Robert Folk

Although he made his first reputation with the POLICE ACADEMY movies, Robert Folk has proven over the last 17 years to be a first-rate composer with a gift for melody and tonality whose scores for such films as TOY SOLDIERS, LAWNMOWER MAN II, TREMORS, MILES FROM HOME, and ACE VENTURA: WHEN NATURE CALLS. We highlighted Folk’s new score for NOTHING TO LOSE in our September issue – a recent encounter with the composer afforded a chance to catch up on several of his other scores.
Q: How did you get involved in film music scoring?
Robert Folk: I started off as a rocker when I was a kid, and then moved back to New York where I was from, went to Juilliard and got heavily into the serious music world, all the classical repertoire, contemporary music, etc. I ended up staying there for ten years, did a Ph.D. there, and ended up teaching there and then finally got the film bug. I had a student who was the son of a filmmaker and the rest is history… Just one of those by-chance meetings. It just kind of caught my attention. I was always kind of a film buff, I was really in the kind of concert world at that point, not really thinking of film music that much as a writer.
Q: Your score for LAWNMOWER MAN was a full blown symphonic score written for full orchestra and chorus that keeps this rather lame sequel moving along at breakneck speed…
Folk: I felt LAWNMOWER MAN film was a terrific film, but one I don’t think has been seen by that many people. I think the release and the promotion of the film kind of fell below the desired level. A very interesting science fiction piece, with a great visual style by a director named Farhad Mann, who like Ridley or a Tony Scott had done lots and lots of international commercials and just had that real great visual style that those guys seem to acquire. Also a great feeling with the high-tech interaction for the look of the movie.