Jim Johnston and Outside Bands...

[thebib62]

I had a question about theme songs that featured outside bands.
For example "Slow Chemical".

How are those songs composed? Does Jim Johnston compose all of the instrumental and just gets the band to do the vocal part of it?
That was the impression I was always under.
Was there ever a case where an outside band did everything in regards to the theme song? Composing, mastering, and then just give up the rights to WWE? Or is it a case by case basis?
This is something I have always wondered and I hope somebody can give me some insight on this.

[Alex]

I had a question about theme songs that featured outside bands.
For example "Slow Chemical".

How are those songs composed? Does Jim Johnston compose all of the instrumental and just gets the band to do the vocal part of it?
That was the impression I was always under.
Was there ever a case where an outside band did everything in regards to the theme song? Composing, mastering, and then just give up the rights to WWE? Or is it a case by case basis?
This is something I have always wondered and I hope somebody can give me some insight on this.

From what I know, most of the time, Jim Johnston send to the band his own demo, the lyrics, and he ask them to record their own rendition of the song, like with Motörhead (as they said in an episode of Confidential). When it's done, the band send the multitrack to Jim, who can master it/remaster it or do whatever he want. For example, Eleventh Hour recorded the whole track "A Girl Like That" (instrumental and vocals) as featured on the album Wreckless Intent, but Jim remixed it (he changed the guitars and the drums) to make the arena version.

I also heard that Jim was a very nice guy who always listened to ideas from the artists he worked with (like Jimi Bell who was playing guitar solos the way he wanted).

The situation is different with solo vocalists, who only perform vocals, they had to follow directions from Jim, but were sometimes free to bring ideas to perform the theme (like Chris Warren - there was an interview of Jim who was talking about this theme and the collaboration with Chris). Vocalists were invited to Jim's studio most of the time (the only exception I know is Tommy Vext, the vocals were produced by Logan Mader). You can learn more about this here: goo.gl/zRwtU6

[thebib62]

Excellent answer! Thank you for your insight.

[Wimpyburgers]

Speaking of solo artists, I know that Evan Jones, now known as Eazy the Phoenix had 11 hours to record and write the lyrics, perform and send final copies of "Domination" and "About to Get Raw" back to Jim Johnston.

Jim sent him the instrumentals and gave him some ideas and Evan worked with them. Both songs were censored by Jim for TV, but they both have explicit versions too. And the drums for "About to Get Raw" were also remixed on WWE programming by Jim Johnston.

[Leaf]

I know that TV/TV wrote "Smoke & Mirrors" on their own and gave it to WWE for them to rework and use for something. The demo fits with their music style at the time as well. The way I see it, TV/TV wanted some free exposure for their band because of this affiliation with a big brand like WWE but, the Music Group being as they are, delayed the release of the song until December, just prior of the band dismembering.

[EnjoiIsGood]

I know that TV/TV wrote "Smoke & Mirrors" on their own and gave it to WWE for them to rework and use for something. The demo fits with their music style at the time as well. The way I see it, TV/TV wanted some free exposure for their band because of this affiliation with a big brand like WWE but, the Music Group being as they are, delayed the release of the song until December, just prior of the band dismembering.

Oh, what cruel assholes.