Musicians vs the World

Award-winning film composer Juan Carlos Enriquez shares his career journey from progressive rock bassist to scoring Disney+ projects. In this episode, discover the pathway from assistant to lead composer, essential organization systems using Google Sheets for managing 40+ cues, and techniques for adapting musical themes across genres - from Cumbia to orchestral scores. Topics Include: - The composer's career ladder - Organization systems for managing complex film scores with multiple team members - Recording with live orchestras and working with directors - Creating cohesive scores for projects like Disney's "Mesa Para Dos" and Telemundo's "Velvet"

Today we’re talking to Egee, the captivating rock 'n' roll cabaret artist taking Austin's music scene by storm! We chat about her life as a performing musician and her journey into curating her cabaret rock persona and developing her sound, which she displays in her most recent song “La Mer.” Topics Include: -How COVID changed Egee's perspective on pursuing music professionally -The psychology behind creating a stage persona vs. performing as yourself -Separating "music life" and "private life" -Breaking down the creative process behind "La Mer" and genre-blending techniques -Austin's supportive music community and networking tips -Overcoming imposter syndrome and embracing your authentic artistic voice -The balance between personal branding and artistic integrity

Discover the cutting-edge world of music technology at The Georgia Institute of Technology! Dr. Jeff Albert, Interim Chair of the School of Music, reveals how students combine engineering brilliance with musical creativity to shape the future of music. He'll take us inside Georgia Tech's Guthman Musical Instrument Competition, whose timeline for submissions runs from now through October 10, 2025. We'll also cover improvisation and how we can learn more about humanity and human connection through technology. About our guest: Dr. Jeff Albert is Interim Chair and Associate Professor of the School of Music at the Georgia Institute of technology. His areas of research and creative practice include improvisation and interaction, jazz performance, performance paradigms for live computer music, and audio production. He has performed in concerts and festivals in the U.S and throughout Europe, and contributed as a performer, producer, or engineer on over 60 recordings, including the 2017 Grammy winner for Best Traditional Blues Album. He has been named a Rising Star in the DownBeat Critics Poll, and his album Unanimous Sources was named a Top 10 album of 2020 by Jan Garelick in the Boston Globe. Albert received his B.M. from Loyola University New Orleans, and his M.M. from the University of New Orleans. In May of 2013, he became the first graduate of the PhD program in Experimental Music and Digital Media at Louisiana State University, where he was a founding member of the Laptop Orchestra of Louisiana (LOLs).

Discover the secrets behind Netflix's most acclaimed sound design! My guest today is Andrés Silva, Sound Supervisor, Sound Designer and Founder of La Tina, an international audio post-production and film scoring studio, exporting services globally since 2010, whose latest projects include Narcos and One Hundred Years of Solitude for Netflix. In this interview, Andrés reveals how he approaches sound design like a musical composition. In this Episode We Learn: •How sound design functions as musical composition for film •Behind the scenes secrets from Netflix’s “100 Years of Solitude” •Dolby Atmos mixing techniques that create immersive experiences •Field recording strategies for authentic Caribbean soundscapes •Building an international audio post-production studio from Colombia •The creative process behind “Narcos” sound design

Today I chat with Columbian composer Juan Cortés Arango as he shares his creative process behind The Head Season 3 and his innovative approach to extended techniques. In this episode we discuss *Juan's transition from cello performance to composition due to tendinitis *Creating organic sounds that feel electronic using extended techniques *Working with prepared piano, unusual woodwinds, and unconventional string techniques *The philosophy behind choosing acoustic instruments over synthesizers *His collaboration process and the importance of documentation in composition *How the music industry is evolving and what it means for composers. About our Guest: Juan Cortés Arango is a versatile Colombian composer based in Los Angeles. Juan’s portfolio includes such notable works as Mala Fortuna, Anywhere With You, and Above the Yangtze River. As an additional composer, Juan worked on Pablo Larrain’s Golden Globe-nominated Neruda, as well as Judd Apatow’s HBO docuseries George Carlin’s American Dream, and Amazon Studios’ Life Itself, starring Oscar Isaac and Olivia Wilde. Through his close relationship with Richard Ludlow’s Hexany Audio, Juan also orchestrates for a wide variety of video games, virtual reality, and interactive media projects, including Honor of Kings and Arknights. He also co-founded Salon de Paprika, a boutique film production house. Both ventures have developed a global clientele since their founding. He is currently building an orchestration collective. Juan graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2014 with a double major in Film Scoring and Electronic Production & Design.

