Richard Marvin is a composer, pianist, and synthesist best known for his work on Six Feet Under, The OC, Without a Trace, Wanted, In Treatment, Years of Living Dangerously, Gone, Dead Like Me, and Grimm, as well as his collaborations with director Jonathan Mostow on his classic submarine film U-571 and later Surrogates starring Bruce Willis.
After attending Indiana University School of Music where he studied classical and jazz piano, electronic music, and composition, Rick began his career as an A-list musician recording in the studios of Los Angeles. He was first call for many of the busy film and TV composers of the day. During a time when electronic scores were groundbreaking in their use of synthesizers and orchestra, Rick’s skill as a synthesist was indispensable on memorable scores such as Fatal Attraction, Ghost, Sea of Love, Jacob’s Ladder, Shawshank Redemption, Oscar and Lucinda, The Lost Boys, and Gorillas in the Mist. The current trend of scoring with electronic instruments is largely based on what Rick and others were doing in the 80’s as players.
In the early 90’s, Rick began to compose scores himself. Being “in the trenches” with all of the top composers in the 80’s was an incredible apprenticeship for his transition to becoming a composer. In addition to dozens of TV shows, series, and several The Wonderful World of Disney movies, Rick scored his first feature films for Touchstone Pictures: 3 Ninjas and 3 Ninjas Kick Back. He went on to compose additional music for the score of Breakdown, starring Kurt Russell, for director Jonathan Mostow which brought Rick to his collaborations with Mostow on U-571 and Surrogates.
All of Rick’s experience in the scoring world has culminated to allow him to evolve from a jazz pianist to a top studio musician specializing in synthesizers, to a film and TV composer, with an incredible range of styles and genres.