Josh Mancell (born November 13, 1969) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist who writes music for film, television, and

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...

. He is best known for his work on the ''

Crash Bandicoot ''Crash Bandicoot'' is a video game franchise originally developed by Naughty Dog as an exclusive for Sony's PlayStation console. It has seen numerous installments created by various developers and published on multiple platforms. The series c ...

'' and ''

Jak and Daxter ''Jak and Daxter'' is an action-adventure video game franchise created by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin and owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series was originally developed by Naughty Dog with a number of installments being outsourced ...

'' series of video games. Mancell has received two

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

nominations for his work on the

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

, ''

Clifford the Big Red Dog ''Clifford the Big Red Dog'' is an American children's book series about the adventures of a precocious girl named Emily Elizabeth and her titular pet: a giant, red-furred dog named Clifford. It was first published in 1963 and was written by N ...

''.

Early life and education

Mancell was born on November 13, 1969 in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all ...

. He attended

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York. The college models its approach to education after the Oxford/Cambridge system of one-on-one student-faculty tutorials. Sarah Lawrence scholarship, particularly ...

. As a child, Mancell learned to play the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

, and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

and was a "rabid record geek". The exposure of playing music in different types of bands (such as punk rock,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, o ...

s, and

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

s), combined with fandom in many genres, led Mancell to pursue a composing career. He was encouraged by his college professors to move to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

to write music for film and television.

Career

Mancell has developed a successful career writing musical scores for film and television. In film, he has scored a range of films such as '' Bongwater'' (starring

Luke Wilson Luke Cunningham Wilson (born September 21, 1971) is an American actor known for his roles in films such as ''Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Rushmore'' (1998), ''My Dog Skip'' (2000), '' Legally Blonde'' (2001), ''The Royal Tenenbaums'' (2001), ''Id ...

Alicia Witt Alicia Roanne Witt (born August 21, 1975) is an American actress, singer and pianist. She first came to fame as a child actress after being discovered by David Lynch, who cast her in '' Dune'' (1984) and '' Twin Peaks'' (1990). Witt had a critic ...

and

Jack Black Thomas Jacob Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for his acting roles in the films '' High Fidelity'' (2000), '' Shallow Hal'' (2001), '' Orange County'' (2002), '' School of Rock'' (2003), ' ...

) and ''

Love Comes to the Executioner ''Love Comes to the Executioner'' is a 2006 American film directed and written by Kyle Bergersen, starring Jonathan Tucker, Jeremy Renner, and Ginnifer Goodwin. Plot summary A young man becomes the executioner at a prison, where his brother sit ...

'' (starring

Jonathan Tucker Jonathan Moss Tucker (born May 31, 1982) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the films ''The Virgin Suicides'' (1999), '' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' (2003), ''Hostage'' (2005), '' In the Valley of Elah'' (2007), '' The Ruins'' ( ...

Ginnifer Goodwin Jennifer Michelle "Ginnifer" Goodwin (born May 22, 1978) is an American actress. She is known for her starring role as Margene Heffman in the HBO drama series '' Big Love'' (2006–2011) and Snow White / Mary Margaret Blanchard in the ABC fa ...

and

Jeremy Renner Jeremy Lee Renner (born January 7, 1971) is an American actor and musician. He began his career by appearing in independent films such as '' Dahmer'' (2002) and '' Neo Ned'' (2005), then supporting roles in bigger films, such as '' S.W.A.T.'' ...

) as well as contributing music to the cult indie ''

Chuck & Buck ''Chuck & Buck'' is a 2000 American black comedy drama film directed by Miguel Arteta. It was written by and starred Mike White in the leading role. Plot Buck O'Brien is a 27-year-old amateur playwright with the maturity level of an adolescent. W ...

'' (

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glas ...

winner). Mancell's music has been used for the animated television shows ''

Gary the Rat ''Gary the Rat'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by the Cullen Brothers for Spike TV (previously known as TNN) and animated by Spike Animation Studios. It was produced by Grammnet Productions and Cheyenne Enterprises and distribute ...

'' (starring

Kelsey Grammer Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained notoriety and acclaim for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1984-1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993-2004), ...

