Meet Sam Rad

 

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sam Rad

Hi Sam, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I am from Tübingen, Germany originally and started taking classical piano lessons as a kid. In my early teenage years, I became really curious about writing and producing music through artists that I was listening to at the time – especially the ones that had been known for breaking away from the constraints of genre. I loved dissecting a song or a track and would spend countless hours exploring keyboards, guitars, synthesisers, samplers and drum machines at local music stores. I remember spending most of what I earned from summer jobs on gear, as there was nothing more exciting to me than capturing musical ideas and absorbing everything I could about recording and production.

When I was 15 years old, I entered a music production contest hosted by Linkin Park and a music technology company called Open Labs. It was a 12 month long contest where anybody from around the globe could submit an original piece of music and then 12 winners were selected, one for each month. I was one of the winners selected, and at that age this really gave me the confidence to continue to pursue writing and producing music.

It was around this time that I began to take notice of the power of music in film and television. I would listen to scores extensively for weeks (if not months) after seeing a movie, and I remember exactly how fascinated I was with how vividly you can relive a story, just by listening to the score. I gradually became more and more interested in writing for orchestra as well.

Since I had always loved the diversity and creativity of the American music industry, I felt drawn to pursuing an education in screen scoring in the US. I learned about Berklee College of Music, and saw that quite a few composers that I admired had gone there as well. I decided to give it a shot and apply, without expecting much. In fact, I was already busy figuring out other ways of getting into screen scoring when I learned that I had been accepted. I am deeply grateful to have been able to pursue that journey through a scholarship that I was awarded by Berklee.

Through the years in Boston and following my move to Los Angeles, I feel very fortunate to have learned and worked on award-winning projects alongside incredible musicians and filmmakers from all kinds of backgrounds.

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?
I suppose many musicians feel the same in that it can be very daunting to put your projects out there. Especially when it is different from what your peers are writing. Learning from critical feedback without feeling insecure about your work is a skill that takes time to develop. In general though, I believe I struggled the most with following my own path within the industry and accepting that it might be very different from the paths of composers I look up to.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I quite frequently find myself being drawn to particular sounds while writing. That is often times what I get really excited about. I grew up listening to artists that would combine elements from all kinds of genres and I believe that is reflected in my process and work as well. I love being able to work across many different genres and create a combination that feels fresh and new to me. Both on the scoring and the production side, I realised that I find a lot of joy in making my own sounds and libraries and adding these in the demo making phase, instead of solely relying on the libraries out there.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Being able to continuously find joy and inspiration in what you do. To remain curious and to take risks in your artistry while staying true to your vision.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samradix
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/samrad

Image Credits
Anke Hoffmann, Nissan Zangilevitch, Maren Eltze