Today we’d like to introduce you to Julian Cisneros.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
My story starts with a tape player. 15 years old without access to a computer for recording, I cut my teeth learning how to write and record on a simple, barely functional tape machine. In order to layer, I had to record to tape, then play that take back from a different tape player while I performed a new layer into the tape recorder. It was crazy! I am so grateful that that was my foundation as a composer.
In my early 20s, I had a few friends who were into film and I began to compose music for their various projects. Having been in bands for years, this new creative outlet was an absolute blast and felt like, for the first time, it just clicked.
My official career began in 2010 when I was paid to compose music for a small animation company creating interactive story books for the iPad. It was the first time I was ever paid money to write music. It was at that point that I knew I had to go all in and pursue a career as a composer, only problem was, I was from Corona, California where, to my knowledge, my career didn’t exist. I focused all my time and energy developing my craft and in 2012 I got married and moved to Los Angeles. Being around so many like minded creatives was inspiring and opened me up to a whole new ocean of possibilities.
In 2013 I was introduced to Sam Estes (Sample Developer – Inception, Mad Max, Sherlock Holmes) who introduced me to the world of creating virtual instruments. He took me under his wing and taught me a very valuable skill that would help sustain me financially for the next 5 years. During this time I made multiple sample libraries for Kontakt which allowed me to grow my composing career while starting a family. I went on to create instruments for Cinesamples and Vir2 Instruments and mastered the tools composers use to create music. At the end of 2017 I finally went on my own as a full time composer. Since then, I’ve done projects for National Geographic, Discovery Channel, Honda, Mitsubishi, RED Digital Cinema, and many more. I’m so grateful to continue on this journey and work in an industry that feeds my passion and helps provide for my ever growing family.
Please tell us about your art.
I create music for film and television so I create all sorts of genres of music because of it. I am constantly trying to push the envelope of my sound and explore new techniques to refine my process. At the moment, I love taking the traditional orchestra and smashing it together with arrays of analog synthesis and organic texture from natural and mechanical sources. Utilizing these types of sound design techniques help me explore very exciting sounds which compliment each film I work on in a unique way.
We often hear from artists that being an artist can be lonely. Any advice for those looking to connect with other artists?
There couldn’t be a more truer statement for a film composer. In most cases, a composer is a one man band, recording studio, orchestra, sample developer, recording engineer… the list could go on and on. In the beginning of my career, I was the only film composer I knew. At that time, Instagram and YouTube were still in their infancy so my exposure to the broader industry was next to none.
Once I moved to LA, I did, however, start meeting and reaching out to other composers. I was fortunate enough to be introduced to several older, working composers who consistently spoke into my life and career. Those mentors really helped give me the reality check I needed at that stage of my career, and they guided me in realistic directions, encouraging my talent and coaching me how to best improve my skill level. Even though I was working on my own, those mentors, including Sam Estes who I mentioned earlier, helped shape and equip who I am today.
Nowadays, I am fortunate to have a small but solid group of other composers in a similar stage as mine to move forward with. We encourage and push each other forward. In addition to that, I have made friends with filmmakers, music producers, recording engineers, mix engineers, and artists. Each of them inspire me and because of the nature of this business, relate to each other on many levels as a creative business.
I highly suggest to those looking to connect with other artists to always push yourself to make connections with other artists. I suggest seeking out mentors or people you look up to and offer to buy them a nice lunch to honor their time, and make it worth their while to invest time into you (I did the same). Worst case scenario, they say no. Never be afraid of a no, if you are, you’ll fail to move forward in this career regardless. As with other aspects of life, never isolate yourself or think you’re the only one doing this thing. There are others, and there are many who are willing to share and build a community of artists, wherever you’re located in the world.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
Since my music is all over the place, and since some projects that I work on aren’t able to be shared until release, the best way to keep up with my work is to follow me @juliancisneros on Instagram. To view previous work, you can head over to my website at www.juliancisneros.com, which I update frequently as new work releases.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.juliancisneros.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/juliancisneros