Veteran composer Brian Steckler takes us through his fascinating 30-year journey in the ever-changing music industry, from his unexpected start with the iconic Budweiser Frogs Super Bowl commercial to scoring the Sundance Film Festival selection “Sunfish (& Other Stories from Green Lake).” In this episode, Brian shares: • How a piano performance degree led him from Nashville to LA’s music scene • Working with artists like Paul Stanley (KISS) and Tony winner Billy Porter • The reality of the music industry and adapting to survive • Innovative scoring techniques for the acclaimed film “Sunfish (& Other Stories from Green Lake)” *plus his favorite mic placement for recording piano* • Behind-the-scenes stories from jingle houses to reality tv productions • Honest advice for aspiring musicians entering today’s competitive landscape

Today is the first of a two-part series with our guest, musician and composer Alexander Parsons. In Part I, we’re discussing Alexander's score to the upcoming film, "Flight 149: Hostage of War," the extraordinary story of passengers and crew who become unwitting hostages during Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. We also discuss the impact of music teachers on their students, and how his own teacher influenced his life. https://alexparsonsmusic.com/

Today we learn about the Alexander Technique and improving our musicianship with the incredible Jennifer Roig-Francolí! We talk about the power of awareness, the sneaky thoughts and obstacles we put in our own way, and Christine even gets a quick lesson on a tension/awareness exercise we can all use in our own practice! Jennifer's Website: https://artoffreedom.me/

Composer James Allen Roberson has a great quote on his wall by Ira Glass that explains that the gap between our ability and our taste is only bridged by a lot of work. In today's episode, James sits down with us to discuss his own creative development and the hard work that went into it. We talk about maintaining and attitude of humility and learning lessons from unexpected places, living in the studio, how to find the right sound for a project, and mourning the end-of-life of Finale. https://www.robersonsound.com/

Today we visit Middle Earth and discuss the score to "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" with Emmy award-winning Composer Stephen Gallagher and Grammy award-winning Producer/Engineer Mark Willsher. Their goal in this project was to “honour the narrative of the film by blending the beloved design and musical language of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy with ideas befitting Kamiyama-san's beautiful hand-drawn anime.” We discuss learning from and enjoying the differences between "The War of the Rohirrim" and the original live action LOTR trilogies in terms of workflow and creative style. We also cover thematic material, composition/mixing techniques and the value of having a trusted collaboration! "Overture" from THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is copyrighted and used with permission from WBD Music AS(ASCAP), New Line Tunes (ASCAP) and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights to the music are owned by WBD Music, New Line Tunes, and Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.

Renowned German film composer Christoph Zirngibl joins us today to talk about his recent projects AppleTV+ “Where’s Wanda” and the animated adventure film “The Hero of Centopia.” We chat about the difference between a Palette Composer vs an Artist Composer, his own composing process, and what makes a good melody. Christoph Zirngibl is a renowned German film composer based in Munich, Germany. Among the over 120 movies Christoph has composed the music for by now, you will find some of the most-watched German prime-time TV movies and successful national feature films, as well as a diverse range of indie films, short movies, TV series and documentaries. His music has been awarded the Hollywood Music in Media Award, the Jerry Goldsmith Award and the “German Emmy” ({reis der Deutschen Fernsehakademie) and has been nominated multiple times, e.g. for the German Filmmusic Award, the European Filmmusic Award (Camille Award) and the Music & Sound Awards. At the Cannes Film Festival 2022, he was one of ten international composers being selected for the Spot the Composer Program.

Collaboration is the cornerstone of a musicians’ creativity and career. This is especially true in media composing. And here to talk with me about it today are my guests Ari Posner and Joel Schwartz. They worked together composing the score to the acclaimed drama series “Sullivan’s Crossing” whose 2nd season premiered in the US in October 2024 on the CW, and kicks off its 3rd season on Canada’s CTV in the spring of 2025.

Today we are honored to have Deva Anderson and Rachel Lautzenheiser, two renowned music supervisors, joining us to share their insights on the film adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, The Piano Lesson. The two have worked together for more than a decade. Deva leads the music department at Tom Hanks and Gary Goeztman’s Production Company, Playtone, where she has overseen music for all their productions for over 25 years, including the Oscar-nominated film Greyhound, Band of Brothers, and The Pacific. Rachel has played an integral part of the music department at Playtone as a rising Music Supervisor whose credits include Masters of the Air, Alaska Daily, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3. Deva and Rachel also received two Guild of Music Supervisor nominations for Best Music Supervision in a TV Drama (Masters of the Air) and Best Music Supervision in a Mid-Level Budget Film (The Piano Lesson).

Today we’re talking with accomplished composer, Andrew Morgan Smith who has successfully navigated the world of both film and concert composition. We are diving into the technical details about work flow, working with orchestrators, scoring sessions that span the globe, and keeping up with latest technological innovations in the music world. https://www.andrewmorgansmith.com/

