Or was he just a victim of his own vices?
Hollywood. The pinnacle of professional achievement, yet also the cause of countless professional career combustions. Luring the innocent and often naive with the hope of a Golden Satue, fame, and buckets full of cash.
In reality, underneath the dreams below the Hollywood Hills, lies a field of coffins, strewn with bodies of people who nobody knows. Those countless lost souls who moved to Los Angeles to find fame, many of whom never made it out alive - be it physically or emotionally.
But did that happen to composer Jóhann Jóhannsson?
Jóhannsson was an Icelandic composer who passed away in 2018 from a fatal mixture of cocaine and flu medicine. I was recently listening to the late composer's hauntingly beautiful score for the horror fantasy film, Mandy (2018), and I went down the rabbit hole researching the composer in more depth. I came across an article titled "Did Hollywood Kill Jóhann Jóhannsson?" and it got me contemplating the frailty of life. That topic has actually been on my mind a lot lately.
The article I read pointed out the amount of stress placed on composers in Hollywood. It also stated that Jóhannsson's score for Blade Runner 2049 was "rejected by the studio, execs saying it was 'too experimental, and 'not commercial enough'". Although there might be some truth to that, another article asserted that composer Denis Villeneuve and Jóhann Jóhannsson were the ones who decided to go another direction, Villeneuve stating that "the movie needed something different, and I needed to go back to something closer to Vangelis. Jóhann and I decided that I will need to go in another direction." Villeneuve brought in Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch to complete the project. So, as much as it sucked for Jóhannsson to leave or be forced out of the project, it seems that Villeneuve also left the project due to whatever reasons, be it from studio pressure or just wanting the score to go in a different direction. I'm sure both probably played a part. I compose indie films on a minute scale compared to these large studio films. There is a lot of pressure even on the indie level. On top of wanting to get everything right and working long hours, the composer is often asked to complete sections without completed scenes. Sometimes when we have already completed a scene and hit all the cues, they add or remove a second or two from a scene and the composer has to go back and fix it. Yesterday. We all know being rejected sucks. If you've had a chance to listen to any interviews or Masterclasses from Hans Zimmer or Danny Elfman, it's something they discuss. Some people don't work well together. Zimmer has left films because he butted heads with the director. Elfman was once told, "We need this to sound more 'Elfman'". He's like "I AM Elfman!".
Just as in any field, there are those who take rejection and failure and turn it into something that fuels more success, then there are those who turn to self-medication or take drugs to get more energy to meet the overwhelming demands, which eventually catches up to them.
I used to drink alcohol on a regular basis and take extra Hydroxycut caffeine pills for work. I was even convinced that those made me more creative. After getting some recent health scares and getting older, I'm 48 myself, I had to assess some aspects of my life. I have to watch out for my stress levels, and as fun as composing a large studio feature film would be, I don't know if that would be ideal for my blood pressure and heart issues. But I've learned to take care of myself better and could probably pull off a large feature film if I had the right team working with me.
These days I am focusing on the elements of my life that bring me joy with the lowest amount of anxiety possible. I continue writing my own compositions, am in two metal bands, and work on smaller film scores when they come along. Pushing myself into the grave for Disney or any other studio isn't on top of my list.
The other thing that stood out to me about Jóhannsson was that he was born only a few days before my birthday, and was 48 when he died. As I mentioned earlier in this article, the same age I am now. Sobering. I genuinely feel bad for people like Jóhannsson. The Hollywood Machine has consumed a lot of people. It's saddening. Though we will never know exactly what caused Jóhannsson to take cocaine, and I'm sure the pressure of the music composing business on a large scale contributed some, we just really need to be more aware of people's mental state.
More people seem to be talking about mental illnesses these days, but we also need to be more kind and proactively reach out to our friends who might be struggling with depression, addiction, and suicidal thoughts. Even though Jóhann Jóhannsson passed away in Berlin, Germany, Hollywood certainly left its mark on his soul.
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