Thomas is a German composer and orchestrator based in Los Angeles. We had the pleasure of speaking to Thomas a few years ago about his expressive and modern music for film, television, trailers, and production music. Thomas is the founder of Inletaudio, a sample library company dedicated to supporting musicians and fostering collaboration. We had a chance to catch up to discuss the initiative.
Thank you for agreeing to catch up. Congratulations on your career to date. For readers who are unfamiliar with your background, how were you introduced to music?
Thank you so much for having me again! I grew up in the South of Germany, near Munich. I was really lucky to grow up in a beautiful area, close to the German Alps – this was an incredibly inspiring place to live and grow up, and it really informed my early passion for music. At an early age, I started to learn the piano, playing classical music, as well as my own compositions. It was a nice balance of playing other people’s music, as well as composing my own. Fast-forward to now, after graduating with a Bachelor of Music in Music Composition and Creative Music Technology in Cardiff, Wales, and completing my Master’s degree in Composition for the Screen at Columbia College Chicago, I am now based in Los Angeles, working as a composer. I also founded the sample library company Inlet Audio. We focus on creating artist-driven music software instruments, prioritizing musicians and their communities.
Were you ever inclined to pursue other careers?
Not really, to be honest. I always knew I wanted to work in music ever since I learned how to play the piano at a young age. My passions and focus within the music industry did gradually change over the years, and I feel like I have found my true passions and the path I want to pursue. Fast-forward to now, after being passionate about classical composition, wanting to become a sound engineer, and orchestrator, I now have found the path for me: writing music and creating unique music software instruments as part of Inlet Audio, which really supports musicians and music communities. I absolutely love working in production music, creating albums of vast amounts of music, working on films with other composers, as well as running a sample library company that is so artist-driven. I am also lucky and thoroughly enjoy, meanwhile running the company with my partner in life, and composer/singer Kirsten Evans.
What was the emotional drive in you becoming artists, particularly a musician?
Great question. I would say that sharing music with other people and seeing how they react was and still is one of the main motivations for becoming a composer. I love composing new music, particularly when it involves working with other musicians, and seeing where the music ends up being listened to or placed (in the case of Production Music). Recording and sampling with musicians is another passion of mine. There is something magical that gets unlocked when creating experimental and improvisational recordings with musicians. They bring so much human emotion and artistry to the table, and I love incorporating this into my music. Ultimately, my goal is to work with as many people as possible, learn about as many different points of views as possible, and to be creative with as many people as possible.
We’ve had the pleasure of speaking with you a few years ago. Please tell us more about your sample library company called ‘Inlet Audio’ and its origins?
Absolutely. So, as part of Inlet Audio, Kirsten and I lead sampling and recording sessions with musicians to capture their original sounds, by recording and capturing improvisational and other playing techniques. The goal is preserving the raw emotion and expression of the moment. We then transform those recordings into music software instruments (sample libraries) and distribute them to composers and artists to use in their media projects. We truly value the human artistry each musician brings to the table.
At Inlet Audio, we have been incredibly lucky to have worked with a large range of people and creating unique sample libraries with them. The origins of Inlet Audio actually stems from the desire to continue collaborating with musicians during the Covid-19 pandemic, overcoming the burden of not being able to meet anyone in person, nor recording with musicians.
The first collaboration Inlet Audio ever had was with British cellist Isobelle Austin.
Isobelle and I had just worked on a personal project of mine, an album called “Aphelion”, for which she recorded various cello melodies and layers. She amazingly did this from her London apartment, while I was in LA. This was right around the beginning of the pandemic. It soon became clear to me that due to Covid-19 most in-person meetings or recordings would not be feasible, and it became clear that one of the groups in the music industry most affected would be musicians and composers. Many musicians weren’t booked for live shows or recording session and Covid made it challenging to collaborate with people.
In response to the increasing challenge, and especially as nobody really knew how long the pandemic would go on for, the idea of starting a supportive sample library company came to mind. A company that would be accessible worldwide, without necessarily the need for a recording studio when working with musicians, allowing musicians to record from their own home whilst still being able to create a sellable product, and one that directly promotes and supports musicians. Inlet Audio was basically born out of the need for collaboration and the desire to create a musicians community that helps musicians thrive, and offering new opportunities for collaboration and growth. It was really the collaboration with Isobelle which led to founding Inlet Audio – this was especially because it came from a remote collaboration, and the thrive to continue collaborating during Covid, and overcoming the issue of not being able to meet with anyone in-person.
We have been very lucky to have worked with a artists from Berlin, Chicago, Los Angeles, and London, and are continuing our musicians community. Lucky for us now is that we can collaborate with new artists in person again, in various places, different studios and countries.
