John Swihart to Score Kerem Sanga’s ‘The Violent Heart’
November 27, 2019
John Swihart (Napoleon Dynamite, How I Met Your Mother, Youth in Revolt, Switched at Birth) has been tapped to score the upcoming coming-of-age drama The Violent Heart. The film is written and directed by Kerem Sanga and stars Grace Van Patten, Jovan Adepo, Mary J. Blige and Lukas Haas. The movie is set in Nashville, Tennesse and follows a college-bound senior on the cusp of graduation, and her budding relationship with a local mechanic who dreams of becoming a Marine. Shawn Levy & Dan Cohen (Stranger Things, Arrival) are producing the project for 21 Laps Entertainment, alongside Jen Dana, Mark Roberts & Ross Jacobson (Brigsby Bear) for 3311, Matthew Plouffe & Tobey Maguire (Brittany Runs a Marathon, Z for Zachariah) of Material Pictures, and Ed McDonnell (Sicario, Insomnia). Swihart has previously scored Sanga’s last two features, The Young Kieslowski and First Girl I Loved and also composed the music for 21 Laps’ Table 19. The Violent Heart is expected to be released next year.
Far Cry New Dawn Composers on Creating a Post-Apocalyptic Soundtrack
January 29, 2019
Far Cry New Dawn's post-apocalyptic setting takes the series in bold new directions, and that requires a bold new soundtrack. To create it, Ubisoft turned to two composers, Tyler Bates and John Swihart. Bates, a guitarist, songwriter, and record producer, has worked on films including Deadpool 2, John Wick, and Guardians of the Galaxy, and co-wrote and produced Marilyn Manson's The Pale Emperor and Heaven Upside Down albums, among other achievements. Swihart, meanwhile, is a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist whose musical credits include Napoleon Dynamite, Youth in Revolt, How I Met Your Mother, and Go On.
John Swihart, Composer of Napoleon Dynamite, Table 19 and More
July 16, 2018
John Swihart is a very accomplished american film and television composer. With more than 15 years of industry experience to his name, composing music for a wide range of projects including Napoleon Dynamite, How I Met Your Mother and Table 19, he has acquired a very successful portfolio of work. Lift Off looked to him to find out where his interest in composing started, hurdles he has faced during his career and his insightful advice for aspiring composers. What attracted you to being a film composer initially? Because...
John Swihart Scoring Andrew Fleming’s ‘Ideal Home’
July 31, 2017
John Swihart is composing the music for the upcoming comedy drama Ideal Home. The film is written and directed by Andrew Fleming (Dick, The Craft, Hamlet 2) and stars Paul Rudd, Steve Coogan and Jake McDorman. The movie follows a bickering...
NBC’s ‘Trial & Error’ to Feature Music by John Swihart
December 10, 2016
John Swihart is composing the music for the upcoming NBC comedy Trial & Error. The show is created by Jeff Astrof (Ground Floor), Matt Miller (Forever, Chuck, Lethal Weapon) and stars John Lithgow, Nick D’Agosto, Steven Boyer, Sherri Shepherd, Jayma Mays and Krysta Rodriguez. The series follows a bright-eyed New York lawyer who...
Composer Interview: John Swihart (Staten Island Summer, How I Met Your Mother, Napoleon Dynamite)
September 6, 2015
John Swihart is a film and TV composer hailing from Indiana and who is based in LA. He’s written scores for numerous comedy films such as Napoleon Dynamite and Youth in Revolt, and you’ve heard his work for over 9 years on the hit show How I Met Your Mother among several other TV comedies, such as Red Band Society. His latest film is Staten Island Summer, produced by SNL creator Lorne Michaels, which recently was released through Netflix...