Check Out Roberto Prado’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Roberto Prado.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ll never forget that day at a small restaurant on Ilha Bela Island (Brazil) with my parents. The atmosphere suddenly grew silent, and then I heard it—the most incredible piece of music. It was Stan Getz playing on João Gilberto’s Bossa Nova Album. That moment had a profound impact on me. I turned to my parents and told them I wanted to play the instrument I was hearing. At the age of 11, I picked up the alto saxophone and began my musical journey.

Even before I started playing the sax, the soundtracks of my favorite childhood films were just as important in shaping my passion for music. I would watch Spielberg, James Cameron, Pixar, Brazilian Cartoons and Disney movies with unwavering enthusiasm, sitting right in front of the TV to immerse myself in the mesmerizing scores by great composers such as John Williams, Thomas and Randy Newman, Alan Menken and many others…

After three years of studying the saxophone, I decided to venture into piano lessons and dove into the world of jazz, improvisation, and started to write my first musical compositions. At 17, I was accepted into UNESP (São Paulo State University) as a Composition major, and shortly after, I started applying and participating in various national and international composition contests. I was honored to participate and have had my pieces performed and recorded in festivals around the world including Brazil, Ukraine, Vienna, Czech Republic and EUA. I also had the honor to collaborate with OSESP, the most relevant Orchestra in Brazil, as well as the Tom Jobim Orchestra.

Simultaneously, I had the opportunity to develop my skills in film scoring by working on short films, advertising, feature films, documentaries and collaborating with various audio production companies in Brazil. Some of the projects included my first feature film “Bia” (2.0) and the featured documentary about AIDS in Brazil entitled “Carta para Além dos Muros”. By then, my career had really taken off, and I had made a strong name for myself in the Brazilian music scene.

Eager to broaden my professional horizons, I took the leap and applied to Berklee College of Music. There, I pursued and successfully completed my studies, specializing in Electronic Production & Design and Film Scoring, while also adding a minor in Video Game Scoring to my accomplishments. Studying at Berklee has been a dream of mine since I began playing the sax and I lived one of the best years of my life, and had the opportunity to collaborate with incredibly talented people from around the world.

Currently, I’m working as a composer and additional writer to Michael Kramer and creating music for several A-list Hollywood films, TV series and Trailer Houses, such as Warner Chappell Production Music, Brand X Music & Enigmaudio. My music can be heard in Netflix, Disney+ as well as Disney Parks Experiences.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Looking back, I think it’s been a smooth hike, haha. There are always bumps, one bigger than others that make you question your decisions, but having a clear goal and being surrounded by family and friends who support you has been intrinsic to making me want to keep going and follow my path.

I think most artists will relate when I say we have very good days but also terrible ones. Some days you feel like composing, producing, playing and you think you are on the top of the world, but there are other days when you rethink your whole career and wonder if you made the right choices.

I also needed to really understand that it’s ok to fail and learn from my mistakes. I’ve failed multiple times and when it happens, I try to nurture my mistakes into lessons and victories so the moment that same situation presents itself in the future, I know exactly what to do. The only issue I’m facing nowadays is when the stakes are higher, failure sometimes is not well received, so I hope I learned a lot of lessons by now!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a composer, producer and sound designer by choice, dog and food lover by birth, and adventurer for life. I love creating and playing with sounds and composing scores for movies, TV and games.

I’ve grown fond of mixing weird sounds such as a donkey breathing, playing my saxophone through a traffic cone, and people whispering and morphing them into strange and unique textures that are incorporated with more traditional instruments that we hear in everyday life.

Over the last years, I was really fortunate to collaborate with amazing and creative people and provide some of my best work, including two albums with the Warner Chappell Production Music, additional music for Michael Kramer on the “The Ghost and Molly McGee” series (Disney+), “A Tale Dark & Grimm” series (Netflix), LEGO Star Wars specials (Disney+) and a featured documentary about the history of AIDS in Brazil *(Netflix).

I’m also craving new collaborations and projects that challenge me and help me grow as a musician and professional 

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Networking has always been a little tricky for me, specially because I’m a bit introverted and I also work from home. Over the past years, I’ve been trying more and more to immerse myself in uncomfortable situations like networking events (such as the FYI, SCL screenings), alumni meetings, and industry parties have helped me get a bit more loose.

I also took advantage of my school resources when I was studying there to help me start doing networking before I graduated. This has been really important in developing my skills and allowed me to connect with composers and creators from early on and started to develop relationships.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rpradomusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rpradomusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saxroberto

Image Credits
Lorenzo Scavone https://lorenzoscavone.com/ https://www.instagram.com/lorenzoscavone/?hl=en