In late 2007, my friend Jon Allen contacted me about a film he was acting in called Save Ron Jr. There was an open call for extras for the "80s Party" scene, so I threw on my best Iron Maiden shirt and Wayne's World quality jeans and showed up ready to shoot as a stereotypical metalhead. However, due to a schedule conflict with one of the actors, I soon found myself in a new costume playing the part of Uncle Jesse, even in all of my haggard beardedness.
Anyway, a few months after filming, director Ray Gallardo and producer Christopher Holloway contacted me about working on the soundtrack. It began as a small project, writing music for a few scenes, but quickly became a score for the entire film, resulting in roughly 34 minutes of music.
Because of the need for 80s nostalgia, Save Ron Jr. was the first time I've had to do any sound-alike work. Nearly half of the pieces are knock-offs, imitating The Cars, Oingo Boingo, Jan Hammer, Alan Silvestri, and Spandau Ballet; different enough to be legally distinct, but so similar that it's immediately obvious which songs they're supposed to be. This was a weird experience for me. As I see it the credit for writing them is really due to the original artists. Nonetheless, it was still a lot of fun; sort an homage to some of the decade's best musicians.
Fortunately a decent chunk of the soundtrack still called for me to compose original work, and I had a blast going back to the synthesized glory of the 1980s. Radical!
† Unreleased Track
“Ian is excellent at what he does and is a pleasure to work with. He is great in understanding the vision set before him and gives it his all. He has the ability to go far. A very talented composer.”
— Ray Gallardo, Director
