Today we’d like to introduce you to Rendra Zawawi.
Hi Rendra, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I come from the faraway lands of Malaysia! Born and raised in a family that bonded strongly over music. My father was a Professor in Anthropology but also dabbled professionally in songwriting for the big guns back home. So you can imagine the amount of music people that we grew up around – jamming and performing! Inevitably, I soon took a great liking to music, specifically songwriter. My siblings were no exception too soon after!
When I was 15, I asked my father to teach me how to play guitar. He taught me three chords – Dm, Amaj, and Em. With those chords, I wrote a song the next day titled “I’m Lost” – with lyrics almost as poetic as The Beatles and Bob Dylan – thanks to my father’s influence. I played the one-day song to my father the next day and he was surprised! Needless to say, writing songs became a frequent hobby I looked forward to. And with writing songs came the singing. You see, I was never much of a singer growing up or cared that I was in pitch. But when I wrote songs, I had to sing them! So I actually became a good singer through singing my own songs!
But if you asked my parents, they would claim that my singing started when I was three years old. According to them, I was one of those kids who did not speak a word until three years of age, when those first words were in the form of a birthday song! Apparently, on the way home from my grandmother’s hometown, in the middle of a freeway, I started bursting into a birthday song while sitting at the back of the car. My mother thought I was possessed!
In any case, I definitely had a strong affinity with tunes and melodies. I continued building a passion for songwriting (and singing), but at the same time focusing on my studies. I eventually earned myself a scholarship (PETRONAS) for a Civil Engineering Bachelor’s Degree in the University of Nottingham, England. As much as my parents were musical, they were also serious academics who were strong proponents of education. They were both overseas scholarship holders, and naturally, the expectations for their children were strong.
I went abroad for my studies in England for four years. And during those years, I have had plentiful musical growth becoming a singer-songwriter, performing in live houses and events, and even releasing a few EPs. My travels there have also opened my musical influences to the likes of Damien Rice, Ray Lamontagne, Jack Johnson, and many more.
After graduation, I returned to Malaysia to work with my sponsor company. However, due to their downsizing approach for that year, I was released from their bond. So I did a few odd jobs here and there while continuing my journey as a hustling singer-songwriter. I even took a short teaching exchange program in Japan for a few months – to teach English and also playing live shows around town! Nothing like backpacking with your guitar in small Japanese towns!
Not long after, I shortly found a more stable job in Malaysia as a Brand Consultant, which lasted for almost two years. It was a good corporate gig. I was still playing my singer-songwriter circuits. But as time passed by, I longed for something more musically. Something that was more rooted. And true enough, the universe threw me a bone in the form of a music school audition! I went for it. And I killed it with one of my songs. And so my official musical education journey began – to Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts!
It was back to tertiary education again for another four years. But this time it was on my own terms, for my very own personal passion. I was blessed to have received a partial scholarship from Berklee and the remaining from a private Malaysian NGO (Yayasan Daya Diri). I dedicated these years into perfecting my own craft as a musician, performer, and songwriter. Or so I thought.
An arranging class that I took from the inspiring Professor Joe Carrier opened up my world to the possibilities of making music “behind-the-scenes”. I was brought into the world of arranging, orchestration, and production, which was all but a bleep before attending Berklee. I suppose my background as a Civil Engineering graduate has given me new sense to appreciate the more ‘technical’ side of music, which is what these new music avenues were – technical and methodological, built around creativity. I was inspired to take up this new path and leave the old singer-songwriter me behind. And almost symbolically, I ‘hung’ my performing guitar for the belief of trading an old skill for a new one.
The rest of my Berklee years was spent actualizing my new path for music and eventually earning myself a Bachelor’s in Contemporary Writing and Production. After graduation, I moved to Los Angeles – mostly because the weather and traffic there (here) remind me of home in Malaysia!
There was no clear direction of what I wanted to achieve in Los Angeles. Except that I knew I needed to be here and allow myself to be open to any new possibilities under the umbrella of music ‘behind-the-scenes’. It was important to stay flexible and open-minded! So I began my ‘Hollywood’ journey with a few internships – Music Motions (MUMO), assisting composer Yuval Ron, as well as composer Adam Peters. The experiences I had with them were invaluable, as I was able to wet my toes into the world of film scoring. It was definitely fun as I enjoy watching films and television too!
Soon after, I was recommended to Emmy-winning composer Mac Quayle via my work with Adam Peters to be his new composer assistant. I believe this was the start of my full-time interest in professional media scoring. Under Mac’s tutelage, I was able to have hands-on experience working on full-scale music productions for film and television whilst mastering essential skill sets (detailed and management oriented) required by this fast-paced industry. Some of the shows I got to work on included ‘Mr. Robot’, ‘American Horror Story’, ‘American Crime Story’, ‘Scream Queens’, and many more. A few years later, I actually got to write music on some of these shows as an additional composer! The experience was invaluable. Inevitably, Mac became a mentor to me, both in music scoring and life.
