When he was 16 this musician met Elmer Bernstein. It changed everything

Award-winning film and TV composer Bear McCreary was a baby when his mother started taking him to the movies. Now 46, he cackles with joy as he mulls her “inappropriate” choices.

“I’m two and she took me to Gandhi, The Natural, The Empire Strikes Back. I’m so small that when I sit on the seat it folds up so my feet hit my face.”

Bear McCreary began playing music at a young age and is now a renowned composer.

A pause.

“I’ve never thought about this before, but I was so small I probably couldn’t see the screen. I was probably just listening to the music.”

Four decades on, the affable American composer is responsible for scoring some of the biggest TV, film and game franchises of all time including God of War, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Outlander, The Walking Dead and Battlestar Galactica.

Though he stops short of drawing a direct correlation between those early cinematic experiences and his Emmy- and BAFTA-winning career, there’s no doubt his affinity for music was strong from the outset.

Sam Heughan (left) and Catriona Balfe in Outlander, one of the TV shows which Bear McCreary has composed the soundtrack.Credit: Starz

The son of esteemed oceanographer Jay McCreary and acclaimed author Laura Kalpakian, McCreary grew up in the “beautiful harbour town” of Bellingham, Washington state, midway between Seattle and Vancouver.

He began piano lessons at five, and his talent was such that he could perform the course work without practising, instead dedicating his time to figuring out the scores to Star Wars, Mission: Impossible and The Simpsons.

Enthralled by the work of film composers such as James Horner, Alan Silvestri and Danny Elfman (“my north star”), going to the movies became an obsession, although his motives were different to those of his friends.

“They would go, ‘Wow, that chick was so hot’ or, ‘Did you see that scene where the guy exploded?’

Jamie Bamber (left), Tricia Helfer and Edward James Olmos in Battlestar Galactica. Scoring the TV series was a career breakthrough for McCreary.

“And I would go, ‘Did you guys hear what Jerry Goldsmith did with the French horns? I think that was the bad guys’ theme, but he turned it upside down. I’m going to see it again tomorrow to find out.’

“They thought I was a weirdo,” he laughs.

In high school, McCreary met an elderly gentleman named Joe, who ran the Bellingham Yacht Club and told him legendary composer Elmer Bernstein, who wrote McCreary’s favourite score of all time in To Kill a Mockingbird, moored his yacht there.

Joe offered to give Bernstein a tape of the then 16-year-old’s work. Bernstein then took McCreary under his wing as a protégé until his death in 2004.

‘The reason I wanted to work with [Sinead O’Connor] is because of who she is, not just her voice. The rebel that she was... She was so funny.’

Bear McCreary

“I didn’t know what a life in film music could be,” McCreary reflects. “And then I met Elmer, who was the sweetest, most thoughtful man I’d ever met. He had a great relationship with his wife and kids, people respected him immensely, and yet he took no shit.

“Getting to know him gave me something to point to. It wasn’t even about the music, it was personal. You could have a life. That’s where I want to be when I’m pushing 80.”

McCreary’s big break was scoring the 2004 TV reboot of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. But just as significant was working with Irish singer Sinead O’Connor, who sang the main title for season seven of Outlander, her final recording.

“The reason I wanted to work with her is because of who she is, not just her voice,” McCreary says. “The rebel that she was. Between that recording and her untimely death we became friends. We were texting all the time. She was so funny.”

Another life-changing moment came with Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), for which McCreary recorded a hard rock cover of Blue Öyster Cult’s Godzilla featuring System of a Down vocalist Serj Tankian and legendary heavy metal drummer Gene Hoglan.

Slash (right) from Guns N’ Roses, pictured with Axl Rose in Melbourne in 2017, worked with McCreary on his album The Singularity.Credit: Paul Rovere

“It was one of the best days of my life,” he beams. “And I got in the car and I was driving home and I was totally buzzed. But by the time I got into my driveway I was really sad.”

Over the space of that short car ride, it dawned on McCreary that this was likely a one-off experience. Then he was struck by a revelation.

“What if I just started writing some music for the people I want to work with, and it’s not for a film?” he says.

The result was McCreary’s 2024 album The Singularity, a two-LP set that merges the grandeur of his scoring work with the bombast of hard rock and heavy metal. It features guests such as Tankian, Hoglan, Kim Thayil from Soundgarden, Slipknot’s Corey Taylor and guitar heroes Joe Satriani and Slash from Guns N’ Roses.

McCreary will perform songs from The Singularity and his scoring career in Australia in July on his Themes & Variations tour.

“It’s a celebration of everything I’ve written in my life. And it’s a chance to hear all these pieces from The Singularity, from The Walking Dead, from Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Godzilla. I’m re-envisioning it all in a format that fits the stage we’re on.”

For someone experiencing his first taste of touring, adjusting to life on the road has taken some work. Luckily, McCreary has some experienced pals to call on.

“I got fantastic touring laundry advice from [Guns N’ Roses bassist] Duff McKagan,” he says. “I find myself texting a picture of my laundry to Slash and Duff and I’m like, I think I’ve got this figured out!”

Given the contrast between his orchestral film scores and the guitar-fuelled tracks from The Singularity, one wonders what kind of audience he’s been attracting on the tour.

He reflects on a recent show in Europe.

“There was a person wearing a Metallica shirt next to a person wearing an [Italian composer] Ennio Morricone shirt. And I thought, there’s my crowd!”

Bear McCreary will perform in Melbourne at the Forum on July 23; in Sydney at the Enmore Theatre on July 24; and in Brisbane at Eatons Hill Hotel on July 25.