Sound Business with Akash Thakkar

#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 how she transitioned her career into composition, learned tons of compositional and scoring skills—mostly on her own—the importance of saying “no” to great opportunities, why we should advocate for our art, and so much more.

Find Nainita Desai here:

Website: https://nainitadesai.com/

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0220831/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nainita_desai/?hl=en

Twitter: https://x.com/nainitadesai?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

#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 about the benefits of being a generalist in the world of professional audio, how Nathan started his full-time sound career after the age of 40, how he built his skillset and network over a huge period of time, how to stand out in an industry where audio is becoming more commoditized, and so much more.

Find Nathan Moody here:

Shipscape Website: https://noisejockey.net/main/project/shipscape/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/n4th4nm00dy/?hl=en

Twitter: https://x.com/noisejockey?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

IMBD: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11708054/

And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

#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 approximately 30 audio professionals working across dozens of projects in the gaming industry.

In this interview, we dive deep into how Ariel got into game audio long before it was “cool”, working on small projects as a teenager to becoming an audio director on AAA games, how he founded Team Audio in the first place, and so much more.

Find Ariel Gross here:

Twitter: https://x.com/arielgross

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arielgross/

Team Audio: https://teamaud.io/about/

And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

#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, how he’s been dealing with countless layoffs and studio closings, how people should network and make friends within the game industry, and so much more.

Find Aaron Brown here:

Website: https://www.aaronbrownsound.com/

E-mail: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@aaronbrownsound

And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

#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 she got her first gigs by being in touch with fellow musicians, how to develop a unique voice as a composer, and so much more.

Find Philomène Gatien here:

Website: https://philomenegatien.ca/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philomenegatien

And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

#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, the importance of slowing down, her fight with breast cancer, and so much more. 

Find Carla here:

Website: https://www.carlapatullo.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlapatullo/

And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

#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 when you're not getting hired to work on projects, how to find your own musical voice as a composer, and so much more. 

Find Aaron Cherof here:

Website: https://www.cherof.com/

Bandcamp: https://cherof.bandcamp.com/album/cobalt-core-original-soundtrack

And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

#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 of opportunities there are in the world of composition, how to start networking as an introvert, success as a content creator on YouTube, and so much more. 

Find Zach Heyde here:

Composing Career Bootcamp: https://www.zachheyde.com/composing-career-bootcamp

Website: https://www.zachheyde.com/ 

And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

#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 Boston and how he ended up moving to China after college, the truth of what a sound designer does in their job, the importance of learning new skills for fun, and so much more. 

Find Kian here:

Website: https://www.kianhow.com/

And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

#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 that he's been composing for 20 years, and so much more.  

Find James Landino here:

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/jameslandino 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6xMMOflXnoIA3grU3seMjh 

Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/JamesLandino 

And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod