ABOUT
Born Thierry Schollhammer, Mader's versatility and innovative style has allowed him to create a slew of evocative and memorable scores such as Ang Lee's ground-breaking films The Wedding Banquet and Eat Drink, Man Woman, each nominated for Academy Awards, with wins for the Golden Globe, Berlin, and honors at the Cannes Film Festival.
Mader, New York City, 1990.
At the age of five, Mader was transfixed by his grandfather’s 78 RPM gramophone renditions of popular 1920’s French music, ranging from the songs of Frehel to the impressionistic sounds of Maurice Ravel. Later, the scores of Nino Rota, Morricone and Mancini proved to be new inspirations, and Mader's palette has given birth to a series of memorable melodies that have added the richest of colors to many films.
Following this worldwide success, Mader scored what would be an impressive lineup of high-profile independent films like Alexandre Rockwell's In The Soup (Grand Prize at Sundance Film Festival), Clockwhatchers directed by Lisa Sprecher, starring Lisa Kudrow, Toni Colette and Parker Posey, and Wonsuk Chin's Too Tired To Die, starring Mira Sorvino.
Ang Lee and Mader "The Wedding Banquet", New York City 1993
Previous work includes Robert Greenwald's Steal This Movie (The Abbie Hoffman Story) starring Vincent D'Onofrio, Janeane Garofolo and Jeanne Tripplehorn, and more recently, Pete Small Is Dead starring Peter Dinklage, Tim Roth & Steve Buscemi, and the Sundance favorite Buttho, a highly charged documentary about the life and assassination of Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Mader was introduced to the world of film music at age 19 when noted French film composer Michel Magne took him on as his assistant. Mader then met the eccentric avant-garde musician Hector Zazou who had recently become the caretaker of a crumbling nineteenth century castle on the outskirts of Marseilles, which he quickly turned into an artists' commune. Mader moved in and began working on a series of collaborations with Zazou and other artists. Eventually tired of communal life, he decided to relocate to New York City, passing through the London punk music scene on the way. Once in Manhattan, he formed his own group Band Apart and released two albums on Crammed Discs. He also recorded a solo cabaret album Tangobidet, which netted him substantial critical acclaim, including a laudatory three page article in "Details" magazine.
Mader, Marseille, 'Le Merlan', 1978
The album Cinemusica, released in January 2011, is a collection of some of Mader's favorite pieces from the vaults of his publishing and recording catalogues. These pieces incorporate material dating from his early days in New York to the choicest of his recent musical explorations in Los Angeles.
Mader created an evocative Baroque score for the multimillion dollar Hallmark miniseries La Femme Musketeer starring Gerard Depardieu, Michael York, Nastassja Kinski, John Rhys-Davies. He also created a vibrant Latin score for The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit for director Stuart Gordon and Disney, starring Edward James Olmos, Joe Mantegna and Esai Morales.
Beyond film scoring, Mader continues a prolific career as a composer and producer. His release 5 Legged Fish is a groundbreaking album merging timeless melodies with tasteful electronics soundscapes. His unique and ever versatile voice keeps him at the fore front of the avant-garde musical scene.
Voted best album of 1984 by Details Magazine, Mader’s Tangobidet became an overnight cult sensation. Somewhere between Ives Montand and Lou Reed, well out of the pop mains stream, Mader's bold performances of Tangobidet in New york City’s main clubs fascinated audiences because of it's timeless originality in stark contrast to the New Wave trends of the time. At the request of fans, Mader recently remastered the album to make it available again digitally.
Download Credits:
Mader, Berlin, 2015