Sound Business with Akash Thakkar

#30: Vanessa Flores is a sound designer and post production audio expert who works at Banana Post in Los Angeles. Vanessa's work focuses on the world's of TV, ads, and film, working on projects like Total Bellas, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Top Gear and many others. In this episode, we dive into how to break into and succeed in the worlds of linear media, how she got her first jobs (even though no one was hiring), and why stepping away from game audio helped her succeed.  Find Vanessa here: Instagram: @vanny.audio Twitter: @vannyaudio TikTok: @vanny.audio Youtube: Sound Design 101 And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

A lot of us are working day jobs while pursuing or dreams to work in game audio full-time. That's great! But, ideally, we'll want to leave those boring careers behind as soon as we can. So, how can we make our escape from those more normal jobs and transition into our dream career?   Send me a message: hello@akashthakkar.com @akashthakkaraudio on Instagram   And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

#29: Sigurd Jøhnk-Jensen is a guitarist, drummer, sound designer, and composer who's had an insanely successful career as a touring musician, as well as a composer for some of the world's biggest movie trailers. He's worked on trailers for movies like House of Gucci, Scream, Marvel's Eternals, and many others. In this episode we talk about the importance of creating and working no matter what results you're getting, what the world of writing trailer music is like, how he went from writing music that no one wanted to getting placement after placement, and so much more. Find Sigurd here: Instagram: @sigurdthemusicdude Twitter: @sigurdjj Website: https://sigurdmusic.com/ Youtube: Sigurd Johnk-Jensen And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

In my 12+ years of working as a full-time game audio freelancer, the thing I see trip people up most is asking for money for their work. To help with that, here are three ultra-effective ways to make sure you're paid super well for your music/sound in and out of the game industry.  Check out my course, which opens on April 25th, 2022: bit.ly/gameaudiopro Send me a message: hello@akashthakkar.com @akashthakkaraudio on Instagram

#28: John "Slide20XX" Smith (AKA Star) is a video game composer who's worked on projects like The Stars Between Us, Calico, and the Steven Universe Anti-Racism PSAs.  In this episode we talk about breaking in to the music industry from humble beginnings, finding the right teachers and musical education, working day jobs, dealing with non-deserving complex when things start to go well, and so much more.  Find Star here: Instagram: @Slide20XX Twitter: @Slide20XX Spotify: Slide20XX And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

#27: Bad Snacks is a violinist and music producer who is known for her string-centric lo-fi hip hop style. Bad Snacks has played violin on countless sessions, has produced music for Google & Youtube, and has released her own successful albums such as Neat Tapes 1 & 2 and Bathtub Bumps. In this interview, we talk about building a community to help support a music career, moving to/away from big cities like Los Angeles, building up an income as a full-time musician, and much more. Find Bad Snacks here: Instagram: @lilbadsnacks Twitter: @lilbadsnacks Spotify: Bad Snacks Bandcamp: Bad Snacks   And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

If you want to dodge problem clients in your career, asking the right questions before the project starts goes a very very long way toward helping with that.  And to download my full client questionnaire, you can go here: bit.ly/gameaudioquestions Send me a message: hello@akashthakkar.com @akashthakkaraudio on Instagram

#26: Jongnic Bontemps had a very different path into film and video game music, in that he initially started his career in the tech world as a programmer, and didn't officially start his music career until he was 36 years old.  In this episode, we talk all about how he restarted his career in his thirties (with a wife and kids!) all while giving up his high-salary tech job that had supported him and his family for so long, and how he made sure that he got the opportunities that he did, even though he started his music career "late" by most people's standards.    Find Jongnic Bontemps here: Instagram: @Jongnic Twitter: @Jongnic Spotify: Jongnic Bontemps Website: https://www.bontempsmusic.com/   And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

#25: Michael Sweet is an award-winning composer, sound designer, and game audio educator who's worked on over 100 games and has had a huge impact on educating the next generation of game audio designers. I was lucky enough to study under Michael at the Berklee College of Music, and he is one of the handful of people I can point to and attribute a large amount of my success to.  In this episode, we chat about his starting in game audio before it was as big of a field as it is today, how he grew his career, what's most important for up and coming composers and sound designers to know, what he would do if he needed to start his career over, and so much more.  Find Michael Sweet here: Twitter: @MichaelSweet101   And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

There's a lot that goes into preparing for a video game conference... but most composers and sound designers totally miss the mark when it comes to making the most of a networking event.    So, in this episode, host of The Video Game Composer Podcast, Tyson Cazier, and I sit down to discuss how to prep for a video game conference - whether it be online or off.    A huge thank you to Tyson for giving permission to post this episode of his podcast on my feed.   Check out the Video Game Composer Podcast below! Apple Spotify Google