Today we’d like to introduce you to Darren Huang.
Hi Darren, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born in Toronto, raised in Beijing, and moved to New Jersey at the age of fifteen and began my sophomore year in high school. Three years later, I moved to upstate New York to attend the University of Rochester and Eastman School of Music, where I honed my craft in composing and published my autobiographical novel – The Impermanent Light. After finishing my master’s program at Eastman in film scoring, I promptly moved to LA, thanks to my composer mentor, Jeff Beal’s (House of Cards, Monk) generous offer for me to live in his musical mansion in Agoura Hills from 2021 to 2022. Since the move to LA, I was able to connect with filmmakers from USC, UCLA, Chapman University, NYFA, Columbia University, and NYU, whose films I composed music for, entered film festivals worldwide, including NewFest (US), Documenta (Germany), New Era (China) and more. Aside from scoring narrative films, I’ve also composed music for commercials produced by known brands such as Adidas, Converse, and Bottega Veneta. For now, I’m planning on starting my own film scoring company to outsource parts of the production to fellow composers who are looking to assist on bigger projects, and in the meantime, I’m looking to work with like-minded directors to compose music for narrative feature films.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Soon after my first semester began at the private catholic high school in NJ, I realized just how drastically different everything would turn out to be from the culture I grew up in. People’s behaviors, beliefs, body language, sense of humor, food, music, and even their clothing style were all completely unfamiliar to me. Throughout my high school years, I practiced ceaselessly to gain fluency in English and catch up on American culture just so I could better assimilate myself into the local environment.
Moreover, pursuing an artist’s career is often shunned upon by Chinese parents as it can be a financial challenge for emerging musicians. As a teenager, I often found myself struggling to cope with the difference between my parents’ expectations and those of my own, and throughout our (at times, heated) discussions, I am thankful that they eventually became supportive and encouraging of my goal of becoming a composer.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a film composer, music producer, photographer, and cinematographer. Aside from my experiences working at Hans Zimmer’s company in the summer of 2018, I have also composed music for a Nike commercial produced by Wang Kar Wai’s commercial team. In winter 2021, I was selected to participate in the prestigious ASCAP & Columbia University Film Scoring Workshop, where I composed music for my fellow director’s short “Claudia”, which later entered NewFest in fall 2022.
In order to deliver the best score for fellow directors, I often consult on their film scoring process by interpreting the cut and breaking down the music needs of the story. At the end of the day, a good piece of music might not be the best score for any given film, for a good score must serve the narrative to the best of its ability. That said, I’m most proud of my ability to effectively interpret any visual story into the most compelling score through my careful decisions on instrumentation, harmony selection, melodic construction, and the final mix to bring them all together. I believe that a good composer must be one that understands the visual aspect of storytelling as much as the audio side and one who has experienced life to the fullest extent in order to truly understand the inner worlds of each character in the narrative projects that come their way. Moreover, I take pride in my ability to translate each narrative emotion into musical ideas and communicate those ideas clearly to any director that I’m working with, thus expediting our collaborative process. Lastly, I see connections in everything I do – a well-composed photo is no different from a well-composed piece of music – they both need a healthy balance of subject vs. background (i.e., melody vs. supporting instruments), to name one of many examples. This tendency ultimately motivates me to learn new skills more efficiently and find relatable principles to improve my craft in other areas, such as cinematography and screenwriting.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Always go the extra mile.
I had no idea that my composing mentor would invite me to live in his musical mansion in Agoura Hills for a year in 2021-2022, yet I was sure that I had to make each of our encounters count. During my time at Eastman School of Music, while other masters students were focusing on schoolwork or participating in leisurely activities, I always took the time to reach out to my professors and any industry professionals to schedule extra meetings or a coffee chat outside of school hours. The goal was simple – to not only hone my craft but also show my determination to succeed and go above and beyond. I’ve found that most of my mentors or anyone who has helped me along the way tend to appreciate those who are most hungry and ready for the opportunity. Given that my family are working in the business industry on the other side of the globe, I knew early on that I’d have to prioritize networking as an essential element to building a successful career as a composer, so I never shied away from any opportunity to make a good connection.
Not every connection is one to keep.
Although I try to never miss out on any opportunity to make a connection, I realize that some connections may not be mutually beneficial or might even prove to be unhealthy in the long run. It’s always good to check in with yourself and honestly assess the quality of each connection before they foster into long-term relationships that might not serve you well. After all, good things take time, and an unhealthy relationship might cost you even more time, so don’t be afraid to sift through your connections once in a while to decide on which to keep.
Pricing:
- Composing/Scoring: starting at $300 per minute of music delivered
- Music Producing: starting at $300 per minute of music delivered
- Portrait Photography: starting at $150 per hour of photoshoot
- Cinematography: starting at $300 per 1-minute video or $600 per day of shooting
Contact Info:
- Website: darrenhuangmusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darren_huang_/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darren.huang.712/
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/darren-huang-642391293
- SoundCloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/cQ6e3
- Other: Portrait Photography Website: darrenesque.com
Image Credits
Bobby Cheung Dominic Leano Carrisa Lewis Liying Zhao
