Sound Business with Akash Thakkar
Akash Thakkar 100 episodes Sep 9, 2026
Sound Business with Akash Thakkar features interviews with successful audio professionals across music and sound. Guests include educators, performers, pop stars, game audio professionals, voice actors, composers, sound designers, plug-in designers, and audio programmers. The show explores the business and mindset skills needed to build a career in music and sound.
Episodes
How to Stand Out in Game Audio with Presley Hynes
#96: Today's guest is Presley Hynes who is a sound designer based out of Edmonton, Canada.
Presley is currently senior sound designer at Gearbox, and has worked on projects like Borderlands 4, God of War: Ragnarok, Anthem, and many others.
In this interview we talk about how Presley started as a classical piano player, moved on to become a percussion player, worked in live sound, and then eventua
Jazz Composition, Game Audio, & Working at Valve with Tim Larkin
#95: My guest today is Tim Larkin, who's based out of Spokane Washington.
Tim has been playing trumpet and piano since a young age, and has performed with artists like James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Sheila E, and many others. Tim has also worked in game audio for over 30 years, including 21 years at Valve Software working on titles like Left 4 Dead 1 and 2, Half Life 2: Episode One and Two, Portal
From Musician to AAA Game Audio with Chris Bolte
#94: My guest today is Chris Bolte, who is a technical sound designer and audio implementer based out of Massachusetts.
Chris has built a wide-ranging library of sound effects used by creatives all over the world, co-wrote the book Elevate Your Audio Production with REAPER, and is most known for his work on the hit game Ghost of Yotei, where he implemented and designed sound across tens of thousan
Building a Composing Career from Game Jams with Virginia Leo
#93: My guest today is Virginia Leo, who is a composer, sound designer, and pianist based out of Austin, Texas.
Virginia has worked on projects like Wobbly Life, had her work played by orchestras around the US, and is most known for her work on the hit game, The Baby In Yellow, which has hit over 300 million downloads to date.
In this interview, Virginia talks about her shift into video game music
Working Across Film, TV, Games, and Youtube with Kevin Senzaki
#92: My guest today is Kevin Senzaki, who is a sound supervisor and sound designer based in Los Angeles. He has an incredibly diverse background starting first as a visual artists but then transitioned into sound during his college days. He got his career started during the early 2010s when he staretd working with YouTube Creators who would become massive like RocketJump and Corridor Digital.
Si
From Indie Freelance to full-time AAA Sound Design with Beatrix Moersch
#91: My guest today is Beatrix Moersch, sound designer based out of Montreal, Canada. She has worked on projects including Dead By Daylight, Gears 5: Hivebusters, Museum of Symmetry, Stories: The Path of Destinies, and is currently the audio lead at Don’t Nod Montreal, most recently working on Lost Records: Bloom & Rage.
In this episode, we talk Beatrix’s transition from wanting to work in
Teaching, Composing, and Organizing Community with Noa Beazley
#90: My guest today is Noa Beazley, who is a composer and music educator baed out of Boston, Massachusetts. She has composed for projects like Protodroid DeLTA, A Token War, and Phosfi working across a huge variety of genres all the way to dark folk music and everything in between. She’s also an assistant professor at the Berklee College of Music teaching game scoring. She’s also on the Board of D
Finding your Uniqueness with Alejandro Pérez Heinze
#89: My guest today is Alejandro Pérez Heinze who is a composer, Flamenco guitarist, audio engineer, Kontakt instrument producer, and audio educator based in Mexico. He has worked on a wide variety of projects including Kontakt instrument production on Kena: Bridge of Spirits, also working with Austin Wintory on projects such as Thai Cave Rescue, and composing on games such as Frogreign.
In this
From YouTube to Composing for AAA Games with Venus Theory
#88: My guest today is Venus Theory, who is a music producer and Youtuber based out of Nashville, Tennessee. Venus Theory is known not only for his lush electronic music, but also his massive YouTube channel. He also recently finished writing the soundtrack for the hit game Avowed by Obsidian Entertainment.
In this episode, we dive into Venus Theory’s rise as a musician due to YouTube, how he la
How to Freelance in 2025 with Jamie Brindle
#87: My guest today is Jamie Brindle, who’s actually our first ever non-audio guest for the podcast! Some of you may already be familiar with Jamie and his work on social media, where he helps out freelancers across all industries, focusing on aspects around pricing, dealing with client pushback, finding quality clients, and much more.
In this episode, Jamie and I talk about the skills, mindsets
Building the Blueprint of Game Audio with Alexander Brandon
#86: My guest today is Alexander Brandon, a game audio designer based out of Seattle, Washington. He has had an incredibly diverse and impactful career, starting off in the early ages of game audio working on projects like Unreal, Thief, and Deus Ex. He also contributed to projects such as Skyrim, Job Simulator, and so so many others.
In this episode, we dive deep into Alexander’s initial start
Building a Career in New Age Music with Radhika Vekaria
#85: My guest today is Radhika Vekaria, a musician and recording artist born in the UK and based out of Los Angeles. Radhika is known for creating the album WARRIORS OF LIGHT, which was recently nominated for a Grammy in the Best New Age Ambient and Chant category.
In this episode, we dive deep into Radhika’s Indian music upbringing, how she became a mantra-based artist in the first place, the c
The Business of Film Sound with Devendra Cleary
#84: My guest today is Devendra Cleary, a production sound mixer based in Los Angeles. He got his start working as a boom mic operator in college and eventually got his first big break working on the TV show Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Since then, he’s worked on projects such as Firefly, Anchorman, Sex and the City, and, recently, Twisters and Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.
In this episode, we talk abo
Building a Music Production Career from Scratch with Chong The Nomad
#83: My guest today is Alda Agustiano, also known as Chong The Nomad, who is a music producer and DJ based in Seattle, Washington. Alda has been producing music for well over a decade now, recently releasing her debut album titled “Do We Make Of This?” and also working on projects such as Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings, and getting music sync spots with companies like Singapore Airlines, App
Composing Across Cultures with Mikey J
#82: My guest today is Mikey J, a composer, producer, and dancer based in the United Kingdom. He has worked on a huge variety of projects from Danny Boyle’s Free Your Mind Matrix Adaptation, scoring and music directing the 2024 revival of Romeo & Juliet starring Tom Holland, founding the award winning dance company Boy Blue, and is even a member of the Order of the British Empire for his work
From Roadie to Hollywood Sound Designer with Dror Mohar
#81: My guest today is Dror Mohar, a sound designer and engineer based out of Los Angeles. He has worked on an insane number of projects, including Inglorious Basterds, DJ Hero, Fable III, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and more recently, Lady in the Lake on Apple TV.
In this episode, we talk about how Dror grew up in Africa, ended up in the UK, and then moved to the US to truly start his caree
Sound Design and Nature Recording with Andy Martin
#80: My guest today is Andy Martin, a sound designer and nature recordist based out of Seattle, Washington. Andy’s had an incredibly long and varied career in the world of sound design, working on projects such as Grim Fandango, all of the games in the inFAMOUS series, Medal of Honor, and has even worked with Skywalker Sound as a virtual reality sound designer on projects like Vader Immortal. He a
Building a 40-Year Career in Audio with Rob Pearsall
#79: My guest today is Rob Pearsall, a composer and sound designer based out of Seattle, Washington. He has had a career in game audio spanning over 20 years and dove into game audio for the first time at 46 years old. Since beginning his career he has worked on Halo: Reach, Halo 4, Destiny, République, BattleTech, Falcon Age, The Lamplighters League, and many others.
In this episode, we talk ab
The Psychology of Working in Game Audio with Raison Varner
#78: My guest today is Raison Varner, a voice actor, sound designer, composer, videographer, and writer. He’s had a very broad and varied career, starting in 2006 as an intern on the original Prey game, then working as a composer, sound designer, voice actor, and writer for the Borderlands games for 12 years. He has also worked as an art director for Obsidian Entertainment.
