Conversations with Andrew Balogh

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Balogh.

Hi Andrew, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My passion for music began at the age of six when I started playing saxophone and piano. As a relatively shy and introverted kid, the majority of my youth was spent practicing instruments and playing in musical groups, both in school and outside of school. I eventually knew I wanted to pursue music as a professional career. In college, I majored in music performance with a minor in composition and throughout my educational journey, began entering the music industry. I was able to finance my college education by teaching private music lessons to high school students and performing in various bands throughout the Los Angeles area. Friday nights and Saturday nights were spent performing at The Roxy, House of Blues, The Viper Room, The W Hotel in Hollywood (sometimes requiring me to blend in with older musicians as I wasn’t 21 yet) and Sundays were spent playing for brunches at the Pollo Lounge in Beverly Hills, and later in the afternoon at Moonshadows in Malibu. This was a routine that I maintained for three years and along the way more prestigious, advantageous opportunities began to present themselves. Shortly after graduating, I auditioned for a band called Sublime with Rome (formerly known as Sublime) and won the spot as their sax and keyboard player! I performed and toured with the band for two years in 47 states and nine countries. This opportunity paved the way for all of the diverse opportunities that continued there after such as producing music for some of today’s most well-known recording artists, composing music for motion pictures, and founding and operating a multimedia music business entity.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely wasn’t a smooth road whatsoever. Coming from an immigrant family, there was a lot of pressure to become a doctor, lawyer or engineer. Pursuing any type of career that would yield a consistent and reliable income was highly encouraged, way more over telling your parents and grandparents that you wanted to go to college to study music. I was too deeply in love with music, playing instruments, and the craftsmanship of writing music that I ignored the FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt), paved my own path and curated my own opportunities. My initial impression was that if someone were to be “the best” and “the most skillful,” that person would dominate the music industry and why would it be any other way? If you’re the fastest, most skillful athlete, then why wouldn’t you go to the Olympics and win the gold medal? This was my initial impression regarding music and was what fueled my determination and resilience to wake up at 4am every morning, get out my instruments and practice them for hours, listen to music and analyze what was happening, and ignore the distractions of the typical “college experience” because I wanted nothing more than to be the best. It wasn’t long before I realized that skillset wasn’t all that mattered in the music industry. Yes, you had to be great at what you did but you also had to be noticed and adored by people with clout and leverage in the music industry, build an online social media presence, and realize that there are politics involved not only in music industry but in everything in life. Coming to terms with the fact that I could not exclusively rely on my talent to achieve success and instead had to create momentum, build relationships and consistently nourish them (even if it meant engaging with people that you perhaps wouldn’t want to) was and still is a taxing process.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Currently, I spend the majority of my time and creative energy producing music for recording artists and composing for motion pictures (also known as scoring). To date, I have worked with recording artists Mariah Carey, Jay Z, Beyonce Knowles, Coldplay, Taylor Eigsti, Ariana Grande, Sublime with Rome, Zedd, and Macy Gray (most notably). I have also worked with social media influencers in the music space such as Johnny Orlando, Mackenzie Ziegler, Jake Paul and Brent Rivera. As a composer, my compositions can be heard for the motion pictures “Dirty Grandpa” featuring Robert De Niro and Zac Efron, Netflix’s “Tallulah” featuring Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page), “The Outcasts” featuring Victoria Justice, and “Bad Boys for Life” featuring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Although I am thankful and proud of having produced music for records that have achieved multiplatinum certification and Grammy® Awards, I am most proud of the fact that in 2020 (during the COVID-19 pandemic) I founded and launched my own company, Balogh Management LLC, a multimedia music entity. Currently, the company is comprised of 11 employees and works with a diverse roster of clientele offering numerous types of services including music production, songwriting, audio recording, music distribution, promotion, public relations, scoring for television and motion pictures, post-production (audio engineering) and artist development and management.

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
I know I speak for many across the globe in saying that this was an incredibly taxing, exhausting and demoralizing time. A few of my colleagues were fortunate enough to keep their jobs and continue generating income, however many (myself included) were not able to work in any capacity in the entertainment industry whatsoever. Financial hardship was a partial component of the difficulties brought on by the COVID-19 crisis, but what hurts the most is that I lost something that provided me with fulfillment, passion, and a sense of purpose on this planet since the age of 6 when my musical journey began. This loss lasted 14 months until things gradually began to “re-open”. The lesson I learned is always exercise an immense amount of gratitude for even the smallest things because you never know when they will be stripped away from you. I learned to keep my mind occupied, to continue setting goals, and to do whatever it took to not lose hope.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baloghmusic/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ABaloghMusic 

Image Credits
Universal Music Group Bernie Grundman Capitol Records Gregory Fletcher, Eva Gutowski, Brent Rivera