Today we’d like to introduce you to Ian Honeyman.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
When I was growing up, music was the most important part of my life. At age seven, I started taking piano lessons, and a couple years later added violin, playing in my high school, city, and state youth orchestras. Although I played mostly classical music, I listened to everything I could get my hands on. Classical music, blues, rock, and alternative all had equal time in my stereo. I loved music so much that by the time I was a teenager, I knew I wanted to make a career out of it and decided to become a classical composer!
My parents were very supportive of this and in my junior year of high school, we began researching various music conservatories on the east coast. The following year I was accepted to Peabody Conservatory of Music. It was a dream come true to be among so many talented musicians and to be mentored by the brilliant composer Chen Yi. I learned an incredible amount there but eventually realized that I wanted to spend more time in recording studios and working on the production.
Back then, I didn’t know you could pursue a career in film music, so that came later. One summer, my parents took me on a trip to LA, and everything changed. As soon as I walked out of LAX, I knew I was home. There was something about the air, the light, and people’s attitude towards life that drew me in deeply. And even better, amazing things were being produced there, and I wanted to be a part of it!
While at Peabody, I got a great job working part-time as an engineer at NPR in Washington DC. I worked there all through college, quickly learning how to use a recording studio and produce radio-ready mixes in very little time and under a lot of pressure. Once I was about to graduate I asked for a transfer to the west coast and luckily they were able to place me in their LA Bureau. Although extremely exciting and life-changing, LA proved to be tough. NPR gave me a way to support myself, but my goal was to get work in a music studio. That took most of a year of unending rejections and unanswered applications, but eventually, I landed a much sought out internship for film composer Klaus Badelt.
Working and being mentored by Klaus turned out to be the perfect combination of music composition and production. It brought together my classical training and love of other genres that I grew up with while introducing me to other musical influences from around the world. I loved what I was doing so much that I barely left the studio. I learned a lot and went from being an assistant to writing small parts of film scores to co-composing full scores.
This all led me to want to push my career further, and while it was awesome to be in the company of so many great composers, it was time to go for it on my own. After working for other composers for many years, I took the leap and opened my own studio. Before I knew it, I was getting hired to write and produce my own film scores, as well as produce music for other artists.
Has it been a smooth road?
It was hard just finding a studio job, to begin with, which set the tone for the kind of business I was getting myself into! Once I had a job, I barely slept and took no vacations for the first few years. All my time was spent in the studio, that’s the kind of commitment that this business requires.
Then there was and still is the work itself – crazy deadlines, the pressure to deliver amazing work in a short amount of time, and the need to maintain a good life balance. As tough as it was, I learned to thrive under pressure. But, there is nothing I’d rather be doing and would not change a thing.
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I write and produce polished, high-gloss film scores, write and produce songs for bands, and play a wide variety of unusual musical instruments. Every time I go to another country, which I try to do every year, I come back with a couple of new instruments. Once I’ve learned to play them, they allow me to bring a unique angle to every project I work on. Also, the bands I produce and various artists I collaborate with allow me to expand my reach and keep me growing as a musician.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I believe success is a living a good life – that means earning a good living by doing something you love and surrounding yourself with people you love. My wife and I also take the time to travel as much as we can. This brings me creative fuel to continue doing the best I can. It doesn’t get better than that!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ianhoneyman.com
- Email: ihoffice@icloud.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ihoneyman/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IanHoneyman/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ihoneyman
Image Credit:
Joanna Honeyman, Simone Kraus, Zhai Li
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