Interview - Eddie Arkin’s interview about Rules don’t apply and his career

By Mulder, Los Angeles, 01 december 2016

Q: You have worked as producer, arranger and songwriter of music for films such as The Mask (1994), My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), What Women Want (2000), Unconditional Love (2002), Peter Pan (2003), and also on TV series such as Melrose Place (1995-1999) and Titans (2000-2001). How do you choose the projects on which you work?

Eddie Arkin : If I think my particular musical strengths are a good fit for what is needed by the filmmaker, then I’m all in for the project. In the case of the films you’ve just mentioned, I was brought in to work on them by music supervisor Bonnie Greenberg. The way the process works is first, I read the script, then I have meetings with the director and music supervisor to hear how they want these featured performances arranged and produced. For instance, if they’re well-known songs, do they want them to resemble the original records, or do I have free reign stylistically to give them my own interpretation. Then I discuss the size of the ensemble. For instance in The Mask with Jim Carrey, the featured production number “Cuban Pete” required a full Big Band, and was worked out in collaboration with a choreographer. Conversely, in P.J. Hogan’s film My Best Friends Wedding, which featured only Burt Bacharach songs (written into the script), I arranged “I say a Little Prayer” for Rupert Everett’s well-known “Crab House” scene for voices only (the cast) with just electric piano accompaniment. So, my arranging and production assignments can range from acapella to full orchestras. Melrose Place came to me as a result of scoring episodes of other shows for Spelling Entertainment. The original Melrose Place composer was leaving the show toward the end of the 3rd season and Ken Miller, the VP at Spelling Productions, recommended I take a shot at auditioning for the show. I made a demo of cues I thought would fit the show’s style and it turned out to be good enough for me to score my first episode. It’s one of those lucky career examples of preparation meeting opportunity and I wound up scoring every episode of Melrose Place from the end of season 3 to the end of the series, which lasted 7 seasons.

Q: What are your favorite memories about your collaborations with great artists such as Patti Austin, Barry Manilow, Anne Murray, Sawyer Brown, Diane Schuur, Diane Reeves, David Benoit, Janis Siegel, and Lorraine Feather?

Eddie Arkin : Patti Austin has always been one of my favorite singers, so when the phone rang one day and it was Dave Grusin (one of my musical heroes) saying he had heard my song and wanted to record it on the new album he was producing of Patti’s, I was thrilled. The song “In My Dream,” which I co-wrote with lyricist Beckie Foster, wound up being played on smooth jazz radio for the next 10 years. Anne Murray came about from working with the record producer Jack White. I was busy as an arranger at that time, working on Laura Branigan’s album, when a chance came up to write a “dance oriented” song for Anne’s new album called “Gotcha”. It turned out to be a gold record. Barry Manilow is an artist whom I’ve worked with extensively. He’s an extremely talented individual who had the confidence to take a chance on me as both a writer and an arranger/ producer before I had a lot of credits. He first recorded a song I wrote with Lorraine Feather called ”Big Fun” for his album “Swing Street” (also co-written by me), which then became a CBS TV special, for which I then became Music Director. Our collaboration styles worked very well and from that time on our projects just grew and grew. He and I produced his platinum selling #1 Billboard Christmas album called “Because It’s Christmas,” which remains one of my all-time favorite record projects and still makes me proud. Besides just working on Barry’s albums, we also collaborated on producing Nancy Wilson’s “With My Lover Beside Me” album, which earned a Grammy nomination in the “Best Traditional Pop” category, and jazz artist Diane Schuur’s “Midnight” CD, for which we also wrote most of the songs. Working with Barry always provided a platform for me to be able to write very sophisticated arrangements for groups of all sizes. He opened many career doors for me and I’m very grateful to have worked with him.

Q: How did you arrive to work on Warren Beatty’s film Rules Don’t Apply?

Eddie Arkin : The story of Rules Don’t Apply starts with my long-time collaborator Lorraine Feather, who has known Warren for 25 years, and who initially discussed the movie project with him. Lorraine wrote the lyrics first, then brought them to me, and her wonderful imagery helped me come up with a musical melody that we both feel successfully married the lyric and music together.