In this episode, we
Becoming a Sound Designer Later On During Your Career with James Thatcher
#77: My guest today is James Thatcher, a sound designer and nature recordist based out of Seattle, Washington. He has had an incredibly diverse set of experiences before getting into the world of pro audio, most notably working in Michelin Star restaurants in France before making his way into the world of game audio years later. He has released approximately 17 sound packs, with the most recent ti
Creating the Audio of The Bear with Steve “Major” Giammaria & Evan Benjamin
#76: My guests today are Steve “Major” Giammaria & Evan Benjamin, who are re-recording mixers and dialogue editors based out of the audio production house Sound Lounge in New York City.
In this episode, we dive into their recent work on the hit series The Bear, their process for creating and enhancing the soundscape for such a tense and dramatic show, the realities and life of working in pos
From Sound Designer to Hollywood Composer with Nainita Desai
#75: Today's guest is Nainita Desai, an award-winning composer based out of London, England. She has worked with dozens of high profile clients including Peter Gabriel and A24, as well as documentaries, film, game, TV, and game projects such as Immortality, American Murder, Call of Duty, and Tales of Kenzera: Zau.
In this episode, we talk about Nainita’s upbringing as a sound designer first and
Standing Out as an Audio Generalist with Nathan Moody
#74: Today's guest is Nathan Moody, a composer, sound designer, mastering engineer, and interaction designer based out of California. He has worked on an insane variety of projects ranging from The Callisto Protocol, Pentiment, to MLK: Now Is The Time. He has also created sound effects for World War II Battleships, and is even currently working with Skywalker Sound.
In this episode, we talk abo
Building Team Audio with Ariel Gross
#73: Today's guest is Ariel Gross, a game audio veteran based out of Texas with over 20 years of experience in the game industry. He started his career on PC and Game Boy Advance games in the late 90s and early 2000s, and eventually ended up as an audio lead—working on titles like Saints Row, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and so many more.
Ariel is now the founder of Team Audio, a team of approxima
Building Your Own Path & Dealing with Game Industry Layoffs with Aaron Brown
#72: Today's guest is Aaron Brown, a video game composer, sound designer, and audio director based out of Austin, Texas. He has worked in the game industry for over 20 years now and has worked on projects such as Call Of Duty, Uncharted, Redfall, Donkey Kong: Country Tropical Freeze, and so many others.
In this episode, Aaron and I talk about how to make your own path into the game audio world,
Composing for Film & Theater with Philomène Gatien
#71: Today's guest is Philomène Gatien, a composer and orchestrator based out of Montreal, Canada. She has worked on films like My Salinger Year and theatrical plays such as Thank You For Coming, and even game-specific software such as Wwise in her theater performances.
In this episode, we talk about how Philomène started as a composer, how she started at a later stage than so many others, how s
Surviving Cancer & Winning Grammys with Carla Patullo
#70: Today's guest is Carla Patullo, Grammy-winning songwriter and composer based out of Los Angeles. She has worked on projects such as Maxine on Disney Plus, films like The Ignition, and more recently her personal project and Grammy-winning album, So She Howls.
In this episode, we talk about how Carla's career as a songwriter and composer, how she likes to experiment in her day-to-day work, t
The Myth of Overnight Success with Aaron Cherof
#69: Today's guest is Aaron Cherof, a composer based in Seattle. He has been composing for indie games for well over a decade and has most recently worked on two games that have become huge hits, such as Cobalt Core and Minecraft.
In this episode, we talk about how Aaron has spent 15 years as a composer before he was able to go full-time. We also talk about the importance of creating work, even
How to Build a Composing Career with Zach Heyde
#68: Today's guest is Zach Heyde, a composer based out of Los Angeles. He has worked on a ton of different projects with clients like Disney, Dreamworks, Roblox, and many others. He also runs an online course called "The Composing Career Bootcamp" where he teaches composers how to build a full-time career.
