Mel was born and lives in London, although the past few years have seen him spending an increasing amount of time in Los Angeles working alongside composer Hans Zimmer and more recently James Newton Howard. Mel's association with Hans began in the mid 80s where he began carving a niche for himself as an electronic music specialist. During this period Mel worked on a vast range of feature films, television and commercial projects, principally with Hans and his then business partner, composer Stanley Myers. Also at this time Mel began performing, arranging and producing for various recording artists and projects. This was a path that was to keep him busy for much of the 90s and led him to explore further diverse musical paths.
In New Year 2000 Hans Zimmer had the idea of involving Mel on the score for Mission Impossible 2. This success lead to Mel's atmospheric music becoming much in demand on many more projects both in the UK and in the US.
FAQ
What exactly do you do? I write music, sometimes ambient, sometimes more conventional, often unclassifiable. A lot of what I do exists somewhere between conventional score and sound design. Hans Zimmer used the word Tonmalerei in connection with my work, he was referring to 'sound paintings'. I thought that was very apt.
Why 'Ambient Music Design'? That's been my credit on a number of film scores over the past 6 years. We came up with that idea on Hannibal where I needed a credit that went some way to describing my input.
How do you work with other composers? Usually I'm bought in on a project to create a mood or atmosphere and there's often specific areas or cues that need addressing. I'm quite self-sufficient so I tend to work through the picture and figure out where I can add anything of value. Occasionally I'll meet with the sound design team as well, try and find out where they're heading and avoid any obvious clashes.
How about your own music? I've collaborated with a number of composers including Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard and Harry Gregson-Williams. Projects include Black Hawk Down, Batman Begins and Freedomland. I write a lot of production music and I also compose for commercials. There's a few interesting opportunities on the horizon, we'll see....
What equipment do you use? LogicPro is my studio, sequencer, audio recorder, mixer and video player although I also run a number of other stand alone music programs. I still use a number of hardware synthesisers, including a couple of old Moogs, especially when I'm building a sound palette. I have identical systems in both London and Los Angeles so I can work on a given project in either location.
What is your favourite colour? British Racing Green