Peacemaker Composer Talks Being Inspired By '80s Hair Bands

Peacemaker fans are eager to for the sixth episode to hit HBO Max tomorrow and see where things are heading after last week's cliffhanger. In addition to DC treasures and James Gunn-fueled hilarity, one super fun thing about the new series is the soundtrack. Of course, Gunn is known for putting bangers in his projects, and the music for his latest show is all about hair metal. Fans are loving the opening credits, which feature a dance number is set to Wig Wam's "Do Ya Wanna Taste It." In addition to the inclusion of some famous hair metal bands, the show also features a great score by Kevin Kiner and Clint Mansell. During a recent interview with The Credits, Kiner talked about working with Gunn and using hair metal to inspire the score.

"James gave us tons of playlists," Kiner explained. "Actually, this is where Clint is amazing. He knows every single one of those bands. I didn't know Hanoi Rocks from The Beatles. I'd never heard of that band, so I had to do some homework. It was fun homework because I really liked the music. One of the things we talked about with James was the unapologetically melodic ballads those bands would do. Leaning into that was one of the early philosophies."

"The soundtrack is going to come out the day after the final episode, in February, and one of the tracks on the soundtrack was not in any of the shows, but it was our original sketch," Kiner explained. "I think we call it 'Peacemaker Theme Jam,' or something like that. It's a four-minute piece that's something you would hear Freddie Mercury and Queen or Cinderella do. It's a long song with a big, giant choir that sings in the middle. We really leaned into the rock element but combined it with orchestra and choir. We went for it. There was no room to be subtle, at least in that sense. The other part is the emotional component. With the Peacemaker theme, it's quite an accessible melody, and it plays in different instances. It plays in episode one when he's coming back to his trailer, which is home to him. It's just a solo electric guitar. We chose that instead of a piano or something that would be more typical in a score. Playing the emotions on electric guitar, and even using some 12 string, which we don't have on that cue but do have for other emotional cues, is another thing those hair bands loved to do. That all comes from Led Zeppelin, which is my influence. That's when I grew up. I graduated high school in 76. So Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath were the bands that influenced me."

In addition to John Cena in the titular role, Peacemaker also includes The Suicide Squad's Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt and Steve Agee as John Economos. The series also stars Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo, Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith, Freddie Stroma as Vigilante, Christopher Heyerdahl as Captain Locke, Chukwudi Iwuji as Clemson Murn, Lochlyn Munro as Larry Fitzgibbon, and Annie Chang as Sophie Song. 

Peacemaker releases new episodes on HBO Max on Thursdays.