Rising Stars: Meet Joaquin Lichtle

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joaquin Lichtle.

Hi Joaquin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in Puebla, Mexico. When I was a little kid, I used to see my mom play the piano and at age seven, I finally told her “I want to be like you!” and so my piano lessons started. During my teenage years, I used to come back home after school and play albums on my iPod nonstop and try to get the songs by ear on the piano. I would do this everyday for hours and eventually, I became fast learning songs just by hearing them once. I wrote my first piece of music at age 16 and a few other pieces followed in that time period. I knew something clicked because I wanted to keep doing that everyday and every second. After months of discovery, writing music and thinking about my future, I finally approached my dad and told him, “Dad, I want to study music”. He had a very serious look on his face and said “Think about it”, and of course I had thought about it already! As if playing piano for years and then writing every moment wasn’t enough.

Nonetheless, I waited two weeks just to give him the illusion of me thinking and then I approached him again “Dad, I’ve thought about it and I want to do music”. He was hesitant but said yes. As a test, we decided it would be a good experience for me to attend the Berklee 5-week summer program. That summer program was life-changing for me. Growing up in Mexico, music education rotates predominantly around classical music. I didn’t even know what jazz really was and could not have imagined that a career such as “Film Scoring” existed. Many friends and family back home had told me that my style of writing reminded them of movies. It all fell into place in my heart and the path became very clear. When I came back home, I started looking for teachers that would teach me jazz and train me to get into Berklee. I was very lucky to find a private teacher that had already sent students to Berklee. I intensively studied with him for two years and a half and then I got accepted on my second application!

College was one of the best experiences of my life particularly the last two years when I was also working part-time as an on-campus music theory tutor and also conducting a student club called “Audire Soundtrack Choir & Orchestra”. It was a heavy workload on top of classes but I learned a lot and enjoyed every second of it. On my last year, I did a summer internship at Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Productions which was also a milestone in my growth. I left a good impression during that summer so when I graduated, I moved to Los Angeles with the sole intention of coming back to RCP. I was granted the opportunity to come back and also to become an assistant at Bleeding Fingers. After two years in the company, I am currently transitioning to the Junior Composer position for which I feel humbled and very grateful.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It has been a bumpy ride for sure! Even so, I have always learned that adversities always lead to something greater. For starters, I didn’t get into Berklee the first time I applied. I prepared myself for two years and went to two different colleges back home in Mexico in the meantime. However, by the time I did get in I noticed I was ahead of my class and skipped through some of the basic courses. In a way those two years turned out in my favor so I could make the most out of my college experience. An example of this is that in my 5th semester, I became director and conductor of the “Audire Soundtrack Choir & Orchestra”. This role has played a key role in the musician and person I am today. So, in a way, I am very grateful I didn’t get in on that first application!

When I moved to Los Angeles, I did several job applications to be a composer assistant but also to teach children and/or be a conductor for a youth orchestra. It was rough for me that regardless of my background and particularly my two years of experience as music director of Audire at Berklee, I wasn’t getting anything. One of the last interviews I did for a teaching/conducting position turned out to be one of the best ones I ever had. After almost an hour, the interviewer said that I fulfilled every aspect of the application and that I had better background than some of their conductors. He did not give me the job because the other conductors were in their 30s and I had just recently turned 25 (I also have to say, I have always looked younger than my age!). It made me consider that maybe that was the reason I wasn’t getting anything because my age and background didn’t match. It was not until I became an assistant at Remote Control Productions and Bleeding Fingers that I wasn’t judged by my age but by what I could do. I know the positions and companies really can’t be compared, but to me it was a demonstration of where we put value on a person and the prejudices that can exist. I’m not saying it wasn’t hard proving myself as an assistant, it was truly a challenge but I was given the chance to do so. I gave everything I could give and succeeding made it even more rewarding!

On the family side, I am very lucky both my parents support my career as well as all my mother’s family. On the other hand, I always had trouble with my father’s family. We would get together every Sunday at my grandmother’s for lunch and they would ask me to play the piano. They would ask for old Mexican songs which I did like but ended up getting tired of them after playing them over and over again, I felt I was being treated like human jukebox! I started making arrangements of those songs, playing things that were meaningful to me or just things I wrote, but none were well received at all. My godfather would say to me “If you don’t play what people like you’ll never make it”. It was a challenge feeling rejection from those strong figures including my grandmother. Additionally, my dad had a successful business in industrial machinery distribution so it didn’t make sense that a rebellious boy wanted to do music. Even so, I am grateful they were like this with me because it made me realize how convinced I needed to be in order to choose music. They, in a way, forced me into choosing music unconditionally regardless of acceptance, failure or success. I had to look inside and create roots that would later help me face other adversities and thrive! Today I feel convinced this was the right path for me and knowing how to defend my calling makes feel accomplished. I am very grateful with all the opportunities I have had and the people that have believed in me.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
In college one of my proudest moments was a concert I organized and conducted with the Audire Soundtrack Choir & Orchestra. We were over 60 players on stage at MIT’s Kresge Auditorium. It was the biggest off-campus show the group had had since its creation. There hasn’t been a chance for me to conduct much since I graduated but those skills have been crucial for my writing.

The common path for us composers is to start out as a composer assistant, this has been my path here in the US. I feel privileged to be currently transitioning from a composer assistant to the Junior Composer position at Bleeding Fingers Music. So far, I’ve had the opportunity to write music for Masterchef, Nightwatch, Earth At Night: In Color and Hoarders. I have also had the honor to be a part of the new PBS series Around The World In 80 Days. I feel very proud to have played a role in the team that brought the music to this project.

What sets me apart is my versatility and the ability to connect with stories. I also consider myself a go-getter and I always find a way to reach the end goal, giving up is not an option. I also think I am a very good listener and I have always accomplished good relationships because of that.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
From an early age, I was exposed to meditation and also took courses on Logotherapy, NLP and Family Constellations. These tools have been very important in my relationships with colleagues, collaborators, friends and family. I particularly noticed how beneficial these tools are when I was a conductor. Even though I am not an expert, I was able to notice people’s personalities and how we interacted as a group. It gave me a sense of direction on how to make the group more successful.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: joaquinlichtle.com

Image Credits
Paola Balandra (4), Kysan Kwan (1)