WTMJ Conversations: Mark Van Hecke Discusses Composing for Celebrities and Producing Alternative Rock Masterpieces

Mark Van Hecke is a composer and producer born and raised in Milwaukee who has lead a fascinating life. He sat down with WTMJ’s Libby Collins to discuss his beginnings in music, composing for the Milwaukee Rep and actors like Willem Dafoe, producing the first albums for the Violent Femmes, creating music for video games and so much more. It’s all ahead on this fascinating edition of WTMJ Conversations! Listen in the player below.

A partial transcript is provided below, courtesy of eCourt Reporters.

MARK VAN HECKE: I was the resident composer for not only the Milwaukee Repertory Theater but the experimental theater called Theater X. And in that group was Willem Dafoe.

LIBBY COLLINS: How would you convey their personality when you’d be writing some of these scores, and would you have written the music the same way with, say, a performer like Willem versus another actor?

MARK VAN HECKE: Well, you would write it to their capabilities. Willem, he was just such a pro right out of the gate. And Willem, to me, had a personality and a swagger kind of like Mick Jagger. So, I wrote it like that, almost shouting, calling out. And then I had an electric guitar, and it kind of screamed back into a verse. So, back to Mick Jagger and Willem Dafoe.

MARK VAN HECKE: After Willem left, they were getting other actors, and one of them was Victor DeLorenzo. And Victor was always forming bands, and nothing was really working. He had joined with Ryan Ritchie, a bass player. And I was walking along the street and crossed Downer Avenue, and there was a laundromat. I was hearing this sound, and I thought, hey, that’s kind of cool. They had joined forces with Gordon Gano, and they were performing at that little space, and walking amongst the two tables while playing, and I thought, this is theater.