Today we’d like to introduce you to Bendik Moller.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’m a Norwegian-born, LA-based signed songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. My songs have currently over 8 million streams, topped viral charts, and landed multiple New Music Fridays.
It’s funny how split second decisions, a missing letter and a spontaneous nature can take you to parts of the world you never imagine you’d be. If everything in my life went according to my solid elementary school plan, I would have moved to Liverpool straight out of high school to follow my lifelong dream of attending the Paul McCartney School (LIPA). I bet I would have become a crazy good keyboard player, and hopefully had some success starting an underground rock band.
I happened to come across Berklee College of Music on the last day of applications. I more or less applied for fun and found out I got in with a scholarship. I happened to be in NYC for the week so I hopped on a train, fell in love with Boston and almost missed my flight back to Norway.
At Berklee College of Music, I discovered that there is a profession called Songwriting. My previous knowledge to the music industry was basically as brief as “Play in a band -> Become famous or fail.” This discovery led me down a long dark road of creating songs in bedrooms, studio’s and bedroom studios with random writers and producers. I went from spending a few months working on one song to working on 30 songs at the same time.
In my fourth semester, I was lucky enough to be part of a song that topped the viral charts and got me millions of streams. This became an intro for me to the music industry. Suddenly doors opened, I learned what an A&R and publisher was, I got myself into meetings and into more experienced writing sessions. People would stop me on the street and ask me if I was that writer guy and if we could work together. I started making some connections in New York and was pretty much set on moving there after college, and before I knew it all I had left was my last summer semester.
Funnily enough, the letter that would pay for my summer semester got lost in the mail and didn’t arrive until many weeks after the deadline to register for classes. Because of my visa status, I was then forced to take another year at Berklee. This became my production year, where I started full time producing as well as writing. The change that happened was pretty hilarious as people would now stop me on the street and ask me if I was that producer guy.
I found some magic working with an artist called Salem (that’s her real name). We started working pretty exclusively together and our projects starting raising eyebrows all over the industry but at first in Los Angeles. We started working pretty closely with publishers, meaning they would put us up in sessions, give feedback and even sign some of our songs. I also became the keyboard player in her band and we would play shows in Boston and New York.
After graduation, we moved to LA together and I got my first publishing deal offer one month in with Brill Building (Powered by Kobalt), which I ended up taking. Not long after that, I got access to a fully equipped studio in Burbank where I’m producing out of.
Finally, being a full-pledged member of the signed community, I’m spending most of my time working with my friends and people I find very talented, trying to break them into the industry, as well as working with more established artists, producers and writers. I believe attacking the music marked from both angels is the key to perennial career.
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?
I definitely consider myself lucky in how quickly I got a foot in the door comparatively to all the other way more talented people around me who is not there yet. However, there has been a few make or break moments.
The big challenge for me has been Money. Unfortunately, the music industry still doesn’t have an in-between signing stage where talented kids can work as a songwriter for a small paycheck. Moving out to LA for me meant taking a $10 000 loan and by the time I signed to Brill I had maxed out all my credit cards which in hindsight was a stupid idea that ended well.
Another big challenge was an unexpected one. I found it really hard to explain to people that I am a 100% writer and a 100% producer. Despite some of the biggest writers in this industry is also highly regarded producers (Max Martin, Jason Evigan, etc.), there is an underlying understanding in this industry that writers can’t produce and producers can’t write.
The reason this is a problem is that depending on what you say you are, A&R’s will listen to the songs very differently. If you are an artist they will only listen to the voice if you are a writer they will only listen to the song/lyrics, and as a producer they will only listen to the beat/production. Imagine you are a songwriter in a meeting with an A&R who believe you are only a producer. You show them a great song you didn’t produce which is at an early demo stage, then you realize that they are completely unimpressed as they are only listening to the undeveloped beat. I can’t express how many times I would sit in meetings with A&R’s and only call myself a songwriter, but if they found out I produced even one of those ten songs, the next time we met they would only remember me as a producer.
The big challenge I think everyone spends a lifetime on achieving is finding the right people. Producers, writers and artists you trust. Finding a team that’s a perfect fit is close to impossible, but extremely liberating once you do. To me that was Salem, as our writing really compliment each other’s and my production happened to fall in line with her taste. However, we both have been in rooms with incredibly more successful and experienced writers and the result is just not the same or even close.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I think what sets me apart from a lot of the other writers and producers is that I can do both. When I write I’m always thinking about how this melody will sound fully produced with this random effect on it. My production is really inspired by the lyrics. If the lyrics mention say a “Train” then maybe I’ll make a high hat out of a train engine etc. I also think I’ve gotten good grip on helping artists developing their own consistent sound. I don’t want artists to sound like me, I want it to sound unique to them. Especially when artists are starting out, it can be hard for them to develop a sound since they are working with a bunch of producers who all have a completely different sound. My goal is always to make something that’s handmade to the artists and that makes them wanna use my production as the template/reference for when they are working with other producers. Say an artist is a great guitar player, maybe that artists sound is heavily influenced by guitar? It can be very random as well, sometimes sounds just happen.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I always believed that luck happens to everyone at different times and that it’s up to you to be ready to fully exploit it once it happens. I had many encounters with luck that I wasn’t ready for. I luckily got into crazy meetings and situations, and if I had been ready back then, I would have been signed many years before I did.
Pricing:
- Full production of a song $1500-3000
- Full Vocal production $1000
- Other smaller services $300- 1000
Contact Info:
- Website: bendikmoller.com
- Phone: 6173809708
- Email: [email protected]
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