), ''

Shorty McShorts' Shorts ''Shorty McShorts' Shorts'' was an American animated anthology series, which consisted of 4-/5-minute shorts. It aired from July 28, 2006, to May 25, 2007. Summary The host of the show is Shorty McShorts. His name is often shortened to "Shorty" o ...

'' (starring Wilmer Valderrama), and ''

'' (starring

John Ritter Johnathan Southworth Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American actor. Ritter was a son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason and Tyler Ritter. He is known for playing Jack Tripper on the ...

), which has earned him two Emmy nominations. Mancell is known for his music in video games including

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

's ''

'' and ''

'' series, and other titles such as '' Johnny Mnemonic: The Interactive Action Movie'' and ''

Interstate '82 ''Interstate '82'' is a vehicular combat video game developed and published by Activision for Microsoft Windows in November 1999. Setting The game is set in the Southwestern United States in an alternate version of the year 1982, during the Rea ...

''. This work was done with the assistance of

Mutato Muzika Mutato Muzika is an American music production company established and owned by Devo co-founder and lead singer Mark Mothersbaugh in 1989. The name is a portmanteau of the words ''mutant'' and ''potato'', a nod to Mothersbaugh's longstanding fascina ...

, the music production company which

Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead singer and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 20 ...

formed with several other former members of

Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American Rock music, rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark Mothersbaugh, Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh, Bob) and the Casales (Gerald ...

including his brother, Bob Mothersbaugh.

Musical groups

Mancell has been a member of the following bands and musical groups outside of his solo composing career: * The Millionaires – punk rock/garage band (1995–1996) * Uluteka – acid jazz/lounge band (1996) *

– music production company (1992–2007) * The Dining Room Set – power pop/mod/soul (1999) * The Wipeouters – surf/electronic (2001) * The Moon Upstairs – psychedelic rock (2006–2010) * Exploding Flowers – pop/post-punk/power pop (2010–present)

Musical style and influences

Mancell's influences include electronic artists such as Mouse on Mars,

A Guy Called Gerald Gerald Rydel Simpson (born 16 February 1967), better known as A Guy Called Gerald, is a British record producer and musician. He was an early member of the electronic group 808 State, contributing to their debut LP '' Newbuild'' (1988) and hit ...

Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), best known as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic music, electronic styles such as techno, ambient music, ambient, and jun ...

Juan Atkins Juan Atkins (born September 12, 1962), also known as Model 500 and Infiniti, is an American record producer and DJ from Detroit, Michigan. '' Mixmag'' has described him as "the original pioneer of Detroit techno." He has been a member of The Be ...

, Richard H. Kirk and

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...

, as well as progressive rock band

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

. He has cited their "interesting rhythmic elements" and said that "melodically they're simple but kind of leftfield too".

Works

Video games

Film

Television

*''

Adventures in Wonderland ''Adventures in Wonderland'' is a 1992–1995 American live-action/ puppet musical television series based on the novels ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and ''Through the Looking-Glass'' (1871) by Lewis Carroll as well as the 1951 ani ...

'' (1992) – with Mark Mothersbaugh * ''Futurequest'' (1994) * ''

'' (2000) – with Mark Mothersbaugh * ''

The Groovenians ''The Groovenians'' is an American adult animated television pilot created by Kenny Scharf and produced by Cartoon Network Studios. It was aired on Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim on November 10, 2002, but was also re ...

'' – with Mark Mothersbaugh,

Bob Casale Robert Edward Casale Jr. (born Robert Edward Pizzute Jr.; July 14, 1952 – February 17, 2014), or "Bob 2", was an American musician, composer and record producer. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as the keyboardist and rhythm guitari ...

, Albert Fox, Al Mothersbaugh, Bob Mothersbaugh, Andrew Todd, and Pat Irwin (additional music) * ''

'' (2003) * ''

'' (2006) ("Dudley and Nestor Do Nothing") * ''The Bite-Sized Adventures of Sam Sandwich'' (2011)

Award nominations

;

References

External links

* * *
Exploding Flowers Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mancell, Josh 1969 births 20th-century American composers 21st-century American composers American film score composers American multi-instrumentalists American television composers Crash Bandicoot Living people American male film score composers Male television composers Musicians from Ann Arbor, Michigan Video game composers