Sports Illustrated interviewed former WWE composer Jim Johnston about his career and various stages such as creating Stone Cold’s theme song, the politics involved in the company, not being a WWE fan, and much more. Here are some of the highlights:
Working for WWE & company politics:
“There were some politics and people I wasn’t wild about it, but I suppose that is to be expected in any corporate environment. I was pretty disillusioned where the company was going musically. Although I believe they are talented guys, I thought the themes were becoming commoditized and formulaic. Too many wrestlers had themes that didn’t tell a story about the character, it just felt like music that coincidentally played when a wrestler walked out, as opposed to something that tells the story of the character. In the big picture, I’ve written as many angry songs about guys coming to beat you up as I had in me. I think I’ve covered that genre. The end and the change was shocking at the time, but I hope it works out for them. I’ve been writing a ton of music since and I’m actively putting together the next chapter in my life.”
Creating Stone Cold’s theme Music:
From his vignettes, I saw that Steve was this ass-kicker of a guy who did not enter a room with subtlety,” said Johnston. “He needed something that reflected that.”
“I had in my mind that this would be driving and low, but it needed something relentless about it,” said Johnston.” It needed to capture someone who entered a room and made you think, ‘God only know what happens next.’ So I started playing driving notes on my guitar – dat dat dat dat dat in a minor key – that implied danger.
“I thought of a car accident, only because of the horrible sound it makes. Then I went to glass, but the sound of the glass was so thin that I needed to make it bigger so I added the car crash.”
Not being a WWE fan:
“Just because John Williams did the scores for E.T. and Star Wars does not automatically make him a giant fan of aliens or space travel. I would categorize myself as a non-wrestling fan. I see the appeal and there are times when I could get really excited about it, but I wrote music for what I was hired to write. I threw myself into what I was writing.”