Personal stories of inspiration from professional composers, songwriters and musicians.
In this episode, Gareth chats with composer Alex Baranowski about writing for a variety of media and the enormous impact his grandparents had on him.
Subscribe now via The Music Room website to have new episodes magically appear in your podcast app!
Host: Gareth Davies
Produced by
Links
For news, stories and advice, as well as stuff going on in the Music Room community, subscribe to the Music Room newsletter
Music story:
Send your music story (text): hello@thesoundboutique.com
Welcome to the music room.
Speaker:This week in the music ring.
Alex Baranowski:I'll do everything is live as I, I can, even if it's in
Alex Baranowski:my, I have mic set up all the time, stuff flying around all the time.
Alex Baranowski:Uh, you know, you can see some stuff in the background, but literally in the
Alex Baranowski:hallway, in our, in our hallway, just full of instruments every day as if, I'm sorry.
Alex Baranowski:I'll keep it, put it somewhere
Alex Baranowski:Hello, music rumors.
Alex Baranowski:And welcome to another episode of the music room podcast.
Alex Baranowski:The show where I chat with composers, songwriters, and musicians about what
Alex Baranowski:they're up to before going back in time to find out how it all began.
Alex Baranowski:Actually I say, I.
Alex Baranowski:But if you go back and episode composer, singer, songwriter, and
Alex Baranowski:musician, Charlotte Hatherley.
Alex Baranowski:Yes.
Alex Baranowski:The Charlotte handily.
Alex Baranowski:Guest hosted and had a brilliant chat with composer, kali parody.
Alex Baranowski:Who on top of scoring things like line of duty and the rising has toured with
Alex Baranowski:Clint Mansell and Nick cave and the bad seeds well-worth listen that you can hear
Alex Baranowski:it right there on your podcast app or.
Alex Baranowski:At music, green podcast.uk.
Alex Baranowski:In this episode, you're going to hear from a wonderfully inventive UK based composer,
Alex Baranowski:Alex Baranowski, he's worked on everything from the BDC to ident and the hip BMC,
Alex Baranowski:one comedy staged with David Tennant and Michael sheen to the delightful
Alex Baranowski:BAFTA nominated the Windemere children for wall-to-wall and Warner brothers.
Alex Baranowski:I'll introduce him properly in a bit, but rest assured it's a great listen.
Alex Baranowski:So, so music stories.
Alex Baranowski:Uh, Paul has picked up the worldwide rights to flora and son, John Carney's
Alex Baranowski:musical load to motherhood that features a breakthrough performance by Eve Hewson.
Alex Baranowski:The movie is Connie's first since his 2016 sensation sing street.
Alex Baranowski:Remember that, which also premiered at Sundance and just like sing street.
Alex Baranowski:It two features original songs by Connie and his frequent collaborator.
Alex Baranowski:And music queen guest, Gary Clark.
Alex Baranowski:Next.
Alex Baranowski:I asked the music room group on Facebook to share some quick tips
Alex Baranowski:with their fellow music reamers.
Alex Baranowski:Uh, Janet Overfield says how to make your cello or Viola sound like it.
Alex Baranowski:Isn't in a toilet.
Alex Baranowski:Gently wide depth at around 2.5 to 3.5 K.
Alex Baranowski:And gentle wide booster around 250 to 400 Hertz.
Alex Baranowski:Someone here could have probably told me that if I'd asked, but working out slowly
Alex Baranowski:for myself this week was quite satisfying.
Alex Baranowski:That's great.
Alex Baranowski:Nice little tip, Janet.
Alex Baranowski:Uh, Mike Langley, you can make a banjo out of an acoustic guitar by sticking
Alex Baranowski:a balloon inside and inflating it.
Alex Baranowski:Till it touches the strings.
Alex Baranowski:Play with caution.
Alex Baranowski:There you go.
Alex Baranowski:What a great tip.
Alex Baranowski:If you don't have a banjo.
Alex Baranowski:Ruben Cornell dip your master at 500 Hertz to make it sound more open.
Alex Baranowski:Again, Very easy, very simple, very effective.
Alex Baranowski:Thanks Ruben.
Alex Baranowski:Bali Bali, man, this week's tip for me is try harder.
