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Richard Gibbs

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Richard Gibbs
Born (1955-12-05) December 5, 1955 (age 68)
Bay Village, Ohio, U.S.
GenresFilm score
Occupation(s)Composer, orchestrator, conductor
Years active1981–present

Richard "Ribbs" Gibbs (born December 5, 1955) is an American film composer and music producer whose credits include Dr. Dolittle,[1] Big Momma's House,[2] Queen of the Damned,[3] the television series Battlestar Galactica[4] and the first season of The Simpsons.[5]

Musical career

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Gibbs was the keyboard player for the new wave band Oingo Boingo from 1980 to 1984. He was also a session player, performing on over 150 albums for artists as diverse as War, Tom Waits, Boy Meets Girl, Living in a Box, Robert Palmer, and Aretha Franklin. His professional relationship with Mr. Palmer began after he wrote a tongue-in-cheek letter of complaint about loud music emanating from Palmer's Bahamian condo, which was immediately next door to the one Gibbs was staying in while working on another project at Compass Point studios.

Gibbs started with Michael Jochum the band Zuma II, which had an eponymously titled record released by Pasha/CBS Records. He has appeared live with Korn, The Staples, Chaka Khan, and Oingo Boingo.

Like his former bandmate Danny Elfman, Gibbs has embarked on a life of scoring movies and television shows. He has written the scores for over sixty films that have collectively grossed well over $1 billion in box office receipts worldwide (Dr. Dolittle, Step Into Liquid, Say Anything... and Queen of the Damned, among others) and acted as musical director and composer for various television shows, including Muppets Tonight!, The Simpsons, and Battlestar Galactica. He has worked extensively with actress-comedian Tracey Ullman, on her various projects.

His critically well-received collaboration with Jonathan Davis (lead singer of Korn) on the songs and score for Queen of the Damned led to a gold record.

Gibbs produced the second full-length record for the Warner Bros. Records band Eisley, "Combinations." Pre-production took place in Tyler, TX, home of the band, and tracking took place in Malibu in his studio The Woodshed in mid-September 2006. The record was released on August 14, 2007. He also found the time to serve as music director and arranger for Korn's appearance on MTV Unplugged, broadcast in February 2007. He produced the record of that event, which arrived in February as well.

Past projects include scoring the multiple award winning drama Face to Face for Battlestar Galactica and Queen of the Damned director Michael Rymer. He produced former Mr. Mister (Broken Wings) band member Richard Page's solo disc "Peculiar Life" and is currently producing a collection of songs by an adventurous new band, Purple Mountains Majesties.

He consistently works with directors Betty Thomas (Dr. Dolittle, 28 Days, I Spy), John Schultz (Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer, Like Mike, The Honeymooners), along with the aforementioned Michael Rymer, and Tracey Ullman.

Gibbs' songwriting and theme credits include "Until the Stars Fall" (co-written and produced with Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 for the movie Fired Up!), the theme to the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series, the Muppets Tonight! theme, and the aforementioned Queen of the Damned songs. The Queen of the Damned songs were co-written and produced with Jonathan Davis; the songs were reperformed for the CD release by Chester Bennington (Linkin Park), Marilyn Manson, David Draiman (Disturbed), Jay Gordon (Orgy), and Wayne Static (Static-X).

Woodshed Recording

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Gibbs is the owner of a state of the art ocean view Malibu studio, Woodshed Recording.[6] Since 2004, Woodshed has hosted artists and producers such as Barbra Streisand, U2, Sting, Pink, Lenny Kravitz, Max Martin, Foster the People, Coldplay, Ryan Tedder, Paul Epworth, Walter Afanasieff, and Kenny 'Babyface' Edmonds. Woodshed features a revolutionary modular wall system that allows for dozens of different studio configurations, allowing Woodshed to accommodate small intimate bands as well as larger ensembles.[7]

Composers Breakfast Club

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The Composers Breakfast Club[8] was formed by Richard Gibbs in 2013. It began as a means to connect, enjoy a meal together with friends and explore all aspects of the world of music, whilst slowly inviting more friends to join in the camaraderie. Similar to The Socrates School and the Inklings, The Composers Breakfast Club is dedicated to connecting musicians with other musicians and creating a space for critical thinking and debate about our current world.

The CBC has expanded unabated to this day yet continues to adhere to the original basis of its founding - friends helping friends. They added featured presenters every week, from illustrious music makers to thought leaders in science, politics, business and beyond. Rather than expanding the weekly group well past their average of 65 attendees (and hence losing intimacy), the CBC has added additional chapters that meet in other parts of greater Los Angeles on other days of the week (Venice, Agoura, and Silver Lake) and a chapter in Nashville and the rumblings of a new one in New York City.

All are invited to attend and partake. Being a composer is not a requirement - indeed, many regulars are actors, singers, engineers, producers, and even the odd architect or two. Name tags will always be verboten, and smiles and helping hands are always welcome.

Armory of Harmony

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Gibbs is the founder of Armory of Harmony,[9] a nonprofit which facilitates the creation of musical instruments from decommissioned firearms and distributes those instruments to high school and college marching bands and ensembles.[10]

Invisible Arts

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In 2020, Gibbs created invisible arts,[11] a podcasts series telling the stories Gibbs has accumulated over a lifetime in the music industry. He tells stories about his time working with artists such as Tracey Ullman, Robert Palmer, Danny Elfman, Tim Curry, and many more.