In this episode, Zach and I talk about the importance of being uncomfortable, the types o
How to Thrive in Game Audio (Even after Countless Rejections) with Kian How
#67: Today's guest is Kian How, a composer, sound designer, and music performer based out of Shanghai, China. Kian has worked on a ton of different projects, such as games like Spec Ops The Line, Dishonored, and Marvel: Heroes Unite. He has also worked with clients such as Huawei and is also a player of the Egyptian oud, which is similar to a lute.
In this episode, we talk about Kian's start in
How to Stand Out as a Composer with James Landino
#66: Today's guest is James Landino, a composer and DJ based out of Tokyo, Japan. He has worked on a variety of projects including Battlegrounds Mobile, No Straight Roads, Tower of God, Roblox, and many, many others.
In this episode, we talk about how James developed his iconic electronic music style, what upcoming composers can do to stand out in a saturated industry, what's next for James now
From the Philippines to Hollywood with Mastering Engineer Jett Galindo
#65: Today's guest is Jett Galindo, a mixing and mastering engineer and soprano singer based in Los Angeles. She has worked on countless high-profile projects such as the soundtracks for La La Land, Chicory: A Colorful Tale, and has worked with artists such as Pink Floyd, Towa Bird, and countless others.
In this episode, we talk about Jett's journey from the Philippines to the U.S., how she got in
Teaching the Art of Foley with Bastian Gerner
#64: Today's guest is Bastian Gerner, a Foley artist based out of Düsseldorf, Germany. He has worked in the film and game industries as a Foley artist for decades and, most recently, worked as a full-time senior Foley artist for Ubisoft. Nowadays, on top of his freelancing business, he also coaches up and coming sound designers on breaking into the film and game industry, as well as how to record
Creating a Niche of Your Own with Myuu
#63: Today's guest is Nicolas Gasparini, also known as Myuu. Nicolas is a long-time pianist and composer who's been uploading dark piano horror music since 2006 and has built a huge following in that time with over 300,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, and another 300,000 subscribers on YouTube. He's also worked on short films and video games and is currently working on the upcoming horror game Po
How to Move to LA (And Succeed) with Joy Ngiaw
#62: Today's guest is Joy Ngiaw, an award-winning composer based in Los Angeles. Joy has worked on a ton of projects including the animated short Blush, Disney's experimental short series Short Circuit, Cobra Kai, What Remains of Edith Finch, and many others.
In this episode, we talk about how she grew up in rural Malaysia, made her way to Shanghai, China, and eventually Boston to study at the
How to Quickly Break In to the Game Industry with ZW Buckley
#61: Today's guest is ZW Buckley, a musician, producer, and composer based in Seattle writing in a broad variety of genres and styles for a ton of different projects. His work includes writing a pop soundtrack for Barbie: You Can Be A Fashion Designer VR, teaching music production at Point Blank Music School and running the game audio co-op, Plant Based Audio.
In this episode, ZW and I talk abo
Releasing Hit Music (Without a Record Label) with TheFatRat
#60: Today's guest is Christian Büttner A.K.A. TheFatRat, who is a producer, DJ, and musician based mainly out of Germany. Chris has millions of listeners from all over the world, and has accumulated billions of plays so far. He did this without a major record label, all while giving his music away for free.
In this episode, we talk about how he started in the world of classical music and trans
From Creating Metal Music to Writing for Angry Birds with Henri Sorvali
#59: Today's guest is Henri Sorvali, a musician and composer based in Finland. He started off his career has a classical and jazz pianist who ended up starting two successful Finnish black metal bands, Moonsorrow and Finntroll. He is also a full-time game composer working in-house at Rovio Entertainment, the company most famously known for The Angry Birds games.