While continuing my scoring path in the Mac camp, I also did not forget my songwriter side. Not in the way of a ‘singer-songwriter’, but writing songs for and with collaborators. One of the more significant projects was co-writing a theme song with singer-songwriter Zee Avi on a film. Together with producer and mix engineer Alvin Wee, our team collaboration had earned the song ‘Best Theme Song’ awards in the Malaysian Film Festival and the auspicious Golden Horse Film Festival in 2017, most often dubbed as the Asian Oscars. I was also working on various scores for other films – most notably, the feature documentary ‘M For Malaysia’, which made its way as an official Oscar submission for ‘Best Feature Documentary’. Through this project, I was able to work with singer-songwriter Yuna for its theme song, which was nominated as ‘Best Promo Song’ in Music + Sounds Awards.
As a result of these accolades, I was soon sought after mostly for my thematic writings for various musical projects. From writing theme songs for corporate and brands to writing the closing ceremony to ‘Olympic-like’ sports events (SEA games), as well as collaborating with other international artists. It was definitely some of the best highlights in my music career!
After four years, I left my position with composer Mac Quayle to pursue my own ventures. Unfortunately, the pandemic happened a few months later. And as we all know, times were hard and unpredictable! But I somehow managed to stay afloat doing additional music writing for composers and publishers while figuring out the best way to navigate my career forward in those unprecedented times, patiently.
Fortunately in the middle of 2021, I was offered to work with the prestigious Bleeding Fingers Music, a joint venture custom scoring company between Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer, Extreme Music, and Sony Music Publishing. And to this day, I presently work here – continuing to hone my music writing and production on a surgical level under the mentorship of Emmy-nominated composer Jacob Shea.
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?
I think it’s fair to say that every pursuit of your passion would always come with its share of challenges – especially if it involves you dedicating a bigger chunk of your life trying to ‘make-it-work’ in a place that is faraway away from home. For me, this was the case. Being away from your family and loved ones does dawn on you after a while. Maybe not so in the first few years, but after being here for a total of 12 years, the heart grows overly fonder. The obvious result of this was more on an emotional level. So being here, hustling in Los Angeles while tending to this annual dilemma was quite challenging. Fortunately, my family back home are very supportive of my ventures and determination here. So their constant support has always been a great pillar to my drive here.
Unfortunately, in April this year (2022), my father was met with a heart attack and passed away. I could not fly back in time for his funeral. All my previous dilemmas that were mentioned manifested in a way that led to many regrets and guilt. I was tormented at the idea that my passion-driven journey had an outstanding opportunity cost – to forfeit that quality time I could have spent with them before they are no longer here.
It took me a while to move forward. My family was there to remind me that my father would have wanted it no other way – that I followed my dreams. They told me (and I knew this from the bottom of my heart) that he was proud of what I have achieved. And so with this knowledge and belief (and acceptance), is how I continue to wake up every morning, driven to continue his legacy and making sure that his pride and belief in me will not be in vain!
It’s an ongoing ‘struggle’, but one that has redefined my purpose and goals.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
In some parts of the world, people recognize my work for the theme songs that I’ve written for brands, events, and films! In some other parts of the world, I’m still ‘remembered’ as a singer-songwriter! And locally here, I am NOT known for any of those, but my additional contribution to music scoring in various television shows!
I’m quite a mix bag across the globe. But I suppose the one thing people would always say about my music in any form is that it’s memorable and lyrical. I guess my whole background as a singer-songwriter comes into play. It’s one of those things where you can see a composer’s musical approach based on their primary instrument. In my case, it’s the voice.
In any case, I do believe my strongest suit is creating thematic tunes. A melody that sits in your brain goes a long way, I would say. Also, I often pair it with epic arrangements. That is something that people have associated me with. During my singer-songwriter days, I once got a 12-piece band to accompany me on this one song! I think the influence of that has carried over into my scoring days. These, coupled with my wide influences of music across the Asian territory, give me the necessary arsenals to be unique in my sounds and approach to music creation. And funneling it through the production vocabulary that I have built through my years working with prolific composers and shows certainly gives me a higher probability of being uncommon among my contemporaries!
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
I think one of the most important things I’ve learnt is to be flexible and open-minded with opportunities that come your way. It’s good to set a goal, but sometimes we need to allow ourselves some wiggle room for that unexpected left turn that comes knocking and be curious and brave enough to see what’s on the other side. You never know what entails! And you’ll definitely NEVER know if you don’t explore.
There’s also the virtue of patience. I think in all the hype ‘to make it in the industry’, comes a price of tunnel vision. And that often comes with rash decision-making, for lack of the bigger picture! I’d say one of the things that I’ve learnt is to enjoy the journey you’re on and not let other distractions dictate what should and should not – within reason of course.
Above all, I’ve also realized that having a good work-life balance in this demanding industry is the most important aspect to keep yourself sustainable! It was inspiring to see some of my previous mentors working out of their studios at home, where they were able to switch hats between work and home whenever appropriate. It may sound like a tedious in-separation, but I believe having that ‘balance’ easily accessible is what makes them go the extra mile! That, and working out! Go work out! It’ll make your music sound better.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: rendrazawawi
- Twitter: rendrazawawi
- Other: https://imdb.me/rendrazawawi
Image Credits
– Joanne Leung Photography – Vince Bucci/Invision/AP – Impact24 – Albert Ng
