Danny Elfman told me about his upcoming album and…
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Contrary to fashionable perception, Danny Elfman isn’t just the composer for some of the most iconic scores in movie historical past like “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “Batman,” “Men in Black” and “Spider-Man.”
He’s also an achieved heavy steel solo artist, former frontman for the ’80s new wave band Oingo Boingo, drummer for A$AP Rocky and a budding screenwriter.
Next up, the tireless multi-hyphenate — who is halfway through recording a new album that’s due out early next 12 months — hits the street on his 2026 fall tour that’s just as bold as he’s.
“My live shows are going to be a mishmash of things,” Elfman told The Post in an exclusive interview. “A collage that make absolutely no sense being put together on the same stage. But there it is. That’s me.”
From now through Oct. 4, the Grammy winner will deliver his one-of-a-kind movie music/new wave/heavy steel concert events to theaters, music halls, out of doors phases, festivals and auditoriums all over North America.
That consists of a stop at New York City’s SummerStage at Central Park on Tuesday, Sept. 15.
“I’m excited to play the new songs live,” Elfman smiled.
Still, he understands that followers of his might want to hear tracks they know and love from his storied historical past working with Tim Burton, Sam Raimi, Gus Van Sant and composing the ever-present “The Simpsons” theme track.
“Of course, my audience knows the old stuff and wants to hear it. So I try to combine my past, my present and my future all mixed together.”
He’ll echo that sentiment visually as properly.
“My idea was to have nothing fit at all,” the 73-year-old Los Angeleno explained. “For me, my world, it’s all about contrast. I love the idea of like throwing fun, crazy, dark, f—ed up s— up there and having it be a real crazy collage of elements and styles that do not have a single uniform aesthetic to them.”
Just like his sonically-diverse scores that run the gamut from fantastical and whimsical to darkish and haunting, go in anticipating the surprising.
“You’ve never seen a show like this before. I hope it’s a really wild experience,” Elfman grinned.
For more data, including the origin of Elfman’s near-perfect track “What’s This?” and his look with A$AP Rocky on “Saturday Night Live,” keep studying.
We’ve bought every little thing you need to know about Danny Elfman’s fall 2026 tour, pageant appearances and more below.
Where is Danny Elfman going on tour in 2026?
A whole calendar including all North American tour dates, venues and hyperlinks to buy tickets may be discovered below.
Danny Elfman tour datesSept. 9 at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, MISept. 12 at MGM Music Hall in Boston, MASept. 14 at The Fillmore in Silver Spring, MDSept. 15 at SummerStage in New York, NYSept. 16 at The Met in Philadelphia, PASept. 17-20 at Louder Than Life in Louisville, KY
Four-day passesSept. 18-20 at Shaky Knees in Atlanta, GA
Three-day passesSept. 18 at Shaky Knees in Atlanta, GA
Single-day passesSept. 20 at Louder Than Life in Louisville, KY
Single-day passesOct. 2 at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco, CAOct. 3 at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco, CAOct. 1-4 at Aftershock in Sacramento, CA
Four-day passesOct. 4 at Aftershock in Sacramento, CA
Single-day passesNov. 13 at Resorts World in Las Vegas, NV
Danny Elfman’s music from the movies of Tim BurtonNov. 14 at Resorts World in Las Vegas, NV
Danny Elfman’s music from the movies of Tim Burton
Who is headlining at the festivals Danny Elfman is performing at this 12 months?
To make sure you’re in the loop, all three of Elfman’s upcoming pageant venues, dates, fellow headliners and hyperlinks are listed proper right here:
Danny Elfman 2026 pageant appearancesLouder Than Life
Sept. 17-20 at the Highland Festival Grounds in Louisville, KY
Iron Maiden, My Chemical Romance, Limp Bizkit, Tool, PanteraShaky Knees
September 18–20 at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, GA
The Strokes, Twenty One Pilots, Gorillaz, Tunstile, Wu-Tang ClanAftershock
Oct. 1-4 at Discovery Park in Sacramento, CA
My Chemical Romance, Limp Bizkit, Tool, Pierce The Veil, The Offspring
What did Danny Elfman inform The Post?
The Post spoke with the bubbling songwriter for 20 minutes a few days forward of his tour. Below, you’ll discover a transcript of our chat.
What has it been like performing at heavy steel festivals these past few years?
The second I used to be supposed to go onstage at Sick New World, I assumed, “oh, what a terrible decision, I’m going on in between Marilyn Manson, System of a Down and Korn and I was like ‘what am I doing here?’”
But it went great and they invited us back. We did it again this 12 months. Audiences are more eclectic than we give them credit for.
Tell me how you got here up with “What’s This?” from “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
That entire project was so simple. I wrote tremendous fast with Tim [Burton] and it was actually just the 2 of us beginning from the ground up. There was no guidebook for how to start an animated musical and there was no script at that level. So we just thought, “let’s start with the songs” and inform as a lot of the story as potential through track and then go work out where we have been.