Q: What can you say about your collaboration with Lorraine Feather on the song The Rules Don’t Apply?

Eddie Arkin : Lorraine and I have written songs together for over 30 years now. We are very close friends as well, and we share a relationship of great mutual respect and trust that has been nurtured over many years. Lorraine and I both have a strong background in Jazz music, and in my opinion, our songs often reflect that influence. When discussing “The Rules Don’t Apply,” we took into account the time period, the 1950’s, and the musical style. Lorraine’s beautiful and sensitive lyric lent itself well to a melodic ballad, and the song form in which we wrote it, the A A B A form, is often referred to as the “American Songbook” style.

Q: Where did you record this song and is there significance to the place?

Eddie Arkin : We didn’t participate in the recording. Warren recorded the song on set, live during the filming. This is unusual in that most songs in movies are lip-synched to a pre-recorded track rather than sung live.

Q: Were there any hurdles you had to overcome to create this song?

Eddie Arkin : Not really; we followed Warren’s ideas concerning the meaning of the song, which Lorraine’s lyrics nailed from the get-go and came up with a beautiful song that Warren liked from the first time he heard it completed. We’ve never changed a word or a note.

Q: Which American directors would you like to work with?

Eddie Arkin : Any director who’s making a good movie and wants an original song written for it, especially if it’s in the American Songbook, sophisticated pop, blues, or jazz-influenced style, I’m on board.

Q: For you, which composers are a source of inspiration?

Eddie Arkin : My list of songwriters, arrangers, and composers would include: George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Henry Mancini, Antonio Carlos Jobim, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Johnny Mercer, Johnny Mandel, Kurt Weill, Nelson Riddle, Claus Ogerman, Don Sebesky, Dave Grusin, Jerry Goldsmith, Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, Maurice Ravel, to name some, but the list could go on. I would add here that a very important part of my background is that I’m also a Jazz Guitarist and I’d like to mention a few Jazz Musicians who were very influential in my development: Wes Montgomery, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, and McCoy Tyner.

Q: What are your current project(s)?

Eddie Arkin : Lorraine and I are working on her new album called “Math Camp.” I’m also in the middle of recording a Jazz Guitar album of original compositions with fellow guitarist Mitch Holder, bassist Abraham Laboriel and drummer Paul Leim.

Q: What kind of advice would you give to someone who would like to work as a musical composer?

Eddie Arkin : First, get the kind of education that will give you the versatility and chops to be able to change with the always-evolving musical landscape. Then have an honest conversation with yourself as to what your particular strengths really are and try to market those. In other words, if your strength is as a classical composer, don’t try to get a jazz or pop gig; there will be people in that arena that will be more qualified than you to get the job. And most importantly, work on your “people skills.” Remember this is a very social business and knowing how to connect with people is tantamount to a successful career. Always approach every assignment with discipline and the commitment to get the job done on time and on budget.

Listing the song The Rules Don’t Apply

Lyrics (Music by Eddie Arkin & Lyrics by Lorraine Feather):

One day I told my friend I was terribly blue.
Was it far too late to do what I dreamed I could do?
He thought for a moment, then he answered.
He said, “The rules don’t apply to you.”

He said it very simply, and quietly too,
But as if there wasn’t any doubt at all that he knew.
He gave me a gift that I would treasure.
He said, “The rules don’t apply to you.”

In the movies we see, in the shows on TV,
And in anthems passionately sung,
There’s a message that you’ve got to keep believing in yourself,
But they generally mean, if you’re young.

Is it written in the air, as it seems to be,
That we haven’t long at all to find our destiny?
I’ll always remember to be grateful
That the rules don’t apply to me.

I wouldn’t lie.
The rules don’t apply.
The rules don’t apply to you.

We sincerely thank Eddie Arkin for answering our questions
An huge thanks to Ali Homek for helping us to have this great interview..