You are music composer in visual media, as well as for music for music licensing, trailers, and music software instrument development. Do you have a particular methodology or approach to working on these very different projects?
Totally. When working on any music, it is important for me to really create a musical palate which matches the client’s ideas and visions. In order to do that, for me it is important to start with a “blank slate” before every project. I feel that every client deserves fully original and fully thought-through sound creations that are tailored around and original to their project. Before starting the music writing process for projects, I often spend some days recording and sampling various sounds that I think might become relevant or important to the project. In the past, I have gone on hikes and recorded rocks and branches for a project for example, and ended up creating percussion software instruments from the recordings and using them for every track for the project. I also often record textures and improvisations with a solo musician before the project starts, experimenting with different ideas and sounds. More often than not these recordings become a vital part of the compositions and often shape the development and sound of a project. So basically I would say that starting with a “blank slate”, not a template of sounds that is similar with each project, working with musicians, experimenting and improvising, and capturing varieties of sounds to create a sort of sound bank, is my approach to working on different projects.
You recently collaborated with Grammy® award-winning vocal ensemble Roomful Of Teeth, as well as contributing orchestrations to the documentary “The Princess,” which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Please tell us more about these recent projects.
These were incredibly fun projects to work on and I feel very thankful to have been part of them. Norwegian composer Rebekka Karijord kindly asked me to create orchestrations and transcriptions of her music for her newest record. Rebekka created such wonderful music for this, and it was a pleasure to record with Roomful Of Teeth, an incredible vocal ensemble that works in an incredibly unique collaborative way. Can’t wait to hear the full album once it is released!
“The Princess” was another really exciting project I was lucky to create orchestrations for. Dutch composer Rutger Hoedemaekers who created additional music for Martin Phipps for the documentary film “The Princess”, a very personal look at the life of Princess Diana. I worked with Rutger a few times before, and he kindly reached out to ask me to orchestrate for this part of the soundtrack. The music is incredibly beautiful and I had a really fantastic time working on this project. It was also a pleasure to have Rutger’s music recorded at The Empire Studio in London, working with great London session musicians.
You’ve had the pleasure of working with a large range of composers, artists, and clients, including Golden-Globe winner Jóhann Jóhannsson, Ronit Kirchman, Hildur Gudnadottir, as well as music licensing and production companies such as Warner Chappell Production Music, Sound Insurgents, Bibliotheque Music, and many more. Respectively, of your many accomplishments, what are you most proud of, and why?
This is a really tricky question. In all honesty, each and every one of these people were and are incredible inspirations to me, as a person but also as a composer, and I think I am just very proud of the music I get to write these days, and believe that this rich tapestry of collaborations has profoundly informed and enriched my musical journey, and continues to inspire my artistic perspective and mindset. The people mentioned above, amongst many many others have really helped me realize my potential, and have allowed me to write music I truly love without compromising creativity.
We know the industry is tough and very competitive. What is your advice to budding musicians?
I would say the most important tip(s) I can give is: stay true to yourself and trust your gut. It took me a very long time to realize that true authenticity is the thing that is ultimately valued and respected the most. Be yourself, don’t let anything or anyone change you into something you’re not. True authenticity always finds its way and is the thing that ultimately gets you further and makes you happier. Trust your gut along the way and be persistent.
What projects are you currently working on?
It has already been an incredibly busy year so far and it’s actually just getting even busier, so I can’t complain at all! I am currently working on two brand-new albums with Warner Chappell Production Music, together with my partner in life, singer/composer Kirsten Evans and our friend and Berlin-based composer Marvin McMahon. We are writing some of my all-time-favorite music and I can’t wait for these two albums to be released.
Kirsten and I just wrapped an album with Sound Insurgents, a boutique trailer house here in LA, creating some really creepy and scary horror trailer music. This was a blast to work on, I absolutely love working with them and can’t wait for the album to come out!
There are also countless other albums in the works for various other production music companies, as well as various music pitches that Kirsten and I, as well as the three of us, are working on.With Inlet Audio, we are working on a lot of different sample library releases this year. We just launched our first piano sample library called “Scoring Piano”. For this product we sampled and recorded a vintage Fischer upright piano from 1900, recording it at Altamira Sound in Alhambra, CA. We also have many other products in the works at the moment, all to be released this year.
We also have a very special collaboration coming up in June which I can’t talk about just yet, but maybe we can do a follow-up about this one soon!
2024 is definitely the year of getting to write lots and lots of music, as well as many releases for Inlet Audio.
Where can we find out more about you?
For my work as composer: https://www.t-e-music.com/
For Inlet Audio:
https://www.inletaudio.com/
https://www.instagram.com/inletaudio/
Images provided courtesy of the artist.
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