Nicholas Pike

Last updated

Nicholas Pike
Born
GenresFilm and television score
Occupation Music composer
Website http://www.nicholaspike.net

Nicholas Pike is an English film and television music composer. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Nicholas Pike was born in Water Orton, Warwickshire, England. He started his music career at the age of 7 at the Canterbury Choir School and subsequently moved to Cape Town, South Africa at the age of 10 where he continued in music becoming Head Chorister at St George's Grammar School, Cathedral choir as well as playing the flute with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra at the age of 15. He was a member of the rock band Hammak and toured the country with this and other bands. At age 17 he left to study flute and composition in Boston at the Berklee School of Music. [1]

Career

Pike moved to New York City, where he recorded and performed with his band FluteJuice featuring Bill Frisell, Billy Hart, Kenny Werner, and Hank Roberts among many others. He recorded and released the album Waterlilies with Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos and guitar virtuoso Bill Connors. Before embarking on his film scoring career he conducted and recorded his suite "Master Harold and the Boys" with the London Symphony Orchestra which was based on Athol Fugard's apartheid era play of the same name. [2] [3] [4]

As a film composer, he is known for featuring unique sounds and instrumentation. He has written for projects ranging from Stephen King's The Shining to Disney's Captain Ron as well as animated films such as Disney's The Prince and the Pauper . [1] [5] [6] Awards include the Elmer Bernstein Award for his score to Love Object at the Woodstock Film Festival, the Best Music Award from the Sitges Cinema Fantastic Festival for his score to Critters 2 and the Emmy for original music at the 34th News & Documentary Emmy Awards for the HBO documentary In Tahrir Square about the beginnings of the Arab Spring. He received an ACE Award for the work on Tales From The Crypt. [1]

He composed music for large-scale music videos including Michael Jackson's "Ghost" and "You Rock My World", MC Hammer's "Too Legit to Quit" and "Here Comes The Hammer" and Will Smith's "Wild Wild West". He was chosen by actress/comedian and talk show host Bonnie Hunt to create and lead the first-ever daytime talk show live band for The Bonnie Hunt Show which aired on the NBC network. Pike composed the music for the show. He wrote and produced the song "On Ghost Ridge" for the documentary 100 Years: One Woman's Fight for Justice chronicling the epic battle between Blackfoot Indian Elouise Cobell and the US government. The song was performed by Malaysian pop star Yuna and long-listed for an Academy Award Nomination in the Best Original Song category [7] [8]

Pike arranged, produced, and composed the score for the first episode of Apple TV+'s series Amazing Stories.

In 2023, Pike appeared as a guest at Kingvention, the annual Michael Jackson fan convention held in London. [9] [10]

Pike composed the score and produced an operatic piece performed by Ana María Martínez for the documentary Viva Verdi released in 2025. [11] [12] [13] [14]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleDirectorStudio(s)Notes
1987 Graveyard Shift Jerry Ciccoritti Cinema Ventures
1988 Critters 2: The Main Course Mick Garris New Line Cinema
1989 C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D. David K. Irving Vestron Pictures
1990Mission ManilaPeter MackenzieM.C.E.G.
1992 Sleepwalkers Mick Garris Columbia Pictures
Captain Ron Thom Eberhardt Touchstone Pictures
1994 Blank Check Rupert Wainwright Walt Disney Pictures
1996 Michael Jackson's Ghosts Stan Winston MJJ Productions
Kingdom Entertainment
Direct-to-video film
1997 Star Kid Manny Coto Trimark Pictures
Telling Lies in America Guy Ferland Banner Entertainment
1998The Sadness of SexRupert WainwrightFilmWorks Entertainment
1999 Delivered Guy Ferland Edie Films
2000 Return to Me Bonnie Hunt Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
2002 Virginia's Run Peter Markle Knightscove Entertainment
Holedigger Films
FeardotCom William Malone Franchise Pictures
MDP Worldwide
2003 Love Object Robert ParigiLolo Film
Visionbox Pictures
Catapult Films
Base 12 Productions
The I Inside Roland Suso Richter Miramax Films
2004 Riding the Bullet Mick GarrisInnovation Film Group
2005 Checking Out Jeff HareFilmWorks Entertainment
The L.A. Riot Spectacular Marc Klasfeld Image Entertainment
2006 Stephen King's Desperation Mick Garris Touchstone Television
2008 Parasomnia William MaloneLuminous Processes
Rising Storm Productions
2009 It's Alive Josef Rusnak Millennium Films
Blood and Bone Ben Ramsey Cinema Management Group Direct-to-video film
Wrong Turn at Tahoe Franck Khalfoun Paramount Famous Productions Direct-to-video film
2013 Devil May Call Jason Cuadrado Grindstone Entertainment Group
2014 Rio 2 Carlos Saldanha Blue Sky Studios Orchestrator

Television

YearTitleDirectorStudio(s)Notes
1989–1996 Tales from the Crypt Various HBO 10 episodes
1997 The Shining Mick Garris ABC TV miniseries
1999–2001 The Lot Various American Movie Classics 17 episodes
2005–2007 Masters of Horror Various Showtime 6 episodes
2011 Bag of Bones Mick Garris A&E 2 episodes

[1] [15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Goff, John (29 August 1992). "Pike Fills Sails For Disney's Captain Ron With Music" (PDF). CASH BOX: 15.
  2. "Nicholas Pike Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & Mo..." AllMusic. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  3. "Nicholas Pike Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & Mo..." AllMusic. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  4. "Nicholas Pike Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & Mo..." AllMusic. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  5. "'Shining' airs in TV version Sunday By Miles Beller". Jackson Citizen Patriot. 24 April 1997. p. 36. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  6. "Martin Short is a hit in 'Captain Ron' film By John Douglas ON FILM". The Grand Rapids Press. 19 September 1992. p. 7. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  7. Reporters, F. M. T. (14 December 2016). "Yuna makes Oscar longlist for 'Best Original Song'". Free Malaysia Today | FMT. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  8. Kho, Byline: Gordon (16 December 2016). "Yuna's song on Oscar long-list". Local Singapore News. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  9. "2023 — Kingvention - MJ Fan Convention | London". Kingvention. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  10. "Iconic". MJVibe. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  11. "Nicholas Pike / Film Composer / Biography". Nichola Pike Film Composer.
  12. "The Third Act: Christine La Monte on Music, Memory, and Meaning". Musée Magazine. 21 May 2025. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  13. Salazar, David (2 October 2025). "'Viva Verdi!' Documentary Set to LA Premiere". OperaWire. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  14. "Viva Verdi - Laemmle.com". www.laemmle.com. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  15. "Nicholas Pike to Score Stephen King's 'Bag of Bones' | Film Music Reporter" . Retrieved 11 October 2025.