Alex Baranowski:Uh, we can all do that.
Alex Baranowski:Got.
Alex Baranowski:Bali, uh, as a motivational device, I've bought a page two a day diary
Alex Baranowski:and log everything I do in it at the end of the day, I think, oh, I've
Alex Baranowski:done four hours guitar practice today.
Alex Baranowski:And then realize I've been awake for 12.
Alex Baranowski:So two.
Alex Baranowski:Yeah.
Alex Baranowski:Uh, Joe Kendall says play from the heart and don't be afraid to
Alex Baranowski:hold notes outside of the timings.
Alex Baranowski:As I'm finding this as sounding more raw and emotive this week,
Alex Baranowski:that's absolutely spot on Joe.
Alex Baranowski:Yes.
Alex Baranowski:It's very easy to rely on the quantize button.
Alex Baranowski:Isn't it.
Alex Baranowski:But it's much better to pay from the heart.
Alex Baranowski:Isn't it?
Alex Baranowski:Absolutely.
Alex Baranowski:Robin Sherlock Tomayo says, make rules, then break them.
Alex Baranowski:Wow.
Alex Baranowski:Great little tip that I don't usually like using presets, but made a point
Alex Baranowski:of using some Arturia ones this week.
Alex Baranowski:Freshen things up.
Alex Baranowski:No end.
Alex Baranowski:Why not.
Alex Baranowski:Fantastic tips, everyone.
Alex Baranowski:Thank you so much for those.
Alex Baranowski:Alex Baranowski is a composer based in London.
Alex Baranowski:He recently scored eight part series rain dogs releasing this year
Alex Baranowski:and his ballet legacy variations with choreographer, David Dawson.
Alex Baranowski:Premiered at the Dutch national ballet in December of last year.
Alex Baranowski:Recent film scores include a Gaza weekend directed by Oscar nominated basil Kaleel.
Alex Baranowski:For film for releasing in 2023.
Alex Baranowski:And Ruth Wilson and Jude law produced true things.
Alex Baranowski:As well as three series of hit BBC.
Alex Baranowski:One comedy staged, starring David Tennant and Michael sheen.
Alex Baranowski:BAFTA nominated the Windermere children for wall-to-wall and Warner brothers
Alex Baranowski:and burial uh, world war II drama.
Alex Baranowski:For altitude film, starring Harriet, Walter let's find
Alex Baranowski:out how it all began for Alex.
Alex Baranowski:And stick around as he'll be leaving at nighttime and a
Alex Baranowski:piece of advice for you to find
Gareth:Alex Barovsky composer, welcome to the music room.
Alex Baranowski:I'm very happy to be here.
Alex Baranowski:Thank you very much for asking me to come.
Alex Baranowski:I enjoy your podcast very much.
Gareth:Ah, that's always nice to hear.
Gareth:Always nice to hear.
Gareth:How are you today and, uh, what have you got going on
Alex Baranowski:Very good.
Alex Baranowski:Very good.
Alex Baranowski:Um, well, I'm chatting to you.
Alex Baranowski:No, it's lovely.
Alex Baranowski:Um, how about yourself?
Gareth:Hmm, well, I am, probably two thirds of the way through
Gareth:a kid series at the moment.
Gareth:based on, the wind in the Willows, which.
Gareth:Lovely, really enjoying that.
Gareth:Um, so I will be straight back to that.
Gareth:Once we we've, uh, we've done, and you know, it's that typical mider.
Gareth:Um, once everyone's happy with what they're doing, then it,
Gareth:it really becomes a, a kind of a production line, doesn't it?
Gareth:Of this comes to me, then goes back for notes, comes back
Gareth:and onto post-production and.
Alex Baranowski:it's mine.
Alex Baranowski:I like that rhythm.
Alex Baranowski:I like that rhythm.
Alex Baranowski:When you've sort of, you've got the seams, you've got ideas,
Alex Baranowski:you know what you're doing.
Alex Baranowski:You still wanna sort of do, try and do new things.
Alex Baranowski:No, it's lovely.
Alex Baranowski:It's lovely.
Gareth:And it does become, if it's well oiled, it does become a, an opportunity
Gareth:to really hone in on little bits as well.