Musicians often get stuck in the mindset of 'being chosen.' We practice and hope we are chosen for the masterclass. We audition and are chosen to fill a seat in the studio, or in the orchestra. We submit a demo and cross our fingers that we win the project. Kate Kayaian, Career Coach for High Performing Creatives, has made it her life's mission to help creatives thrive in their careers and take the steps they need to unlock their creative potential. She joins us today to share her own story pivoting from a very successful career as a cellist to her new life helping other high-performing creatives. We discuss how fear gets in the way of creativity and growth, when it's time to pivot, when it's time to consult a career coach, and the value of community. We also chat a bit about Kate's first full-length book, "Beyond Potential: A Guide for High-achieving Creatives Who Are Looking to Re-assess, Re-define, and Re-ignite Their Careers" which is due out in March 2025. It is available for preorder on February 25, 2025. https://katekayaian.com/ https://talesfromthelane.com/ Instagram: @kkayaian 10 Habits of Successful Artists: https://mailchi.mp/b97d167bd642/10habits

The score for the BAFTA and Annie-nominated film, Kensuke’s Kingdom, is big, traditional, and symphonic. Directors Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry initially conceived the project almost as a silent movie, as there is very little dialogue between the two lead characters, who do not speak each other’s language. The music plays a pivotal role in the story-telling, featuring a 60-piece orchestra and a 35-piece choir. Stuart handled every aspect of the music production – composition, orchestration, music editing, supervision of the mix, handling the budget, etc. He joins us to discuss the highs and lows of this massive project: from the business/budget to the thematic and orchestral development of this gorgeous score. He also shares his love of orchestral music from Stravinsky to John Williams, and gives his advice on scores to study and the importance of composing horizontally as well as vertically. https://www.stuarthancock.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2fTTVQwaWU

Steffen Thum is a German composer for film, TV, games and advertising, based in Berlin. With over 70 credits to his name, he has extensive experience across high profile studio films, independent cinema, TV and advertising campaigns. Max Aruj is a composer born and raised in Los Angeles. His recent projects include MoviePass, MovieCrash (HBO), Lansky starring Harvey Keitel, and The Ice Road (Netflix) starring Liam Neeson. Both are successful film composers with experience working on high profile projects with composers such as Lorne Balfe, Hans Zimmer and others. They’re here to talk with us today about collaboration, lessons learned in their careers, and their work on the film “Betrayal.” Topics Include: *Working for another composer is another level of training and “school” *The importance of working very cleanly and clearly in collaboration *Work at a high level to hone your craft *The importance of attention to detail *Behind the score of “Betrayal” *Advice for aspiring musicians https://www.steffenthum.com/ https://maxaruj.com/

Robert Arzola is a freelance composer and music supervisor for Phantom Power based in the Atlanta, GA metropolitan area. After injury interrupted his plans of being a classical performer, Robert pivoted to composing. As a freelance composer, Robert has scored feature films for Reel One Entertainment, Lifetime, Lionsgate, and Feifer Worldwide along with the video game Tactical Breach Wizards. Robert has landed numerous placements in trailers as a composer, sound designer, and editor. As the music supervisor for Phantom Power, Robert helped release multiple albums and has helped Phantom Power acquire placements for various major campaigns. He is also a contributor for the YouTube channel, The Samplelist, where he does overviews of sample libraries. Today we talk about his career, his pivot to composing, and we do a deep dive into his score for the game Tactical Breach Wizards. https://robertarzola.com/

David Naroth is a Composer, Sound Designer, and all-around creative person. He loves creating and audio is his favorite outlet of that creativity! He loves experimenting with the traditional and non-traditional to create new perspectives in his compositions. He also loves to push himself to explore different genres of music and loves to work on all types of visual media formats. Today David joins us to discuss his latest project, “Searching for Amani.” The documentary takes place In the heart of Kenya, where a tragedy shatters a young boy's life. The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 8, 2024. We also talk about creating sonic palettes and world building through sound, as well as sonically representing abstract concepts like climate change. Topics Include: -Sonically representing climate change -Collaboration in composing -The process of creating sonic palettes -World building through sound -Experimentation vs working fast -The differences between documentaries and fiction projects -Gear David can’t live without -Finding source sounds and creating a sound library -Sampling and re-sampling https://www.davidnaroth.com/ https://www.searchingforamani.com/

Austin Weber first gained attention in 2018 with his original records and boundary-pushing music videos. His music and videos are vibrant collages of early YouTube blogging, David Attenborough documentaries, and heartbreak. His theatrical live shows feature puppet monsters, lucha libré matches, and Gregorian chant ceremonies. With an upcoming solo record set to release in November 2024, and his involvement in scoring the recently Tribeca-premiered film Rent Free, Austin continues to push creative boundaries. His score for Rent Free uses homebuilt instruments and analog synthesizers alongside an original soundtrack of new songs to alternatingly ground and augment the chaos of your early 20s. Topics include: -Early success laying the track for a music career -The fun of being your own boss vs. having a director -Classical vs Media music....is there a difference? -Classical music as a visual medium -The “Cow tools” Plinko instrument – making new instruments for “Rent Free” -Collaboration and communication in Music https://www.austinweber.info/ https://www.youtube.com/@AustinWeber https://open.spotify.com/prerelease/5h0rTGkBqbWz66GwvsgwzF?si=b675e9bced7f4c43 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28626359/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk