Background and Storyline of the Series
Stranger Things, which premiered in July 2016, is a Netflix original series featuring a group of young boys who work together to reveal the truth behind the sudden vanishing of one of their friends, Will Byers. With the help of family, friends, police, and a mysterious girl named Eleven with telekinetic powers, they uncover much more than they anticipate about a government lab and a portal which leads to another world called the “upside-down” (Landrum 2017). The show was created by Duffer Brothers, Matt and Ross, and is set in the 1980s, drawing on the pop culture and aesthetic of the decade in order to transport viewers back in time in every way imaginable (Getman 2018). Elements including the characters’ clothing, the science fiction upside-down alternate dimension accompanied by electronic music, and the nostalgic soundtrack which features period music, are all clearly influenced by the 1980s (James 2020). As 1980s retro emerged as a popular trend, these ‘80s influenced elements were very well received by the modern day audience, appealing to their sense of nostalgia (Landrum 2017). While each reference to the ‘80s was very important to the show’s aesthetic, the element which best grabbed the audience’s attention was the main theme song, and thus the show’s success and “addicting” nature should be attributed to this piece of music.
Main Theme Song and Information on the Composers
The main theme song of Stranger Things was composed by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein—members of the synth band SURVIVE (Vanity Fair 2018). Dixon and Stein’s musical style is considered to be reminiscent of the 1980s synthesize sounds Stranger Things attempts to capture, as the composers admit to heavy influence by prominent artists of the 1980s, such as John Carpenter (see John Carpenter and His Works section for more information on Carpenter’s background) (Vanity Fair 2018). Carpenter’s films and scores heavily influenced Dixon and Stein’s style, and provided reason for their use of older synthesizers as opposed to newer versions (Landrum 2017). Their style is also influenced by electronic dance music (EDM), experimental artists, and science fiction movies from the ‘80s such as The Keep and Ex Machina (Vanity Fair 2018). Although Dixon and Stein rely on these influences to inspire them, they point out that their music also heavily relies on experimenting and, specifically with the Stranger Things soundtrack, trying to get a feel for what they are representing through their music, since “writing a score is much different that writing an album” (Vanity Fair 2018). Although many people tend to skip theme songs while watching Netflix shows, viewers admit to listening to the Stranger Things theme song all the way through, and some even kept the song as their ringtone (Adebowale 2019).
