Josh Mancell is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist who writes music for film, television, and video games. He is best known for his work on the Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter series of video games.
Mancell has received two Daytime Emmy Award nominations for his work on the children's television series, Clifford the Big Red Dog.
Early life and education Mancell attended Sarah Lawrence College.
As a child, Mancell learned to play the piano, drums, and guitar and was a "rabid record geek". The exposure of playing music in different types of bands (such as punk rock, jazz, marching bands, and orchestras), combined with fandom in many genres, led Mancell to pursue a composing career. He was encouraged by his college professors to move to Los Angeles to write music for film and television.
Career Mancell has developed a successful career writing musical scores for film and television. In film, he has scored a range of films such as Bongwater (starring Luke Wilson, Alicia Witt and Jack Black) and Love Comes to the Executioner (starring Jonathan Tucker, Ginnifer Goodwin and Jeremy Renner) as well as contributing music to the cult indie Chuck & Buck (Independent Spirit Award winner).
Mancell's music has been used for the animated television shows Gary the Rat (starring Kelsey Grammer), Shorty McShorts' Shorts (starring Wilmer Valderrama), and Clifford the Big Red Dog (starring John Ritter), which has earned him two Emmy nominations.Josh Mancell – Awards – IMDb
Mancell is known for his music in video games including Sony's Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter series, and other titles such as Johnny Mnemonic: The Interactive Action Movie and Interstate '82. This work was done with the assistance of Mutato Muzika, the music production company which Mark Mothersbaugh formed with several other former members of Devo including his brother, Bob Mothersbaugh.
Musical groups Mancell has been a member of the following bands and musical groups outside of his solo composing career: The Millionaires – punk rock/garage band (1995–1996) Uluteka – acid jazz/lounge band (1996) Mutato Muzika – music production company (1992–2007) The Dining Room Set – power pop/mod/soul (1999) The Wipeouters – surf/electronic (2001) The Moon Upstairs – psychedelic rock (2006–2010) Exploding Flowers – pop/post-punk/power pop (2010–present)
Musical style and influences Mancell's influences include electronic artists such as Mouse on Mars, A Guy Called Gerald, Aphex Twin, Juan Atkins, Richard H. Kirk and Kraftwerk, as well as progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He has cited their "interesting rhythmic elements" and said that "melodically they're simple but kind of leftfield too".
Works
Video games Year Title Notes 1995 Johnny Mnemonic: The Interactive Action Movie 1996 Crash Bandicoot 1997 Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back 1998 Crash Bandicoot: Warped 1999 Crash Team Racing Interstate '82 2001 Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy 2003 Jak II with Larry Hopkins 2004 Jak 3 2015 Totome 2016 Vairon's Wrath Two tracks
Film Year Title Director(s) Notes 1997 Bongwater Richard Sears with Mark Mothersbaugh 1999 This is Harry Lehman Brian King Short film 2000 Chuck & Buck Miguel Arteta "Nwo Tew" 2006 Love Comes to the Executioner Kyle Bergersen 2008 Milkshake Renji Philip Short film Stanley 2009 The Lights John Sjogren 2010 Love & Other Unstable States of Matter David Marmor Short film 2011 Eat the Sun Peter Sorcher Documentary The Dude Jeff Feuerzeig Short documentary 2012 Cheesecake Casserole Renji Philip 2013 A Star for Rose Daniel Yost 2015 Dirty Laundry Renji Philip Short film
Television YearTitleNotes1992Adventures in Wonderlandwith Mark Mothersbaugh1994Futurequest2000Clifford the Big Red Dogwith Mark Mothersbaugh2002The GrooveniansMark Mothersbaugh, Bob Casale, Albert Fox, Al Mothersbaugh, Bob Mothersbaugh, Andrew Todd, and Pat Irwin (additional music)2003Gary the Rat2006Short McShorts' ShortsEpisode "Dudley and Nestor Do Nothing"2011The Bite-Sized Adventures of Sam Sandwich
References
External links
Exploding Flowers Blog