In this episode, we talk abo
Creating Sound Particles with Nuno Fonseca
#58: Today's guest is Nuno Fonseca, founder of the company Sound Particles. Sound Particles started off their journey by making a piece of software with the same name, which allows anyone to create immersive 3D audio. Since their founding, Sound Particles has gone on to be used in countless movies, TV shows, and video games such as Oppenheimer, Assassin's Creed Origins, Game of Thrones, Stranger
From Engineer to Voice Actor with Katherine Tole
#57: Today's guest is Katherine Tole, a voice actor and dialogue editor based in Seattle. She's a dialogue editor at Jackbox Games and is working on the soon-to-be released Jackbox Party Pack 10. She's also teaching courses on how to get jobs as a voice actor, especially through the voiceover marketplace Voice123. She's currently working on some exciting top-secret projects as well.
In this
Becoming a Full-Time Voice Actor with Dawn M. Bennett
#56: Today's guest is Dawn M. Bennett, a voice actor based in Los Angeles. Dawn has been a professional voice actor for almost ten years, and has voiced hundreds of characters across games, movies, and anime. She's worked on iconic franchises such as Dragon Ball Super, World of Warcraft, Street Fighter VI, Monster Hunter, Diablo IV, Pokemon, and Attack on Titan, among many others.
In this e
Breaking Into Hollywood Film Scoring with Amit May Cohen
#55: Today's guest is Amit May Cohen, a composer based in Los Angeles. Amit has worked on projects such as Zombies 2 and 3, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone, and many others.
In this episode, we talk about her journey into becoming a film composer in L.A., her growth as a musician over the years, how she recommends new composers break into the ind
Becoming a Sound Designer (Without Going to School) with Chris Parker
#54: Today's guest is Chris Parker, a freelance sound designer based in Seattle. He has worked on games such as Shadows Over Loathing, Wizard with a Gun, Beast Breaker, and is also the wonderful editor of this podcast.
In this episode, we talk about how I met Chris years ago at a PAX Conference in Seattle. Since moving from Seattle, Chris has gone from being a budding sound designer to a be
Scoring for Hollywood Films with Adam Lukas and James Everingham
#53: Today's guests are Adam Lukas and James Everingham, composers based out of Los Angeles and working in Hans Zimmer's collective known as Bleeding Fingers Music. Adam and James have worked on tons of film and TV projects over their careers and have recently written music for the document Frozen Planet II, alongside Hans Zimmer.
In this episode we talk about how there's quite a lot of op
Sound Design Success in Indie Films with Nathan Ruyle
#52: Today's guest is Nathan Ruyle. He is a sound designer and founder of the company This Is Sound Design.
In this episode, we talk about Nathan's climb in the industry, why he decided to start a sound design company that focuses on more creative and independent projects over the big Hollywood blockbusters, the identity crisis that sound for film is currently going through, and much more.
Staying Creative in the World of TV Scoring with Philip White
#51: Today's guest is Philip White, a composer who has worked on video game, TV, and film projects such as Agent Carter, The Sims 3, and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3. He has composed for over 142 episodes of Supernatural and is also currently composing for Supernatural's pre-sequel, The Winchesters.
In this episode, we talk about how what it's like to compose for hundreds of episodes of the
Building a Music Career Entirely Online with Tony Manfredonia
#50: Today's guest is Tony Manfredonia, who is a composer and singer-songwriter based in rural Michigan. He's worked on projects such as Kharon's Crypt and Call of Saregnar. He is also a concert composer who teaches composition students online.
In this episode, we talk about how Tony manages to make a living in music online while living in a rural town, how he handled low points in his career
Composing for Anime, Games, and the World’s Biggest Franchises with Mason Lieberman
#49: Today's guest is Mason Lieberman, a composer for games, TV, film, and anime. He has worked on a huge variety of projects including RWBY, Beyblade, Gundam, Apex Legends, and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG).
In this episode, we talk about how Mason grew such a successful career in a short amount of time, how he learned to write in so many musical styles, how he networks with people
Traveling the World While Working in Game Audio with Troupe Gammage
#48: Today's guest is Troupe Gammage, a composer, voice actor, and sound designer who's currently travelling the world and not staying in one place for very long.