He would actually describe one scene at a time to me. Tim had lovely drawings he would show me so it wasn’t just a description but we had these great illustrations. And he would inform me “Jack goes into the forest and he gets sucked into this tree, there’s these different holidays and everything’s new and he sees this and he sees this.”
As he’s speaking, I’m listening to the track in my head and I’m going, “okay, you got to go.” Then, three days later, I’d call him, said, “okay, I got a song for you.”
Eventually, in the writing course of, I said to Tim “just tell me the story as if you were telling the story around the fire to your nieces and nephews” and that’s how we did it until we had ten songs.
How has the method developed from when you began composing with “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” to what you probably did with this 12 months’s glorious “Send Help?”
It’s onerous for me to monitor my own evolution. It’s weirdly precisely the same as it was 40 years in the past. I always start with a sense of ‘what am I going to do? I have no idea. I’m just going to attain around in the vapor and strive to grab one thing.’
Then, there’s always this momentary “what if I don’t do well? What if I can’t find it? What if I don’t deliver?” There’s that typical composer insecurity of going into one thing and not understanding if you’ll discover the factor that makes it particular.
It’s very easy to do boring scores but I don’t need to do that so I strive to make the rating sound like there’s one thing identifiable in it that’s distinctive to that movie, that wouldn’t be straightforward to put in another movie.
The course of is still the same though.
I like every time I work with Sam [Raimi], it’s a deal with. Not only is it enjoyable to write for his loopy movies, but he’s such a sweetheart to work with. And every time I work with Gus [Van Sant], it’s an experimental course of. We’re going to strive and go into different areas. And that’s actually particular, too.
Working with Tim [Burton] is always a entire other factor. They’re just three extremely different personalities. I worth all of them very, very a lot.
What are you able to inform us about the upcoming album?
I’m stretching in different instructions. There’s more synthesizers and space in some songs. Whenever I sit down to write, I’m two writers that don’t like each other. One needs to be enjoyable and loopy and the other is personal and considerate.
Basically, I’m always discovering a steadiness between these two.
Do you favor creating the heavier solo stuff or do you just like the whimsical, fantastical scores?
They actually scratch different itches.
For instance, a few years in the past, I had my cello concerto premiere in Vienna with the French cellist Gautier Capuçon and a symphony orchestra.
Per week after that, I walked onstage at Coachella. As I used to be strolling out, I used to be considering ‘”his is fairly cool. Not many people get this expertise of bowing onstage after a concerto with a symphony to strolling nothing but a pair of shorts onstage at Coachella.”
I like the distinction.
Is there one project of yours that fell through the cracks that never bought to see the sunshine of day that you actually want was launched?
There are a couple of scripts I’ve written that I haven’t given up on that are actually bizarre. I’m still going to strive get them completed when I’ve some time.
I’ve also always wished to do an album of children music for Naughty Children album and never completed that.
What was it like becoming a member of ASAP Rocky onstage at SNL?
It was so a lot enjoyable. I didn’t know what to count on.
We have been speaking about destroying our devices live on air, but clearly we couldn’t rehearse that.
Anyway, while we have been preparing, one stunt man onstage goes “be careful. At a certain point, I’m going to come flying at your drums.”
Sure enough, there was a level where he went smashing in and I used to be just ready to leap out of the way in which before I bought my knees damaged in a half. I did end up getting a bloody calf out of the factor but it was completely high-quality.
I always appear to come out of one of these reveals with an injury, but I might do it all over again in a second because I like Rocky and his music.
Do you’ve gotten any big initiatives in the works that aren’t listed on IMDB that you may tease proper now?
No, I’ve been placing so a lot power into ending the album along with an hour-long album movie. It has seven videos constructed into a loopy story that I got here up with.
This interview has been edited and condensed for readability.
Which artists does Danny Elfman like to see live?
As one may need guessed, the enigmatic musician has eclectic tastes. These are 5 of the artists he can’t get enough of these days.
I’ve been to a quantity of Nine Inch Nails reveals, and for me, that’s always just a great deal with.
I’m trying ahead to seeing Tool when we’re taking part in at the same stage at Louder Than Life because I’ve never really seen them live even though they’re my favourite band.
I bought to see System of a Down at Sick New World and that was actually, actually enjoyable.
Seeing A$AP Rocky‘s live show was great.
And Guns N’ Roses. I’ve been working with Slash, who is definitely concerned in this album movie in a number of methods.
This article was written by Matt Levy, New York Post live occasions reporter. Levy stays up-to-date on all the latest tour bulletins from your favourite musical artists and comedians, as properly as Broadway openings, sporting occasions and more live reveals – and finds great ticket costs online. Since he began his tenure at the Post in 2022, Levy has reviewed a Bruce Springsteen live performance and interviewed Melissa Villaseñor of SNL fame, to title a few. Please observe that offers can expire, and all costs are subject to change.
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