Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1010195
was given the opportunity rock bands on the side." A pivotal moment arrived when Governor to study with composer Aaron Copeland. "For the application, I had to submit an original string quartet. I'd never done that and was struggling," he says. "My professor advised, 'Go with what you know.' What I knew was Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and Pete Townshend—power chord rock and roll. So, I wrote a piece based on riffs from all these songs I knew. Somehow, I got in." He thoroughly enjoyed and benefited from the experience but felt a little out of his league. "I asked him privately why he'd chosen me for this class. Holding my string quar tet, Copeland said, 'I had to meet the maniac who wrote this thing,' " Governor laughs. This was the 1980s, and the place for an ambitious musician to be was LA. "I didn't know anyone, but I wanted to get into film music," he says. Governor took some night classes at UCLA and started networking. He obtained work scoring music for documentaries, leading to a produc- tion assistant gig on a "really, really bad movie called "Surf II." There wasn't even a "Surf I,"" he says. 214 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 1 8 Governor's original compositions and songs have been featured on the soundtracks of more than 200 films and television shows in a wide range of genres. He's shown here surrounded by master recording and scores circa 2000. In his short time in Carmel, Governor has made a name for himself via his work with the music program at Folktale Winery in Carmel Valley. Photo: Andy Caulfield