In this episode, we talk about Troupe's work on games such as Solar Ash and Lord of the Rings Online, how he learned the skills of both music and sound design, and how he got into voice acting and voicing multiple characters. We
Staying Confident as a Composer with Joel Corelitz
#47: Today's guest is Joel Corelitz, who is a composer for film and games based in Chicago. He has worked on a large number of projects such as Hyper Light Breaker, Halo Infinite, Solar Ash, Death Stranding, The Unfinished Swan, and many others.
In this episode, we talk about Joel's creative process, how he ended up working on such huge projects despite his distance from LA, what he does whe
Working in TV, Film, & Advertising with Bill Lacey
#46: Our guest today is Bill Lacey, a grammy-award winning sound designer, re-recording mixer, and mastering engineer based in New York City. He has worked on countless projects including Major League Baseball, the Halo TV series, Showtime, and much more.
In this episode, we talk about the industry changes Bill has seen in his time in the audio field and how he broke into doing such a vari
Becoming a Music Editor with Adam Kallibjian
#45: Our guest today is Adam Kallibjian, who is a composer and music editor based in Los Angeles. He has worked on projects such as The Last of Us 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and much more.
In this episode, we talk about what a music editor does, how to break into this field, and how there are countless different ways to get to the career of your dreams in musi
Finding Your Musical Voice with Azuria Sky
#44: Our guest today is Azuria Sky, AKA Sky Lu, who is a composer and producer based in Los Angeles. While Sky has worked on games such as Solar Ash and is currently working on Hyper Light Breaker, she's also known well-known in the world of electronic music production.
In this episode, we talk about how Sky found her voice as a musician, why she decided to sing on her own music despite being
Building a Great Online Music Income with Fabiana Claure
#43: Today's guest is Dr. Fabiana Claure, who is an award-winning pianist, educator, business strategist, and entrepreneur who occupies a great niche in-between music, business, and helping musicians make a great living from their art. She's also the CEO of the The Musician's Profit Umbrella.
In this episode we talk about the struggles that most musicians deal with and how to get through them
Helping Musicians Grow with Mark Abrams
#42: Our guest today is Mark Abrams, a mixing engineer, producer, and audio educator who has worked with people such as Angel Lopez and clients such as Sony, Toyota, Nintendo, and many others. He is also a mentor at PureMix.com and runs the company Echopunch.
In this episode we talk about how important it is to promote our music and how to do it, how to help others in our field and how helpin
Finding Your Way in Game Audio with Anne-Sophie Mongeau
#41: Today's guest is Anne-Sophie Mongeau, a sound designer based in Montreal, Canada. She has worked on projects such as Shadow of the Tomb Raider and It Takes Two. Anne-Sophie is currently the lead sound designer at Eidos Montreal.
In this episode, we talk about Sophie's growth as a sound designer, her leaving Eidos Montreal to work in Sweden, and what it's like to return to Eidos many year
Working with the World’s Biggest Brands with Michele Arnese
#40: Our guest today is Michele Arnese, who is the founder and CEO of amp sound branding. Based in Munch, Germany, amp has done audio branding for top companies such as Mercedes, Mastercard, Porsche, and much more.
In this episode, we talk about what audio branding is and how Michele got into the field, how he brought his company to work with all these big names, and how he's using AI in aud
From Sound Designer to Composer with Maclaine Diemer
#39: Our guest today is composer Maclaine Diemer who has worked on projects such as Guild Wars 2, Salt and Sacrifice, Rock Band, and many others.
In this episode we talk about the simplicity of networking in our field, transitioning from being a rock star to being a sound designer, and then transitioning from sound design to composition, and much more.
Find Maclaine Diemer here:
Instagra
How to Write Music for Film & TV with Sherri Chung
#38: Our guest today is Film and TV Composer, Sherri Chung who has worked on projects such as Family Guy, Arrow, Supergirl, The Flash, Kung Fu, and many others.
In this episode we talk about what it takes to become a full-time composer, the difference between composers and film composers, dealing with impostor syndrome and much more.
