JG Thirlwell is an artist and composer known by many names including Foetus, Manorexia, and Steroid Maximus. When he isn’t writing the score to the animated series The Venture Bros on Cartoon Network, he’s creating compositions for the Kronos Quartet as well as his own albums. Never one for a nostalgia trip, JG Thirlwell is all about progressing.
Daniel Rolnik: What are the keys to surviving successfully as a musician/composer who only does what they want to do?
JG Thirlwell: If there were one answer to that, everyone would do it. I can only talk about the way I do it. I tend to work in a few different areas, but they are all connected with sound, music, or art. I do sound installations and occasionally sound design for websites. I license my works, have a record label, perform live, write commissions, do remixes, design my own artwork, and I’ve done voice-over projects. I work pretty long hours and usually have several projects going on at the same time. While composing for the Venture Bros I might also be working on two albums.
Re-posted with permission.
Photo of JG Thirlwell by Taylor Crothers.