Pat Irwin (born May 17, 1955) is an American composer and musician who was a founding member of two bands that grew out of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

's No Wave scene in the late 1970s, the

Raybeats The Raybeats were an American instrumental neo-surf rock combo from New York City that arose from the No Wave musical scene. The original line-up consisted of Don Christensen (drums), Jody Harris (guitar), Pat Irwin (guitar, saxophone, Acetone ...

and

8-Eyed Spy 8 Eyed Spy was an American no wave band from New York City, consisting of Lydia Lunch (ex-Teenage Jesus and the Jerks and Beirut Slump) and Jim Sclavunos (also ex-Teenage Jesus and Beirut Slump), Michael Paumgardhen, Pat Irwin and George Scott I ...

. He joined

The B-52s The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, p ...

from 1989 through 2008. He currently performs and records wit
SUSS
who have released several records on the indie label

Northern Spy The Northern Spy, also called 'Spy' and 'King', is a cultivar of domesticated apple that originated on the farm of Oliver Chapin in East Bloomfield, New York, in about 1840. It is popular in upstate New York. The Northern Spy was one of four app ...

. He composed the score for the Showtime series, '' Dexter: New Blood.'' Other television scores include HBO's '' Bored to Death,''

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

's ''

Nurse Jackie ''Nurse Jackie'' is an American medical comedy-drama television series. It premiered on Showtime on June 8, 2009, and its seventh and final season premiered on April 12, 2015. The series finale aired on June 28, 2015. The show stars Edie Fal ...

,'' and '' The Good Cop'' on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

. He has composed scores for many cartoons including ''

Rocko's Modern Life ''Rocko's Modern Life'' is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the surreal life of an anthropomorphic Australian immigrant wallaby named Rocko and his friends: the eccentric stee ...

'', ''

Pepper Ann ''Pepper Ann'' is an American animated television series created by Sue Rose and aired on Disney's One Saturday Morning on ABC. It debuted on September 13, 1997, and ended on November 18, 2000. ''Pepper Ann'' was the first Disney animated te ...

'', ''

A Little Curious ''A Little Curious'' is an American children's animated television series that ran on HBO Family for two seasons. The series premiered on February 1, 1999 until its final episode aired on May 1, 2000. The series, produced by Curious Pictures and HB ...

'', and '' Class of 3000''. Independent film credits include ''

My New Gun ''My New Gun'' is a 1992 American black comedy film directed by Stacy Cochran. It stars Diane Lane, James Le Gros, Stephen Collins, and Tess Harper, and also features an early minor role for Philip Seymour Hoffman. Plot A New Jersey doctor named ...

'', '' But I'm A Cheerleader'', and ''

Bam Bam and Celeste ''Bam Bam and Celeste'' is a 2005 comedy film starring Margaret Cho Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American comedian, actress, LGBT social activist, and musician. She is known for her stand-up routines, through which she cr ...

.''

Biography

Pat Irwin graduated from

Grinnell College Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College. Grinnell has the fifth highest endowment-to-stu ...

in 1977. He received a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship for international study and moved to Paris after graduation. In Paris he attended composition workshops with John Cage. Moving to New York City in 1979 he was a founding member of the no wave band

which included

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

and Jim Sclavunos, both members of

Teenage Jesus and the Jerks Teenage Jesus and the Jerks were an influential American no wave band, based in New York City, who formed part of the city's no wave movement. Background Lydia Lunch met saxophonist James Chance at CBGB and moved into his two-room apartmen ...

and

George Scott III George Scott III (October 16, 1953 - August 5, 1980) was a bass player for several New York City bands during the No Wave era. He was a founding member of 8-Eyed Spy and the Raybeats, and he worked with James Chance and the Contortions, James Wh ...

from

the Contortions James Chance and the Contortions (initially known simply as Contortions, a spin-off group is called James White and the Blacks) was a musical group led by saxophonist and vocalist James Chance, formed in 1977. They were a central act of New York ...

. With Scott, he later formed the

with other former members of

Jody Harris Jody Harris is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and composer who was born in Kansas and became a central figure in the seminal no wave scene in New York City in the 1970s. Career history Harris was lead guitarist in the Contortions, an ...

and Don Christensen. 8-Eyed Spy dissolved in 1980 after the death of George Scott. The band released Live on

ROIR ROIR (pronounced "roar"), or Reachout International Records, is a New York City-based independent record label founded in 1979 by Neil Cooper. Background ROIR was founded the same year that the Sony Walkman launched, and initially, the label ex ...

as a cassette only issue and a self-titled record on Fetish that was completed without Scott. Both Irwin and Scott contributed to

's solo recording on ZE, '' Queen Of Siam''. Scott was credited as Jack Ruby, a reference to his band before joining

The Contortions James Chance and the Contortions (initially known simply as Contortions, a spin-off group is called James White and the Blacks) was a musical group led by saxophonist and vocalist James Chance, formed in 1977. They were a central act of New York ...

