Lakeshore Records will release the STATEN ISLAND SUMMER – Original Motion Picture Score (Featuring Original Music by John Swihart)digitally on August 14th and the STATEN ISLAND SUMMER – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Featuring Songs By King Khan & The Shrines, Rjd2, and Lowell) digitally on August 21, 2015. The score album features original music by John Swihart (NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER). The soundtrack, compiled by music supervisor Mark Wike (Netflix’s BLOODLINE, NCIS: LOS ANGELES, HUNG), features songs by artists including King Khan & The Shrines, Rjd2, Ugly Duckling, Lowell, Zeus, and Chuck & Mac.
“Rhys Thomas [director] was very good at expressing himself when it came to score,” said Swihart. “He had the idea of this place being something out of the past or ‘stuck in time’ as well as just being a little off in general. It was very tempting to punctuate funny comedy with music, but Rhys wanted to stay away from that as much as possible. We ended up letting all the ‘funny comedy’ play and all the ‘threatening comedy’ or ‘high stakes comedy’ we did punctuate with music.”
John Swihart was raised in Bloomington, Indiana, the son of a physicist based at Indiana University. He spent a portion of his formative years in Europe and Asia, where his father would sabbatical. John studied Classical Piano under Nola Heiden (wife of Bernhard Heiden) at age 5 at Indiana University, he then played Sax from 8-12 and then guitar. Swihart would leave Indiana to attend the renowned Berklee College of Music, in Boston, where he majored in composition and production and engineering.
After years of performing in numerous bands, experimental performances, studio session work as a guitar player, and remixer with local DJ’s. John put his own studio together and moved into writing and producing music for picture. When Swihart got to Los Angeles, he scored a few Independent films before his breakout project NAPOLEON DYNAMITE premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004. John has been busy ever sense scoring almost 50 films and half as many TV shows, including the hit CBS sitcom HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER.
From producer Lorne Michaels, creator of “Saturday Night Live,” and written by SNL’s Colin Jost, STATEN ISLAND SUMMER from Paramount Insurgeis an outrageous coming-of-age comedy about a hilarious group of misfit lifeguards on a mission to throw the wildest party of the summer. Featuring an all-star cast of SNL favorites including Cecily Strong, Fred Armisen, Bobby Moynihan and Will Forte, along with Jim Gaffigan, Kate Walsh and Ashley Greene, Staten Island Summer is the must-see comedy that celebrates good times, great friends and having no regrets.
“All the emotional spots were scored traditionally with strings and piano but not without the help of a lot of electronic elements,” Swihart explained. “The 70’s style funk stuff was a lot of hand percussion in particular some bongo lines that were played by a great percussionist from Santo Domingo named Reynold Roque. He also played all the Taiko drums for the suspense montage.”
TRACKLIST (SCORE)
1. Pot Dummy
2. The Bike Ride
3. Lion Talk
4. Let’s Get To Work0
5. Home Depot
6. Danny Frank Bike Ride
7. Hello Gorgeous
8. Underwear Heist
9. Chuck Is Still Trapped
10. Boner Rescue
11. Fucked Up
12. Chuck Is The Law
13. Danny and Frank at Krystal’s
14. Chuck’s Sabotage
15. Leo Threatens Danny
16. Deck Races
17. Ice Cream Truck / Health Inspector
18. Snorting Sugar
19. Swim Club Closes
20. Danny At Home
21. Let’s Party
22. Chasing Rebecca
23. I Kept Imagining Her Dad
TRACKLIST (SOUNDTRACK)
1. Luckiest Man – King Khan & The Shrines
2. Going to the Casino – Philadelphia Grand Jury
3. Break It Off (Zshipps Remix) – Fawn
4. Nothing I’d Rather Be (Than Your Weakness) – Marva W. Taylor
5. Bob Your Head – Ugly Duckling
6. Her Majesty’s Socialist Request – RJD2
7. Cloud 69 – Lowell
8. Smoke That – Dan Farber
9. The Big Ol’ Ass – Has-Lo & Castle
10. Indestructible – One Eighty
11. Old Enough to Know – Zeus
12. Powerful Love – Chuck & Mac