Find Sherri Chung here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.co
The Creation of Song Exploder with Hrishikesh Hirway
#36: Today, our guest is Hrishikesh Hirway - musician and creator of the wildly successful podcast, Song Exploder.
In this interview, we talk about growing up in an Indian immigrant household, the fear of side projects taking away from our main musical interests, how his studies in philosophy and graphic design in college contributed to his career, how he created Song Exploder in the first place
Composing for Film, TV, Games, Concerts, and more with Steve Horowitz
#35: Today, our guest is Steve Horowitz - a composer who has worked on quite literally hundreds of film, TV, concert, and video game projects throughout his career.
In this interview, we talk about not niching down as a composer, why he chooses to compose for practically every type of media, what it's like to compose for over 100 projects in radically different styles, and much more.
Find Ste
Becoming a Youtuber and Educating Musicians with Red Means Recording
#34: Today, our guest is Jeremy Blake, the man behind the wildly successful music-focused Youtube channel, Red Means Recording!
In this interview, we talk about the importance of educating others in our field, how getting fired from his day job helped him become a full-time musician, the importance of pivoting and changing our goals within our career, and so much more.
Find Red Means Recordin
Building, Growing, and Sustaining a Music Composing Career with Edouard Brenneisen
#33: Edouard Brenneisen is a composer for video games, film, and TV who has worked on projects such as League of Legends, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dr. Oz, Harry Potter: Magic Awakened, and tons of other projects!
In this episode we talk about the long uphill climb to becoming a full-time composer, how composers sometimes need to pivot and transition their careers, what a composer's actual job is, and so much
Touring, Teaching, and Improvising on the Cello with Bryan Wilson
#32: Bryan Wilson is a touring, composing, and performing cellist based out of New Jersey. Unlike most cellists, however, Bryan doesn't focus exclusively on the world of classical music, instead focusing on the worlds of music improvisation and comedic music.
Bryan is also the author of two books: String Jams and Cello Chords, both of which help cellists play their instruments in a more improvis
Making It as a Sound Designer with Marshall McGee
#31: Marshall McGee is a video game sound designer who's worked on projects like Just Cause 4, Roblox, Outriders, and has worked with clients such as Nike and Adidas. He also has a wildly successful (and incredibly fun) Youtube channel where he breaks apart sound design in a beautifully clear way that anyone can understand.
In this episode, we talk about the importance of showing up, building a
3 Things I’ve Learned Since Last Year
It was my birthday this week, and in what's become an Akash tradition, here are three things I've learned over the last year about life, careers, and what I've learned to focus on.
Send me a message:
hello@akashthakkar.com
@akashthakkaraudio on Instagram
The Tiny Decisions That Will Get Us Big Results
Every single one of us is making tiny decisions every single day, and those micro-decisions make all the difference when it comes to our life and career. In this episode, we dive into some of the most important decisions you can make to ensure a successful game audio career and life.
Book recommended in this episode:
Personality Isn't Permanent by Dr. Benjamin Hardy
Send me a message:
hello@ak
Succeeding in Post Production Audio with Vanessa Flores
#30: Vanessa Flores is a sound designer and post production audio expert who works at Banana Post in Los Angeles.
Vanessa's work focuses on the world's of TV, ads, and film, working on projects like Total Bellas, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Top Gear and many others.
In this episode, we dive into how to break into and succeed in the worlds of linear media, how she got her first jobs (even th
How to Escape Your Day Job and Work in Game Audio Full Time
A lot of us are working day jobs while pursuing or dreams to work in game audio full-time. That's great! But, ideally, we'll want to leave those boring careers behind as soon as we can. So, how can we make our escape from those more normal jobs and transition into our dream career?
Send me a message:
hello@akashthakkar.com
@akashthakkaraudio on Instagram
And if you're interested in making musi
Writing Trailer Music for the World’s Biggest Movies with Sigurd Johnk-Jensen
#29: Sigurd Jøhnk-Jensen is a guitarist, drummer, sound designer, and composer who's had an insanely successful career as a touring musician, as well as a composer for some of the world's biggest movie trailers. He's worked on trailers for movies like House of Gucci, Scream, Marvel's Eternals, and many others.
