Film Composer Charles Bernstein On Scoring The Horror Classic ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street’

In the new series “Behind the Board,” Gibson takes music fans on an inside and in-depth look at the creation of the groundbreaking music behind their favorite songs, albums and films. As Halloween nears, we are reminded that no horror film would be scary without aperfectly, bone-chilling score to accompany it.
In this episode, Gibson sits down with composer Charles Bernstein to discuss the writing, performing, recording and production of some of the most unforgettable and terrifying compositions in film history and his original score for Wes Craven’sA Nightmare On Elm Street which is considered to be one of the greatest horror films ever made. Watch and share the exclusive interview with composer Charles Bernstein HERE.

Charles was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN and began playing music at an early age (bass, piano). His mother was a pianist for films and his father was a record producer. Charles produced Phil Spector’s very first demo at the age of 15 and learned the techniques of studio recording. A fan of Les Paul and Mary Ford–Les Paul was not only a guitarist, but also an innovator with recording and audio production–Charles’ first score was for the 1969 Oscar-winning documentary Czechoslovakia 1968. In 1984, Charles Bernstein wrote, performed and recorded all instruments on the score to A Nightmare On Elm Street including bass, synths, guitar and percussion. Recently, Charles Bernstein worked with Quentin Tarantino who has included Bernstein’s music from White Lightning and The Entity in the soundtracks of his films Kill Bill: Volume 1 and Inglourious Basterds.