Story & Lesson Highlights with Noah Lifschey of Santa Monica

We recently had the chance to connect with Noah Lifschey and have shared our conversation below.

Noah, really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: What are you chasing, and what would happen if you stopped?
Awesome question. I’d say I’m mostly chasing being known by many for the unique music and scoring I do. It feels like an uphill battle when your music goes against the grain, and you have a strong aversion to calling attention to yourself. But the lures of public acceptance and popularity are hollow, from my own personal experience and what I’ve seen in others, because once you get there it’s never what you imagined and you always want more. We think once we arrive then that’ll change everything, but it doesn’t.

If I imagine letting that go I feel calm and content. It’s a heavy thing to admit…and clarifying!

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a creative composer and sound designer based in Santa Monica, California. I’m married to a wonderful LMFT and we have a hilarious three‑year‑old daughter. I come from a family of classical musicians, but I went off‑script early and never looked back.

“Eff the norm” is the way I’m made. I make music meant to be felt, not background noise. I don’t suffer clichés or copy what’s been done, and instead I dig under the edges of what’s expected musically and sonically in varying degrees…I can’t help it. That’s gotten me into trouble at times, and it’s also given me a long career working with people who value that. I’ve done music for hundreds of projects, large and small, and you’ve probably heard my work without knowing it.

These days my strongest passion is scoring movies and episodics, though my work spans film trailers, cultural campaigns, and modular synth pieces that slowly pull themselves apart. I’m not big on labels or branding; I aim to make work that’s honest, bold, and leaves a mark. If it doesn’t stick with you one way or another, it’s not worth making.

Right now I’m composing and sound designing a new dark‑as‑hell animated series, and scoring a psychologically layered horror project built around a minimalist, Steve Reich‑adjacent quartet of two double basses and two cellos twisted sonically. Crazy fun.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
Not just as a child but well into adulthood, I believed I wasn’t good enough or cool enough for other people. What changed was realizing I don’t need to be good enough or cool enough for ANYone, even myself. These standards are imaginary since we never truly know what anyone is thinking, and we never actually “get” there. Letting go of some of that illusion was a big sense of freedom.

When I stop chasing them I get more truth, focus, and freedom in how I live and how I compose. Yearning for approval is fool’s gold.

Do you remember a time someone truly listened to you?
Recently I told a longtime friend about some strong pain I was carrying both about the state of the country and world, and the friction in my career. He listened in silence and deep attention, then simply said he heard me and understood. No advice, no lecturing, no posturing, just listening with curiosity and empathy that showed in his eyes and expression. That kind of presence is one of the best things you can give someone, and the best thing you can do with your art and music.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What important truth do very few people agree with you on?
I believe there’s no big metaphysical purpose to life beyond survival and procreation, just like all other life on earth. This is a positive way of looking at it to me because it takes the weight off of the imaginary things we put so much weight on that tax our souls. It’s easier said than done, but the times I can get with this are the times I feel the truest joy in whatever I’m doing, and definitely when I’m creating music.

Letting that fiction go frees you to explore and experience anything, without anxiety that you’re on the “wrong” path. For me it’s always opened a full and varied world of different experiences, people, ways to live, and the huge amount of music/sounds out there, because I’m not tethered to any outside or self-imposed way that I’m “supposed” to be doing things or going, which is all invented to begin with.

When you’re in a true flow state with whatever it is you’re doing, you’re not thinking about any kind of purpose or anything you were meant to be here for….you’re just doing. All the other thoughts are what we claw at in between those moments because we want some bigger kind of meaning. But that’s the biggest!

Homemade gazpacho helps, too.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. Are you tap dancing to work? Have you been that level of excited at any point in your career? If so, please tell us about those days. 
Something lights me up every day with composing. I get to discover and create new music and sounds with my own hands and brain, dive into different stories, collaborate with creatives and directors who push me, and sometimes wear cool hats while doing it. I can unapologetically be my unique self musically. I’m grateful as hell for it, and I crack a smile at least a few times every day.

My studio cat Theo can attest.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.noahlifschey.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noahlifmusic/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-lifschey-397a4a9/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@NoahLifMusic
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@noahlifmusic

Image Credits
Pic of me on drums: Molly Louise Hudelson
Pic of me crouching in front of painting: Su Fern Khoo