Age: 69
Birthplace: Auckland, New Zealand
Graeme Revell (born 23 October 1955) is a New Zealand musician and composer. He came to prominence in the 1980s as the leader of the industrial/electronic group SPK. Since the 1990s he has worked primarily as a film score composer.
Some of Revell's best known film scores include The Crow (1994), Street Fighter (1994), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995), From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), The Craft (1996), The Crow: City of Angels (1996), The Saint (1997), Spawn (1997), The Negotiator (1998), Bride of Chucky (1998), Titan A.E. (2000), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), Daredevil (2003) and Sin City (2005). He is also known for his frequent collaborations with director David Twohy, having scored Below (2002) and the Riddick franchise.
Revell attended Auckland Grammar School, where he finished his final year in 7A.
Revell is a classically trained pianist and French horn player, but also graduated from the University of Auckland with degrees in economics and political science.
He worked as a regional planner in both Australia and Indonesia, and was also an orderly in an Australian psychiatric hospital.
Revell was a founding member of the industrial music band SPK, playing keyboards and percussion. The SPK single, "In Flagrante Delicto", was the basis for the Dead Calm film score (his first) that won him an Australian Film Industry award.
In 2002-03, he assisted the rock band Evanescence on their debut album, Fallen, in which he is credited for doing most of the string arrangements.
Revell's musical style is predominantly electronic and computer-based, yet often utilizes classical instruments or entire arrangements for certain pieces (similar to his contemporary counterparts, Hans Zimmer and Mark Isham). The orchestral scores that Revell has composed have changed throughout his career—from Bernard Herrmann-like pieces to Ennio Morricone-influenced works.
Revell's music is often re-used from movie to movie and in more recent times he has collaborated with other artists on their albums. After the success of his soundtrack on Red Planet where he used the voice of French singer Emma Shapplin to back up and often lead his score, he collaborated with her on her own album Etterna, producing all of her songs. He has recently been interviewed for the independent documentary Finding Kraftland.
Revell has been assisted in sound design by dark ambient composer, Lustmord.
On 18 May 2005, Revell was honored at the annual BMI Film & TV Awards with the Richard Kirk Award for Outstanding Career Achievement.