In this episode we talk about the importance of creating and working no matter what res
Three Ways to Make Money off of Music & Sound
In my 12+ years of working as a full-time game audio freelancer, the thing I see trip people up most is asking for money for their work. To help with that, here are three ultra-effective ways to make sure you're paid super well for your music/sound in and out of the game industry.
Check out my course, which opens on April 25th, 2022: bit.ly/gameaudiopro
Send me a message:
hello@akashthakkar.com
From Humble Beginnings to Full-Time Composer with Star Victoria Power
#28: Star Victoria Power is a video game composer who's worked on projects like The Stars Between Us, Calico, and the Steven Universe Anti-Racism PSAs.
In this episode we talk about breaking in to the music industry from humble beginnings, finding the right teachers and musical education, working day jobs, dealing with non-deserving complex when things start to go well, and so much more.
Find
Becoming a Full-Time Music Producer with Bad Snacks
#27: Bad Snacks is a violinist and music producer who is known for her string-centric lo-fi hip hop style. Bad Snacks has played violin on countless sessions, has produced music for Google & Youtube, and has released her own successful albums such as Neat Tapes 1 & 2 and Bathtub Bumps.
In this interview, we talk about building a community to help support a music career, moving to/away from big ci
The Questions You Need to Ask Every Client
If you want to dodge problem clients in your career, asking the right questions before the project starts goes a very very long way toward helping with that.
And to download my full client questionnaire, you can go here: bit.ly/gameaudioquestions
Send me a message:
hello@akashthakkar.com
@akashthakkaraudio on Instagram
Restarting Your Career with Jongnic Bontemps
#26: Jongnic Bontemps had a very different path into film and video game music, in that he initially started his career in the tech world as a programmer, and didn't officially start his music career until he was 36 years old.
In this episode, we talk all about how he restarted his career in his thirties (with a wife and kids!) all while giving up his high-salary tech job that had supported him a
The Business of Game Audio & Teaching the Next Generation with Michael Sweet
#25: Michael Sweet is an award-winning composer, sound designer, and game audio educator who's worked on over 100 games and has had a huge impact on educating the next generation of game audio designers. I was lucky enough to study under Michael at the Berklee College of Music, and he is one of the handful of people I can point to and attribute a large amount of my success to.
In this episode, w
How to Prepare For GDC (And Any Other Networking Event) - The Video Game Composer Podcast
There's a lot that goes into preparing for a video game conference... but most composers and sound designers totally miss the mark when it comes to making the most of a networking event.
So, in this episode, host of The Video Game Composer Podcast, Tyson Cazier, and I sit down to discuss how to prep for a video game conference - whether it be online or off.
A huge thank you to Tyson for givi
Music, Sound Design, or Both? How to Choose Which One to Do
Most budding audio designers I see coming in to the game industry are so worried about finding work, that they tell everyone that they're a "composer/sound designer".
But, does being both things actually end up with us getting less work? In this episode, we cover why you should (or shouldn't) focus on just music or just sound design throughout your whole career.
Send me a message:
hello@akas
The Business of Voice Acting with Fryda Wolff
#24: Fryda Wolff has amassed hundreds of game, TV, and film voice acting credits in her career so far. You can hear in places like Sailor Moon, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Final Fantasy 7: Remake, Apex Legends, Fortnite, and so many other games, shows, and movies.
In this episode, we talk about her transition from sound design to voice acting, how to run a freelance voice over business, the lack of i
The Visibility Cloak Method: How Composers Can Find Work
It's super tough to find work as a composer... or is it?
It turns out, many of the woes that composers face in their careers stem from being completely invisible to people who want to hire them. In this episode, we'll talk about what you need to do to put on your visibility cloak so that you can start attracting tons of clients.
Links Mentioned here:
www.meetup.com
www.IGDA.org
www.gameconfgui
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