Personal life

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Gibbs earned an Associate of Arts degree from Daytona Beach Community College while still enrolled as a senior in high school. He went on to matriculate with bachelor's degree in classical composition from Boston's Berklee College of Music before moving to California. He and his wife Linda have three children, Keegan Gibbs, Riley Gibbs and Katelin Gibbs.

Filmography

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Year Title Director(s) Studio(s) Notes
1988 Sweet Hearts Dance Robert Greenwald TriStar Pictures
1989 Say Anything... Cameron Crowe 20th Century Fox Composed with Anne Dudley
1990 A Gnome Named Gnorm Stan Winston Vestron Pictures
1991 Wedlock Lewis Teague HBO Films Television film
Bingo Matthew Robbins TriStar Pictures
1992 Once Upon a Crime Eugene Levy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Ladybugs Sidney J. Furie Paramount Pictures
Passed Away Charlie Peters Hollywood Pictures
The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag Allan Moyle Touchstone Pictures
1993 Amos & Andrew E. Max Frye Castle Rock Entertainment
Son in Law Steve Rash Hollywood Pictures
Fatal Instinct Carl Reiner Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
1994 The Chase Adam Rifkin 20th Century Fox
Clifford Paul Flaherty Orion Pictures
1995 Dangerous Indiscretion Richard Kletter Chanticleer Films Direct-to-video film
1996 First Kid David Mickey Evans Walt Disney Pictures
1997 That Darn Cat Bob Spiers
1998 Music from Another Room Charlie Peters Orion Pictures
Dirty Work Bob Saget Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Dr. Dolittle Betty Thomas 20th Century Fox
1999 The Book of Stars Michael Miner Showcase Entertainment Direct-to-video film
10 Things I Hate About You Gil Junger Touchstone Pictures
2000 Big Momma's House Raja Gosnell 20th Century Fox
28 Days Betty Thomas Columbia Pictures
2002 Queen of the Damned Michael Rymer Warner Bros. Composed with Jonathan Davis
Like Mike John Schultz 20th Century Fox
I Spy Betty Thomas Columbia Pictures
2003 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure Jim Kammerud
Brian Smith
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
DisneyToon Studios
Direct-to-video film
When Zachary Beaver Came to Town John Schultz Echo Bridge
Love Don't Cost a Thing Troy Beyer Warner Bros.
2004 My Baby's Daddy Cheryl Dunye Miramax
Barbershop 2: Back in Business Kevin Rodney Sullivan Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Johnson Family Vacation Christopher Erskin Fox Searchlight Pictures
Fat Albert Joel Zwick 20th Century Fox
2005 The Honeymooners John Schultz Paramount Pictures
2006 Valley of the Heart's Delight Tim Boxell Indican Pictures
John Tucker Must Die Betty Thomas 20th Century Fox
2007 Cleaner Renny Harlin Millennium Films Direct-to-video film
2009 Fired Up! Will Gluck Screen Gems
2010 Christmas Cupid Gil Junger ABC Family Television film
2011 Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer John Schultz Relativity Media
Teen Spirit Gil Junger ABC Family Television film
Face to Face Michael Rymer Umbrella Entertainment
2012 Let It Shine Paul Hoen Disney Channel Television film
2016 Adventures in Babysitting John Schultz
2017 Love Beats Rhymes RZA Lionsgate Films

Awards

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Year Film Category Result
1999 Dr. Dolittle Film Music Award Won
2001 Big Momma's House Won
Year Film Category Result
2001 The Book of Stars Best Original Score Won
2003 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure Best Original Score in a DVD Premiere Movie Won
Best Original Song in a DVD Premiere Movie Nominated

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Willis, John; Monush, Barry (2000). Screen World 1999. Applause Theatre & Cinema Book Publishers. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-55783-410-2. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  2. ^ Mitchell, Elvis (2001). The New York Times Film Reviews 1999-2000. Taylor & Francis. p. 321. ISBN 978-0-415-93696-5.
  3. ^ Brode, Douglas; Deyneka, Leah (2013). Dracula's Daughters: The Female Vampire on Film. Scarecrow Press. p. 214. ISBN 978-0-8108-9296-5. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  4. ^ Potter, Tiffany; Marshall, C. W. (2007). Cylons in America: Critical Studies in Battlestar Galactica. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 225. ISBN 978-1-4411-5706-5. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  5. ^ Clark, Rich (2010). Mixing, Recording, and Producing Techniques of the Pros: Insights on Recording Audio for Music, Film, TV, and Games (2nd ed.). Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-1-59863-915-5.
  6. ^ "Woodshed Recording - Studio Malibu". Woodshed Recording. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  7. ^ Marantos, Jeanette (November 16, 2019). "One year later: Homeowners share lessons learned from the deadly Woolsey Fire". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 16, 2019. The most famous are invited to sign their names inside the studio's sleek grand piano — among them Barbra Streisand, Coldplay's Chris Martin and Chance the Rapper.
  8. ^ "Composers Breakfast Club". Composers Breakfast Club. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  9. ^ "Woodshed Recording - Studio Malibu". Woodshed Recording. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  10. ^ "Armory of Harmony". Armory of Harmony. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  11. ^ "invisible arts". invisible arts. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
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