. The Raybeats continued to perform with Danny Amis on bass. They released two full-length albums, ''

Guitar Beat ''Guitar Beat'' is the debut album by the neo-surf band the Raybeats. It was released in 1981 and produced by Martin Rushent. The album features ten original instrumentals, plus a Jan and Dean cover. In tongue-in-cheek fashion, the original LP ...

'', produced by

Martin Rushent Martin Charles Rushent (11 July 1948 – 4 June 2011) was an English record producer, best known for his work with The Human League, The Stranglers and Buzzcocks. Early life Rushent was born on 11 July 1948 in Enfield, Middlesex. His father ...

and recorded in 1981 at Rushent's newly built studio outside London. The Raybeats second LP, ''It's Only A Movie'' was recorded in New York City in 1983 and was produced by the band with Joe Blaney and mixed at

Electric Lady Studios Electric Lady Studios is a recording studio in Greenwich Village, New York City. It was commissioned by rock musician Jimi Hendrix in 1968 and designed by architect John Storyk and audio engineer Eddie Kramer by 1970. Hendrix spent only ten we ...

. In 2013 The Raybeats release
''The Lost Philip Glass Sessions''
on Orange Mountain Music, a collection of recordings that were started with Philip Glass in 1982 but were never completed. Robert Palmer, writing in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', described Irwin as a "mercurial presence on the New York rock scene of the early 80's. The bands he helped found, the Raybeats and 8-Eyed Spy resembled each other only in that they had an aversion to the predictable and the ordinary." He began touring and recording with new wave rock band

The B-52's The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, ...

in 1989, playing

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

and guitar. His relationship with the band began when they borrowed Irwin's

amplifier An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It may increase the power significantly, or its main effect may be to boost t ...

for their first gig in

in 1978. The band toured steadily through the 1990s and had two Top-Ten hits with "

Love Shack "Love Shack" is a song by American new wave band the B-52's from their fifth studio album, ''Cosmic Thing'' (1989). It was released on June 20, 1989, and was produced by Don Was. The song was a comeback for the band following their decline in p ...

" and "

Roam Real-time optimally adapting mesh (ROAM) is a continuous level of detail algorithm that optimizes terrain meshes. On modern computers, sometimes it is more effective to send a small amount of unneeded polygons to the GPU, rather than burden the C ...

". Recently, he has been performing and recording with the ambient-country group
SUSS.
Irwin composed the score for the

series, Dexter: New Blood. He also composed the scores for HBO’s ''Bored To Death'' and the Showtime series, ''

''. He composed the scores for many cartoons including '' Rocko’s Modern Life'', ''

'', ''

'', and the Emmy Award winning '' Class of 3000'' (with

André 3000 André Lauren Benjamin (born May 27, 1975), better known as André 3000, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is best known for being a part of southern hip hop duo Outkast alongside fellow rapper Big Boi. ...

from the group, Outkast.) His contributions to the ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character ...

'' soundtracks were given ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards in 2011, 2012, and 2013
The Cartoon Music Book
referred to Irwin’s music as "astonishing musical cues that hold up with the best of

Raymond Scott Raymond Scott (born Harry Warnow; September 10, 1908 – February 8, 1994) was an American composer, band leader, pianist, record producer, and inventor of electronic instruments. Though Scott never scored cartoon soundtracks, his music is ...

." Irwin has performed in various venues throughout the world including

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kr ...

, Max's Kansas City,

Mudd Club The Mudd Club was a nightclub located at 77 White Street in the TriBeCa neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It operated from 1978 to 1983 as a venue for underground music and counterculture events. It was opened by Steve Maas, Die ...

The Kitchen The Kitchen is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary avant-garde performance and experimental art institution located at 512 West 19th Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was foun ...

Dance Theater Workshop Dance Theater Workshop, colloquially known as DTW, was a New York City performance space and service organization for dance companies that operated from 1965 to 2011. After a merger it became known as New York Live Arts Located as 219 West 19th ...

The Knitting Factory The Knitting Factory is a nightclub in New York City that features eclectic music and entertainment. After opening in 1987, various other locations were opened in the United States. The Knitting Factory gave its audience poetry readings, perform ...

, Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden. Irwin’s first feature film score was for ''

'' which was shown at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

in 1992. He has since composed the scores for many independent films including '' But I’m A Cheerleader'', and ''

'' as well as several documentaries including ''

Fall To Grace ''Fall to Grace'' is the second studio album by English recording artist Paloma Faith. It was released by RCA Records on 28 May 2012. She worked on the album with producer Nellee Hooper, who previously worked with artists such as Madonna, Bjö ...

