Today we’d like to introduce you to Hope Bartimioli Thal.
Hope, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
While I was doing my undergrad in Vocal Performance in Arizona, I watched the TV show LOST and felt a strong connection to the music. My interest in film scoring as a fan grew quite a bit over those years but I never thought I could do it. When it came to finding the next steps at the end of college my husband asked me, “If you could do anything what would you want”? The honest answer was film scoring but I had no idea where to even begin. I moved to LA from Arizona five years ago to go to UCLA Extension for the film scoring program. Over that time, I fell more in love with composing and songwriting simultaneously. I have been lucky to be mentored by Catherine Joy and now have the privilege of working with Joy Music House, a score production company run by Catherine. I have been doing my own scoring and songwriting projects and in the past year, have been working with Composer Alex Geringas. It’s been an amazing journey so far.
Has it been a smooth road?
After I finished the program at UCLA it took about a year to feel like I had any place in this world of music. I rarely got any jobs and probably attended 100 panels of people being *encouraging but also reminding you of just how much you aren’t making it. People would tell you to network, but it all felt so fraudulent to me. I had to start just creating without any desire for it to land me a job because that was the only way to stay sane. Of course I experienced plenty of rejection and that has been a devastating and valuable part of growing as an artist and person.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
H.B. Thal Music covers a wide array of musical endeavors! I write songs to pitch for TV/Film and to share as an artist. I work with Joy Music House, a score production company built up of a team of composers. We most recently worked on the new season of Homecoming on Amazon Prime with composer Emile Mosseri.
I work with the composer Alex Geringas as an assistant on his team on a lot of animated projects, most recently Disney’s Chuggington.
I’m currently scoring a 10 part web series called, “The Adventures of Benjamin Pike”, that will be coming out soon that I’m super excited about.
I think having the ability to fit in to a lot of different roles and do them well is what has made my career thus far, my definition of successful. I love all of my different jobs. None of them are a means to an end, they are all amazing and the people I work with are amazing. As a songwriter and singer I feel I connect differently and bring a unique voice to my music.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
LA is the perfect place to be when it comes to composing. I have been fully immersed in the world of composing by being in LA that I would not have access to anywhere else in the world. One of my favorite composers is Michael Giacchino and within two years of being in LA, I was attending a scoring session on the Newman Stage at Fox Studios with a 100 plus piece orchestra. I was pinching myself the entire time that this was something I would have only dreamed of.
That being said, the amazing thing about the world right now is how much we can create from wherever we are. I am are seeing that even in the midst of a pandemic I’m able to create from wherever I am. For the community, access to people, mentors, incredible musicians and studios, LA is #1. (and food, don’t forget the food)
Contact Info:
- Website: Hbthal.com
- Phone: 6026808714
- Email: hbthalmusic@gmail.com
- Instagram: h.b. thal
- Other: joymusichouse.com; rarebehavior.com
Image Credit:
CALEB THAL, CLAIRE GALLAGHER
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