Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Kim.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Brian. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started playing piano in kindergarten, and it is the single non-biological activity that I have done the most in my life. But I was in denial for a long time about wanting to be a musician, and I tried *really* hard not to be one. I studied pre-med and computer science and worked at a college admissions office and then as a teacher. It wasn’t until my late twenties that I realized that I had just been avoiding the obvious answer for years.
So I moved to Los Angeles to go to USC’s film scoring program, and then just hustled my ass off. I talked my way into internships and assistantships and learned as much as I could along the way while living paycheck to paycheck, paying off student debt. It took me years to pay off my first computer.
I eventually found that my life leading up to my move to LA had given me a weird, unique skillset of being very technical (the pre-med and computer science), very chatty (college admissions and teaching), and very musical. All of which come in handy when you are cranking frame-sensitive music as fast as you can in a collaborative atmosphere.
This has led to a wide range of projects, from producing big-budget musical numbers for “How I Met Your Mother,” to scoring the Michael Showalter and Sally Field film “Hello My Name Is Doris,” to Disney TV animation and Daron Nefcy’s “Star vs. the Forces of Evil,” to performing and recording songs with artists like Adele and Boyz II Men and Patrick Stump.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
No. Not smooth. Imposter syndrome is real. 🙂
A few years back I was on board to score a film that I thought was really going to be my meal ticket, and I worked insanely hard on it, harder than I’ve ever worked on anything. I spent time away from family, pulled late hours for days at a time, and really felt like I was creating something good.
And I got fired. And it sucked.
It’s funny looking back on that project now because in retrospect I was miserable while working on it. I was being told to write a kind of music that was not the kind of music I want to write. And while I felt like my version of that music was good, it certainly wasn’t my voice that was coming through. It was my best impression of someone else. And if I had stayed on that film, it’s entirely possible that it would have led to years of writing that kind of music over and over again. Music that wasn’t mine.
Focusing on being my creative self, for better or for worse, has not only made the job more fun than it already was, but infinitely more rewarding.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Lucky Pocket Music story. Tell us more about the business.
I write music for film and television. It’s funny calling myself a “company,” although technically I run a small business for which I am the only employee.
Currently, I am probably best known for my Disney animated series, “Star vs. the Forces of Evil.” At various points in my career I may have been better known for the TBS show “Search Party,” or the indie film “Hello My Name Is Doris,” or my song production work on the CBS show “How I Met Your Mother.”
I am most proud of the diversity of my output. I have yet to be pigeonholed in the industry, which has led to some wide-reaching work. Like, I wrote a big anthemic pop song for a product launch at CES, but I also write blippy music for cartoon birds.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
For me, I think it’s been timing more than luck. Like, my wife and I went to college together but did not know each other, and at several points in our twenties, we probably should have crossed paths but never did. (We even figured out that we were both at this one Christmas party in Brooklyn years before we met).
And we met out here in Los Angeles afterlife had taken us both in a dozen different directions, and we were the right people at the right time to meet each other and hit it off. I think life was preparing us to meet each other when we were ready.
I could look at my music work the same way. My favorite gigs have almost always come when I wasn’t looking for them when I was just happy to be making stuff and not pounding the pavement looking for the next project. So I would be in a good place creatively and emotionally to be receptive to the project when it came.
So when I feel out of balance or like cards aren’t falling my way, I try to focus on being more patient and aware, and not wishing I were more lucky.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.brianhkim.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/brianwithanh
- Twitter: twitter.com/brianwithanh
- Other: brianwithanh.tumblr.com
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