Musician & Composer Pat Irwin on Channeling Dark Place For ‘Dexter: Original Sin’ Score

Music plays an integral part of any movie or TV show. Take Dexter: Original Sin for example, the origins story from student to serial killer. It’s hard to believe the composer and musician that helped cultivate the score and soundtrack pieces is also the one who has worked on Pepper Ann, Rocko’s Modern Life and SpongeBob SquarePants. You could say Pat Irwin has range. 

Beyond this part of his resume, the 69-year-old could be heard on stage performing in the new wave hit making group The B-52s and as cofounder of the New York/no wave bands, The Raybeats and 8 Eyed Spy. Irwin, whose credits include Bored to Death, Nurse Jackie and The Good Cop, has dabbled in a little bit of everything. 

We caught up with the prolific creator to get insight on some of his iconic pieces. 

You’ve recently worked on Dexter: Original Sin. How did it compare to Dexter: New Blood in terms of vibe and feel? 

Pat Irwin: The bottom line it comes down to the writing and characters, but with New Blood it was also the place Upstate New York and the fact Dexter had a new identity Jim Lindsay. Original Sin was an origin story that took place before the original series. So, the inspiration was all in the characters, and again, the place of Miami. We really wanted the feeling of the original show to come through with Miami. The colors, the sounds, the music, all of it. 

Dexter: Original Sin/Pat Irwin

The opening music accompanies these sensory sounds of a shaving razor touching the skin, a phone cord being stretched, bacon sizzling, water running, hair being tied back, eggs cooking. It’s a unique juxtaposition of music. 

We really took it all into account. The sounds were about heightening the reality. 

You were certainly busy with The B-52’s for almost two decades. How did you starting scoring and composing music for TV and movies? 

I was doing it before I picked up with The B-52’s. I met the original members of the band very early on in New York City. Both bands i was in were part of that outsider scene in New York during the early 1980s. They had a really big and cool record with “Rock Lobster” and “Planet Claire,” but I was starting with work on a television show Tales from the Darkside. Then I did some independent movies and started working on cartoons. I was working on Rocko’s Modern Life, so I didn’t exactly fall into it. It was much more of a kind of it was all part of the same deal. 

How was it jumping back and forth with creating music for all these projects while also at the peak of The B-52’s success? 

It was pretty intense. The first big show I was working on the road with The B-52’s was a little bit of Rocko’s Modern Life and a Disney cartoon Pepper Ann. The technology didn’t exist the way it does now. I had a big road case and we would pack that on to the truck last, so it can come off first. This way I can run into the dressing room and finish up the score so I could get back it to Los Angeles in time. Then I would fly out for the session. It was pretty hairy to be honest with you. 

Nickelodeon

As someone who grew up on Nickelodeon and Disney cartoons, you were part of two beloved shows you mentioned. “Pepper Ann, Pepper Ann, much too cool for seventh grade….” How much fun did you have on those and even SpongeBob? 

Stephen Hillenburg, who created SpongeBob, was a director of Rocko’s Modern Life. We met through that way. Rocko’s Modern Life was a thrill. All these characters from all those shows are timeless. Rocko’s Modern Life was my real first one. It was like I just got to be stupid, if you know what I mean. I just got to do what I wanted. [Creator Joe Murray], producers and Nickelodeon just wanted more of it. They just let me be myself, and it was a pretty big deal. I had a great band. I had a live band. We would get together regularly to do an episode. I wasn’t on the road at the beginning of that one. We would get into this studio and run it down live. The band was amazing. It still thrills me to hear that movie. Kate [Pierson] and Fred [Schneider] from The B-52’s sang on the theme, which is great. 

It must have been cool to have them involved in the projects. 

Yeah. We did a couple of things. We did a cartoon developed for the Cartoon Network. The show only lasted one episode of The Groovenians. Having members of the band was great. I love all those cartoons. They are crazy and fun. 

How would you describe your process? 

Every project is different. With Rocko, they really let me be by myself. I would just record it. We would mix it, get in the car and run it to FedEx where it will be flied out to L.A. where it would be laid into the final mix. It was really intense. With a show I did for HBO called A Little Curious, that was different. The producers were very hands-on. There were lots of songs and singing. Fred also wrote a couple of songs with me for that. It was fun. It depends on the production. I don’t have a stock way of doing things. 

Pat Irwin

What project has been the most challenging for you? 

I would say the one I just finished Dexter: Original Sin. That was by far the most challenging. The subject matter is challenging. A lot of people know that show, so there are a lot of expectations. We just wanted to get it right. It was a genre that was somewhat new to me where at the end of the season it became this horror action thing. It had very intense music. That was a challenge. 

It sounded like for this you had to go to a dark place. 

Definitely. It was really intense and dark, but there was humor in it too. It was getting to know that character and doing the right thing and making it so it felt like an origin story. I took inspiration from music that was in the original show. I played real close attention to that. 

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As far as The B-52’s, it was fun seeing them on the SNL50: The Homecoming Concert. Do you have any memorable moments you remember performing on these types of gigs? 

I definitely remember playing Saturday Night Live. Alec Baldwin was hosting. I believe it was 1990. We were doing songs from “Cosmic Thing.” What was so cool about it is it wasn’t just that show. We played Central Park on Earth Day to one of the largest crowds ever in Central Park. Then it was three nights at Radio City Music Hall with Saturday Night Live. We were just having a ball. 

What’s next for you? 

I have a band that really at the center called SUSS. It’s instrumental, very ambient, kind of the opposite of Dexter. Although Original Sin was ambient. This is much different using acoustic instruments. We’re going to go on tour starting next week where we’re playing South by Southwest (SXSW). We have a bunch of records out under a small independent label called Northern Spy. It’s all a living. 

Dexter: Original Sin, Paramount+ With Showtime