :

http://www.illusionsoflight.fr.st

Nice to see how you all create!!!!! Keep going.

Eric

[Anonymous]

If you did have E.A. Poe lying around, I would get worried Dead-girl hehe.

In case anyone cares, I play guitar, bass guitar, violin, drums, percussion (professionally), piano, synthisis and that is all for now but I wanna get my hands on a cello (Not double reeds, STRINGS man, STRINGS RULE!!!). I do compose, but I don’t want to sound like one of those “Oh hey, I’m a composer who has never done anything worthwhile!” kinda people so it’s no biggie. Funny thing is, I can’t play anything I compose so props to Nat for being talented (yes, I write WAY over my head except for the guitar stuff, because I don’t acually write it ON the instrument [for example, the way John Williams composes on piano]). I hear your pain though Evil Dead, I can’t draw worth a damn, but I do tend to pry into the written word catagory now and then (nothing big about that either). Elfman is acually the guy who got me into film music so yes, he is a big inspiration. Anyhow, there is my life story, hope you found it dramatic and are squirting tears about now hehe.

Knight (And yes, there is more to me than that)

[Anonymous]

I play drums, percussion, guitar, bass, banjo, and screw around with keyboards, which I pretty much suck at playing.

I write music occasionally, but like Knight said, no biggie, and I’ve collaborated on tons of songs in various bands.

I can’t draw – even my stick figures look like crap – or paint or any of that visual stuff, but I enjoy writing prose in a strictly amateur capacity. There you have it.

Burt

[Anonymous]

And Nat, you rule – that was one of the best quickie descriptions of why people create I’ve ever seen.

Burt

[Anonymous]

i wanna learn strings sooo bad , but i have no access to them unless i buy my own .. heh , i just bought a bass clarinet ( low Cjoint for all you CL, Players 4,000 smakers

[Anonymous]

Cheers to the other writer/musicians. I try to divide my time equally between both, but one frequently suffers for the benefit of the other.

As far as those of you who draw, congrats on a talent I will never have, but always wished for. My sister can draw quite well. However, I was never lucky – or even competent – in that department.

The composers…I happen to admire you most of all. (No offense meant to anyone else, of course).

I’ll venture to guess that – at least for most of us – creativity is the driving force behind life. Not much else matters when you’re in the zone – eating, sleeping, friends, the outside world in general…you get the picture. At least I can certainly confirm that. Best wishes for the rest of your creative endeavors…

-E (as John Cusack in “High Fidelity” once said, “I want to live with a musician”)

[Anonymous]

I do a lot of drawing, painting and sketches, and I write poetry. I’m trying to learn to play the guitar at the moment, but I’m afraid I don’t know the first thing about composing.

Elfman has had (and still has) a huge impact on me artistically. I tend to listen to music when I write or draw, and 99% of the time I pick something of Elfman’s. His music is so passionate, dark, melancholy, and powerful, which is perfect for what I try to do with my own work. I’ve begun working on two different portraits of Elfman, but neither of them is finished yet. I’ve also done some other drawings where I used the image of his eyes in the picture, as well as some stuff influenced by Tim Burton, David Ho and Mexican Dia De Los Muertos artwork.

I had a teacher once compare one of my poems to the work of Sylvia Plath. It was a little weird considering the kind of person Plath was, but I took it as a compliment.

[Anonymous]

I am so glad I asked the question. It appears that many of us here are artists in one way or another. 17 responses in one day seems to be a pretty good indication so far. I have been drawing, sculpting and playing the bass guitar since I was 13. I have also been listening to Danny’s music since I was 13. I’m 34 now and I still maintain the same passion for Danny’s music as I did back then. I don’t know if that is a good thing or not. I am almost embarrassed to admit that, anywhere else, other than here. I have also found the artwork and album covers associated with Danny’s Early work to be very influential from a visual standpoint. I’m refering to the work of Georganne Deen and Mark Ryden to name two. I often wonder if the music of Danny Elfman has been as influential to the artists he has collaborated with as his music has been to me. I don’t know if that makes any sense, so, I will stop now. Mr.E

[Anonymous]

Mr.E wrote:
> I have also been listening to Danny’s music since I was 13. I’m
> 34 now and I still maintain the same passion for Danny’s music
> as I did back then. I don’t know if that is a good thing or
> not. I am almost embarrassed to admit that, anywhere else,
> other than here.

It IS a good thing! There’s no reason you should be embarassed about appreciating Danny’s work for so long. He’s an incredible artist and anyone who can get something positive out of his work is very fortunate. I’ve been a fan of Elfman for 10 years and I couldn’t be more proud to admit it to anyone.

Mr. E wrote:
>I have also found the artwork and album
> covers associated with Danny’s Early work to be very
> influential from a visual standpoint. I’m refering to the work
> of Georganne Deen and Mark Ryden to name two.

I think Lane Smith’s artwork for the Good For Your Soul album cover is just gorgeous, and the Peter Zokosky painting on the cover of Dark At The End Of The Tunnel.

[Anonymous]

I think I admire people who do music-related things more, just because it’s so alien-ish. I mean, to me, writing and drawing is no big deal–since I can do it. But music? Pish! I couldn’t play the Triangle right–I’d turn it into a square, or somethin’!

I find that I listen to Danny’s scores while writing, and listen to Boingo while drawing. Just works for me. I mean, the singing parts really mess me up. Figure I’ll try and write something, and then end up with typed Boingo lyrics on the page….

And Poe could’ve been mummified. Or smelly. But I don’t have him around here. Really. I’m not that obsessed. (And there may be an unspoken “Yet” lingering about). Don’t make eye contact. Don’t make eye contact. Look away!

[Anonymous]

I`am the artist. I am engaged in larceny and fake of the signatures, fake of seales, fake of the firm forms, fake of trade marks. I`am the artist of larceny and foreman of fakes…..

[Anonymous]

You’re also an artist of dumb lies.

[Anonymous]

You do not understand. Sometimes my work is very useful. I`am the artist. I helped to many people. And music of Elfman lifts my spirit.
P.S.: And of course…I must be an artist of lies

[Anonymous]

Ok, sorry. What I meant to say was you’re an artist of hilarious lies.

[Author]

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