'' written and directed by

Alexandra Pelosi Alexandra Corinne Pelosi (born October 5, 1970) is an American journalist, documentary filmmaker, and writer. She is a daughter of Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and Paul Pelosi. Early life and educ ...

for HBO Documentaries. In 2012 Irwin received an honorary doctorate from

. He currently teaches a seminar in film and television music at

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, as well a seminar in Scoring for Film and Television at the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema at Brooklyn College.

Discography

*See The Raybeats Discography *See The B-52's Discography *See 8-Eyed Spy Discography *2018: SUSS -
Ghost Box
' *2019: SUSS -
High Line
' *2019: Pat Irwin & J. Walter Hawkes -
Wide Open Sky
' *2020: SUSS -
Promise
' *2021: SUSS -
Night Suite
'

Filmography (composer)

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

:
The Day Of Five Billion
' (Documentary) *1987–88: ''

Tales from the Darkside ''Tales from the Darkside'' is an American anthology horror TV series created by George A. Romero. Debuting in October 1983 with a pilot episode and then being picked up for syndication in September 1984, the show ran for 4 seasons through Ju ...

'' (TV) *

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

:
Without Borders
' (Documentary) *1990–96: ''

Captain Planet and the Planeteers ''Captain Planet and the Planeteers'' is an American animated environmentalist superhero television series created by Barbara Pyle and Ted Turner and developed by Pyle, Nicholas Boxer, Thom Beers, Andy Heyward, Robby London, Bob Forward and Ca ...

'' (TV, Theme) *

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

:
Nauru: The Island Planet
' (Documentary) * 1992:
Nova: An Astronaut's View Of Earth
' (Documentary) * 1992:
I Talk To Animals
' (Documentary) * 1992: ''

'' *1993–96: ''

'' (TV) *

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

: '' Heading Home'' * 1996: '' Loose Women'' * 1996:
Breathing Room
' * 1996:
Sudden Manhattan
' *

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

: ''

Colin Fitz Lives! ''Colin Fitz Lives!'', also known simply as ''Colin Fitz'' is a 1997 independent film directed by Robert Bella. ''Colin Fitz Lives!'' was shot on 35mm in New York City. The budget was $150,000 and the film was shot in 14 days. It had its World P ...

'' *1997 ''

Bear in the Big Blue House ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' is an American children's television series created by Mitchell Kriegman and produced by Jim Henson Television for Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney preschool television block. Debuting on October 20, 1997, it aire ...

'' (episode) Why Bears Can't Fly? *1997–2000: ''

'' (TV) *1998: JetCat from ''

KaBlam! ''KaBlam!'' (stylized as ''KaBLaM!'') is an American animated sketch comedy television series that ran on Nickelodeon from 1996 to 2000. The series was created by Robert Mittenthal, Will McRobb, and Chris Viscardi. The show was developed as a fu ...

'' *1998–99:
A Little Curious
' (TV) *

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

:
Paramour
' (TV) *

:
Arresting Gena
' *

:
Suits
' *

:
24 Hour Woman
' *

: '' But I'm a Cheerleader'' *

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

:
Drop Back Ten
' *2000–02: ''

'' (TV) * 2002:
The Groovenians
' (TV, Songs and Theme) * 2003: ''

Trekkies 2 ''Trekkies 2'' is a 2004 American documentary film directed by Roger Nygard, and the sequel to the 1997 film '' Trekkies''. The film travels throughout the world, mainly Europe, to show fans of '' Star Trek'', commonly known as Trekkies. It also ...

'' (TV, Theme /w Fred Schneider) * 2004:
Personal Sergeant
* 2005: ''

'' *2005–08: ''

My Gym Partner's a Monkey ''My Gym Partner's a Monkey'' is an American animated television series created by Tim Cahill and Julie McNally Cahill for Cartoon Network. It aired from December 26, 2005, to November 27, 2008, ending with a total of four seasons and 56 episode ...

'' (TV, Theme co-writer) *2006–07: '' Class of 3000'' (TV) *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

:
The Accidental Advocate
' (Documentary) * 2011:
Stags
' *2011: '' Bored to Death'' Season 3 (TV) *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

:
Cherry Cottage
' (Documentary) *

:
Pervertigo
' *

:
La Muse
' (short) *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

: ''

Fall to Grace ''Fall to Grace'' is the second studio album by English recording artist Paloma Faith. It was released by RCA Records on 28 May 2012. She worked on the album with producer Nellee Hooper, who previously worked with artists such as Madonna, Bjö ...

'' (Documentary) *2013–15: ''

'' Season 5-7 (TV) *2019: '' Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling'' *2021: '' Dexter: New Blood''

References

External links

* *
SUSS WebsiteSUSS Artist Page
( Northern Spy Records) {{DEFAULTSORT:Irwin, Pat 1955 births American film score composers American rock guitarists American male guitarists Place of birth missing (living people) American male saxophonists Grinnell College alumni Living people 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American saxophonists American male film score composers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Raybeats members 8 Eyed Spy members The B-52's members