Gareth:Um, the, I had some, extra little notes, some fine notes this morning.
Gareth:Um, and the director actually wrote to me and said, I'm so sorry cause I previously.
Gareth:Said, I was happy with this episode, but I've just noticed this, this, and this.
Gareth:And I had to say to him, it's, you know, it's fine.
Gareth:It's part of the process.
Gareth:You
Alex Baranowski:It shows the director's got a love for it.
Alex Baranowski:It's not just sort of, especially with music, sometimes you find
Alex Baranowski:people just going on need tot that on, put this on if that's, but
Alex Baranowski:actually it's, it's nice people.
Alex Baranowski:I, I, I feel, I find that really lucky when people actually
Alex Baranowski:want spend time with crafty.
Alex Baranowski:Cause that's what we wanna do.
Alex Baranowski:We wanna make the best thing we can make.
Alex Baranowski:Right.
Alex Baranowski:That's,
Gareth:Absolutely.
Gareth:Yeah, very
Gareth:much.
Gareth:Uh, speaking of which, I had a couple with, the music room Facebook
Gareth:group this morning, and I mentioned that we were meeting and chatting
Gareth:and so they have a couple of questions for you if you don't mind,
Alex Baranowski:Of course,
Gareth:So Ruben Cornell, he says Hi asks,
Alex Baranowski:Hi.
Gareth:also, it's like a, like a Saturday morning phone in, isn't it?
Alex Baranowski:Oh, Ruben's lovely.
Gareth:Yeah.
Gareth:Uh, how does your writing process work with surround
Gareth:sound in a theater environment?
Gareth:Because you've done theater work and you, you've done
Alex Baranowski:wow.
Alex Baranowski:We're getting, we're getting right.
Alex Baranowski:Stuck into the
Gareth:We, we are, yeah.
Gareth:Straight in at the deep
Alex Baranowski:Um, well, I'm, I'm, I guess to give a bit of background,
Alex Baranowski:I'm, I'm very lucky that I do, I work in various bits of film and theater
Alex Baranowski:and dance and adverts and working.
Alex Baranowski:So, and, and theater is a thing that.
Alex Baranowski:She started it all off.
Alex Baranowski:When I first got moved to London, the first thing I did was meet with some
Alex Baranowski:composers and I, I met this lovely, um, lovely composer called Adrian
Alex Baranowski:Sutton, who gave me an assistant role at the National Theater.
Alex Baranowski:Um, just literally just doing copying of schools with
Alex Baranowski:surveillance, something like that.
Alex Baranowski:And, , I adored every second of being in that building.
Alex Baranowski:It was just sort of, it was just this, having been in this room on my own,
Alex Baranowski:desperately trying to find work, get a job, do Australia, and meeting these
Alex Baranowski:amazing people in this incredible room.
Alex Baranowski:Um, and I learned about theater and I, this wonderful thing
Alex Baranowski:of theater is where you can.
Alex Baranowski:It's not like we're working on a film or a tv.
Alex Baranowski:You're like, you can put a speaker wherever you want and you can make a
Alex Baranowski:sound come out of it whenever you want.
Alex Baranowski:It's amazing.
Alex Baranowski:Um, so set.
Alex Baranowski:Yeah.
Alex Baranowski:So Ruben's question surround sound.
Alex Baranowski:Yeah.
Alex Baranowski:I, I'm obsessed with it.
Alex Baranowski:I love it.
Alex Baranowski:I've hidden speakers on the seats in theaters and put them in roofs and put
Alex Baranowski:them in corridors and put them behind stages, above the stages outside.
Alex Baranowski:On stage hidden.
Alex Baranowski:Um, so you can put them anywhere and it's wonderful and it can help tell
Alex Baranowski:the story and, and the one, sorry, you were saying you wanted to ask me a.
Gareth:well, well, I guess the question in that context is did
Gareth:you actually write in multichannel
Alex Baranowski:Well, yes, so, so a lot of the time in theater, I'm
Alex Baranowski:not just being hire as a c compos, I'm been kind as a sound designer.
Alex Baranowski:So you sort of mix the two very, in a really interesting way
Alex Baranowski:and it really changed the way I've worked in film as well.
Alex Baranowski:And because you're sort of using sounds as musical, you know, making sounds
Alex Baranowski:of music or making music at sounds.
Alex Baranowski:And if you know you are going to be writing music for this, it's, it's almost
Alex Baranowski:as simple as sort of writing steps.
Alex Baranowski:So I want this to go out, this speaker.
Alex Baranowski:I will make a stem of it.
Alex Baranowski:I'll do this.
Alex Baranowski:So you having knowing.
Alex Baranowski:, I guess it's quite similar to writing a computer game.
Alex Baranowski:Not that I've ever written a computer game, um, in that sort of way, but I
Alex Baranowski:guess it's, it's writing ideas isn't, you're not writing a linear piece of
Alex Baranowski:media that starts here and then in three minutes maybe you are writing
Alex Baranowski:a piece that starts in a certain way.
Alex Baranowski:And when an actor says a certain thing or something happens on stage, you can make
Alex Baranowski:that as a cue and then the next queue will come along to add another layer to it.
Alex Baranowski:Another, this, you could add some sound.
Alex Baranowski:And you can just build up sound scripts.
Alex Baranowski:There's, there's a, a very clever program called Q Lab, which is.
Alex Baranowski:, um, both simply use that.
Alex Baranowski:It's actually free to download just the normal stereo version so you can do,
Alex Baranowski:it's, it's, um, yeah, check it out if you're interested to get to the theater.
Alex Baranowski:But it's amazing because you, you can just play, audio files.
Alex Baranowski:You can put fades in, you can send things to here, send things to there.
Alex Baranowski:And it's a really, really simple system.
Alex Baranowski:But most, most datas use, Q Lab.
Alex Baranowski:Um, and so as a Samsung designer composer, I will sit in a, in a technical
Alex Baranowski:rehearsal or even in rehearsal room before we've gone into the theater and.
Alex Baranowski:Start putting things into this, into the queue.
Alex Baranowski:I want a laptop and pay things through.
Alex Baranowski:Um, so nor normally I'm quite organized, so I can, I've just, I did a show, at
Alex Baranowski:the end of last year, called Orlando, which is on now in the West End.
Alex Baranowski:Until the end of February and I, I'd sat in the rehearsal room and I wrote
Alex Baranowski:lots and lots and lots of music.
Alex Baranowski:It was a very big music show and sounds and we programmed everything really there.
Alex Baranowski:So I knew before I went into theater where everything was
Alex Baranowski:gonna go, I designed the space.
Alex Baranowski:So we had surrounds, we had had speakers on stage.
Alex Baranowski:I put a speaker in the roof.
Alex Baranowski:This amazing theater.
Alex Baranowski:It's incredible.
Alex Baranowski:So when you have things like rain, you there was a, There was
Alex Baranowski:a, um, Scene in Istanbul where we have sort of called to prayers.
Alex Baranowski:And it's amazing putting this call to prayer, like through a roof.
Alex Baranowski:And in the theater sort of, it's not coming out the speakers,
Alex Baranowski:it's not coming behind me.
Alex Baranowski:It's coming.
Alex Baranowski:It's, and it's really amazing kind of just to,
Gareth:Really
Alex Baranowski:you don't really put it in words.
Alex Baranowski:And I think as, as an audience like you, probably most people wouldn't really
Alex Baranowski:notice cuz you're sort of, you're in it, you know, a theater show's done well.
Alex Baranowski:You are just so absorbed into action.
Alex Baranowski:You don't think, oh, that's a nice, I, no, I do because I sit in it like, like
Alex Baranowski:we all watch films and think, oh, that was a nice music cue or a bit different.
Alex Baranowski:Um, so yeah.
Alex Baranowski:I, I love that aspect of, sound in, in theater.
Gareth:Yeah.
Alex Baranowski:um, yeah, use sound, use music.
Alex Baranowski:Yeah.
Alex Baranowski:Great.
Gareth:Fantastic.
Alex Baranowski:Sorry, that was a really long-winded
Gareth:a, that's fine.
Gareth:No, that's, that's it.
Gareth:Is gold dust, honestly.
Gareth:Getting people who actually have.
Gareth:A wealth of experience to explain something like that
Gareth:for listeners is, is wonderful.
Gareth:So thank you.
Gareth:And
Gareth:Reen.
Gareth:I hope, that answers your question.
Alex Baranowski:But I have to say like theater is a, it's a bit of a mystic art.
Alex Baranowski:Like a lot of composers.
Alex Baranowski:In recent years, I've How'd you get in theater?
Alex Baranowski:You know, you just meet people.
Alex Baranowski:You know, I've, the wonderful thing, the wonderful thing about that was, um,
Alex Baranowski:working at the National Theater, which is this wonderful, huge, big theater.
Alex Baranowski:I was, I think I was 25, 14 years ago.
Alex Baranowski:And, I met so many people, but all the assistants to the
Alex Baranowski:directors, all the assistants to the designers, all the assistant
Alex Baranowski:composers, we all knew each other.
Alex Baranowski:And we went, made films above a pub for no money.
Alex Baranowski:You know, we, we, we learned how to do it all.
Alex Baranowski:And now all these guys, they're directing shows, they're directing
Alex Baranowski:films, they're directing.
Alex Baranowski:This is kind of how I'm quite lucky in being able to do so many different things.
Alex Baranowski:Cause I guess you sort of meet people along the way and you think, I'll do that.
Alex Baranowski:I'll do this.
Alex Baranowski:Come on, I'll have a go at.
Alex Baranowski:. Um, and it's, yeah, it's wonderful.
Alex Baranowski:And that's what I really loved about theater is it just got me out and
Alex Baranowski:meeting people, but not meeting people.
Alex Baranowski:Cuz I'm a networking event.
Alex Baranowski:I have to meet someone cuz I don't do that.
Alex Baranowski:if I've ever go to one of them, I will go to the corner and I will
Alex Baranowski:hide in the loo and Ill leave.
Alex Baranowski:Um, because that's my, that's what's me.
Gareth:That's your networking style.
Alex Baranowski:yeah.
Alex Baranowski:Any sort of, I hate, I'm terrible.
Alex Baranowski:I'm terrible with all that.
Alex Baranowski:Meeting greets as well.
Alex Baranowski:But yes, it's sort of meeting people by accident and saying,
Alex Baranowski:oh, you did that and it's great.
Alex Baranowski:Oh, should we do this?
Alex Baranowski:And let's, you know, let's catch up for a cup of tea and let's go for, you know,
Alex Baranowski:go to the pub afterwards, after the show.
Alex Baranowski:And like, it's, it's really amazing kind of having that little network
Alex Baranowski:of people to do that in Yeah, in, in, and theater was my way.
Gareth:Yeah.
Gareth:Fabulous, fabulous.
Gareth:Um, going over to another medium, of television.
Gareth:Janet in the music room group, uh, Janet Overfield.
Gareth:Hello Janet.
Gareth:She asks about, uh, the series staged with David Tennant and Michael Sheen, um,
Gareth:because it started during the pandemic.
Gareth:How did the writing process.
Gareth:Differ in that situation.
Gareth:Cause everyone was kind of trying to figure out how to do
Alex Baranowski:All a bit confused.
Gareth:Were they
Alex Baranowski:Well that sort of came about cuz the director, um,
Alex Baranowski:Simon, who was actually in it and he wrote it, we were due to do a
Alex Baranowski:theater show which got canceled.
Alex Baranowski:And he was a bit niff about it.
Alex Baranowski:And instead of, being like everyone else, like we were like, I was just
Alex Baranowski:kind of complaining about it and going, oh crap, what we gonna do now?
Alex Baranowski:He was like, right, I'm gonna write a sitcom, um, on Zoom about
Alex Baranowski:a theater show that got cancel.
Alex Baranowski:And that's how it came about.
Alex Baranowski:So I got this call from Simon saying, GE Fancy, just, just try this pilot.
Alex Baranowski:So he, he managed to convince, David and Michael to try this pilot.
Alex Baranowski:We all work for free.
Alex Baranowski:Just sort of just read, just, just try it.
Alex Baranowski:Let's just, let's see an episode, see if it works.
Alex Baranowski:It's lovely editor called Danage.
Alex Baranowski:And we put it together and it was great.
Alex Baranowski:It was really, really good.
Alex Baranowski:Very quickly they managed to get the BBC to commission it said, right, you're off.
Alex Baranowski:And it was then a very, very rush, like Right, we've gotta do it,
Alex Baranowski:we've gotta get this out there cuz you know, who knows when the hell
Alex Baranowski:long this pandemic's gonna last.
Alex Baranowski:Like, we might all be out in a week.
Alex Baranowski:So it was, it literally got to the point where I'd be given a cup on a.
Alex Baranowski:Thursday night, I'd watch it and make notes and start writing.
Alex Baranowski:And I'd have Friday, maybe morning and I'd get some notes back from the director.
Alex Baranowski:And yeah, to, I'd record it live with a lovely, based town at play called
Alex Baranowski:Ben Castle, who was based on, I, you know, it was all done on, on, you
Alex Baranowski:know, email and zoom and so it'll all be mixed by the end of the night.
Alex Baranowski:So I do have to do a, literally a whole episode in 24 hours and turn it
Alex Baranowski:around and ready for the sound mix.
Alex Baranowski:What if it was the Friday or, you know, like it literally was
Alex Baranowski:like, no, it was no, no time.
Alex Baranowski:But it was kind of fun and cool and so, so it was, it was just, the
Alex Baranowski:idea behind it was to make it sound like it was made in a pandemic.
Alex Baranowski:Like I, I, I wanted to have some big brush thing.
Alex Baranowski:Like I wanted it to sound like, well, I've got a piano in here, so I have a piano.
Alex Baranowski:I think a little quirky based cla No, let's do it like it sounds.
Alex Baranowski:It was done in my back bedroom, which it kinda
Gareth:And, and actually you didn't really need to imagine, did you,
Gareth:because you were making it in a pandemic
Alex Baranowski:Exactly.
Alex Baranowski:Exactly.
Alex Baranowski:Exactly, exactly.
Alex Baranowski:So I, I just love the lofi of it.
Alex Baranowski:I love the silliness of it.
Alex Baranowski:Um, and it, it's been amazing how, how well it's come.
Alex Baranowski:Like, you know, so many people ask me for the score to play the piano, so
Alex Baranowski:I just put it up for free on Twitter.
Alex Baranowski:I was like, great.
Alex Baranowski:It's like you wanna play it, put it like play it.
Alex Baranowski:Send me a video.
Alex Baranowski:If you played it,
Gareth:That's wonderful,
Alex Baranowski:it, it was great fact.
Alex Baranowski:We, there was an amazing video that did come true that was, um, this amazing
Alex Baranowski:band of, music graduates and they did big arrangement of it with bubble
Alex Baranowski:bass and clarinets and piano and touch with one of the guys and becoming my
Alex Baranowski:assistant he'd been working with me for.
Gareth:It's how it happens.
Gareth:Wonderful.
Gareth:Well, thank you Janet.
Gareth:I hope that answers your question.
Gareth:Uh, I've got my own question because, I think I was made aware of you with the
Gareth:BBC two I dents, that were I'm sure a wonderful experiment in sound design.
Gareth:But what really put you onto my radar was the film, the Windier Children.
Alex Baranowski:Oh yeah.
Gareth:is based on the experience of child survivors of the Holocaust,
Gareth:a camp set up near Lake Windier and the score is suitably emotive.
Gareth:What was it like to write that and how did the sound of the film come into being?
Alex Baranowski:Oh, well that was, oh, I was, that was such a beautiful film
Alex Baranowski:and it was really, so the, the film like about these Polish refugees that came
Alex Baranowski:over from Poland to the late district and I, from all my grandparents were Polish
Alex Baranowski:refugees who, they didn't go to the late district, but they ended up, in the uk.
Alex Baranowski:After the war.
Alex Baranowski:and it was really interesting cause I, my grandparents were
Alex Baranowski:these amazing creative people.
Alex Baranowski:My, my granddad was a, a poet, a musician, and, my grandmother
Alex Baranowski:and a amazing oil painter.
Alex Baranowski:And, they really, really wrote and painted about their experiences in the war.
Alex Baranowski:And it was so moving to.
Alex Baranowski:To read and to see these paint and, and to think of it in context and
Alex Baranowski:sort of, and the film was very good at making that feel a bit more real.
Alex Baranowski:And so I put my grandmother's paintings up and there's some really harrowing
Alex Baranowski:paintings that she, she made of her time around there that's sort of half
Alex Baranowski:abstract, half figurative, with sort of quite harrowing details that, um, I
Alex Baranowski:need, I need to sort of work from this.
Alex Baranowski:And, um, I use my granddad's instrument like, so that's this accordion
Alex Baranowski:they obviously see on a podcast.
Alex Baranowski:But I've got an accordion in my room that my granddad bought in, um,
Alex Baranowski:in Italy, I think in So, so all my grandparents were, they were taken
Alex Baranowski:to Siberia and they were taken to Siberian labor camps, prison camps.
Alex Baranowski:And the only reason they were, Released is because, uh, Stalin switched sides
Alex Baranowski:from, you know, obviously working with Hitler, invading Poland, and
Alex Baranowski:he switched sides to the alley.
Alex Baranowski:So he said, right off, off you go, you need to go and fight.
Alex Baranowski:And they made them march from Siberia to Palestine to Italy.
Alex Baranowski:So it, it really, really affected me thinking about their experiences and
Alex Baranowski:experiences on the, on the children in the film, and I used, my granddad's
Alex Baranowski:instruments and I, I, like I said, I, I put the paintings of my grandma around
Alex Baranowski:the studio and I, I genuinely was sort of crying through writing a lot of cues.
Alex Baranowski:It was, cuz it was, it was a really, so yeah, it was a
Alex Baranowski:really emotional experience.
Gareth:in a, in a way, adding to their creativity through time.
Alex Baranowski:It's really, and it's, it's made me actually write, write more.
Alex Baranowski:And I just recently released actually a.
Alex Baranowski:A piece that a Canadian violinist, commissioned, um, called Debo.
Alex Baranowski:I wrote a piece called Spring, which is based on one of the
Alex Baranowski:poems that my, my granddad wrote.
Alex Baranowski:They're all in Polish, but I sort, my is terrible.
Alex Baranowski:So I have to use Google Translate and then get a family member to
Alex Baranowski:sort of translate a bit better.
Alex Baranowski:It was the most beautiful sort of, you know, he wrote it in Siberia when.
Alex Baranowski:It must have been so bleak, like living through a Siberian
Alex Baranowski:winter in a labor camp thinking.
Alex Baranowski:And I, and I've heard his account, there's, he's a recorded account
Alex Baranowski:of his on, um, Imperial War Museum.
Alex Baranowski:It's, it's really incredible.
Alex Baranowski:Um, and I remember talking to him about it and we was, we were really close and he
Alex Baranowski:brought me my first violin when I was six.
Alex Baranowski:He was, he had a choir into his nineties.
Alex Baranowski:He was incredible.
Alex Baranowski:Incredible man.
Alex Baranowski:But no, it was, it was really wonderful.
Alex Baranowski:It was like, it was, it was great.
Alex Baranowski:Yeah.
Gareth:Well, with that in mind, because you are actually going back in time
Gareth:with your violin at six years old.
Gareth:Uh, why don't we go back in time and, uh, find out how it all began.
Gareth:If you are ready, I.
Alex Baranowski:Wonderful.
Gareth:Okay, so you.
Gareth:Mentioned about, your grandfather buying you your first violin.
Gareth:Was that the first time that you had experienced music?
Gareth:Or was there a time before that that you can remember?
Alex Baranowski:so, so that, that accordion that, um, I mentioned
Alex Baranowski:that my, my grandma bought in Italy in sort of like forties.
Alex Baranowski:I remember him playing it to me and sort of singing and, when
Alex Baranowski:I must have been really little.
Alex Baranowski:I remember it sort of towering over me and now it's.
Alex Baranowski:Sort of, you know, I think, oh that's, but I remember it being this huge thing, this
Alex Baranowski:huge special thing that lived upstairs and every now and again, he'd play it.
Alex Baranowski:Cause I sort of spend my summers, with them, you know, summer holidays,
Alex Baranowski:that was sort of my childcare.
Alex Baranowski:I sort of realized, you know, sort of painting and listening to music and, and
Alex Baranowski:that was, I guess that was really lucky.
Alex Baranowski:And I kept quite unusual I guess.
Alex Baranowski:But they, they really did a lot in that, Creativity and just sort of thinking,
Alex Baranowski:well, of course we can be creative.
Alex Baranowski:That's what we do.
Alex Baranowski:It's funny, I sort see my kids and they, my, their seven year old comes in and,
Alex Baranowski:well, of course that's what dad does.
Alex Baranowski:He just does music for stuff, you know, , it's what?
Alex Baranowski:There's no question for it.
Alex Baranowski:There's no question that, you know.
Alex Baranowski:Yeah.
Alex Baranowski:I love it.
Gareth:Yeah.
Gareth:Yeah,
Alex Baranowski:It's very lucky.
Alex Baranowski:Really.
Gareth:very much so.
Gareth:What were the circumstances of him buying you a violin then?
Gareth:What
Gareth:was all that
Alex Baranowski:don't, I don't know why he, he was always sort of like,
Alex Baranowski:you, I think you need to pay the violin.
Alex Baranowski:I thought, okay, great.
Alex Baranowski:That, well,
Gareth:Okay.
Alex Baranowski:And I've still, I've got it like it's a little sort of
Alex Baranowski:half size, quarter size little violin.
Alex Baranowski:My, my kid plays in it now.
Alex Baranowski:And then I ended up, it ended up not being the right violin to learn violin.
Alex Baranowski:I think it was too small for even at six.
Alex Baranowski:It was too small.
Alex Baranowski:So I ended, getting another violin.
Alex Baranowski:Um, and Jetta started, started lessons and
Gareth:you enjoy that or
Gareth:were you doing
Alex Baranowski:it, absolutely loved it.
Alex Baranowski:It's only when it got a bit and I got bit older and I had to practice and I had to
Alex Baranowski:do that, you know, when you were 11, 12, 13, like, wow, I don't wanna do this.
Alex Baranowski:But by then I'd sort of discovered the piano and I didn't really
Alex Baranowski:wanna practice that either.
Alex Baranowski:I'd, but I'd sort of loved to sort of just listen to stuff off the TV and try
Alex Baranowski:and copy stuff, try and write my own, you know, really loved the piano and
Alex Baranowski:discovered jazz, discovered everything, and then talk to the piano practice 20
Alex Baranowski:minutes before the Planet two arrived.
Gareth:You, did you transition from the violin then?
Gareth:Did you, are we kind of doing them in
Alex Baranowski:No, I kept, I, I think I kept playing it until I was about,
Alex Baranowski:um, 15, 16, the violin, and then I sort of, the, the piano took over.
Alex Baranowski:But it, I, I'm obsessed with strings.
Alex Baranowski:If anyone's heard my music, they're probably
Gareth:a little bit.
Gareth:Yeah.
Gareth:It comes across
Alex Baranowski:Um, but that's why, and I genuinely can't
Alex Baranowski:play it, but I wish I could.
Alex Baranowski:Every time I meet people, you know, young composers who play things like violence
Alex Baranowski:and cellos, just use it, use it, use it.
Alex Baranowski:Cause I, you know, I wish.
Alex Baranowski:I have tried.
Alex Baranowski:I thought, you know what, if I just try a little bit and like add it, layer it
Alex Baranowski:like no, no, it's just, it's just bad.
Alex Baranowski:It sounds like some cat being,
Gareth:With your piano then, you mentioned you went for lessons.
Alex Baranowski:yeah, so, well, I think I started kinda lessons a bit later.
Alex Baranowski:Maybe like nine.
Alex Baranowski:Nine or 10.
Gareth:Yeah.
Alex Baranowski:I, and I loved it and again, my granddad sort of had lots of
Alex Baranowski:instruments lying around like mandolins and guitars and accordions and so it's
Alex Baranowski:just, I just love playing things and again, sort of string instruments is
Alex Baranowski:sort of what I'm kind of obsessed with.
Alex Baranowski:I love sort of playing, I've got lots of random string instruments as
Alex Baranowski:well, and that's again, from, from that, like again, I've never had
Alex Baranowski:lessons in all these Mandos and, all the stuff, electric guitars, but I.
Alex Baranowski:Just trying and pretending and playing.
Alex Baranowski:And then when, when I've gone traveling again, I've sort of
Alex Baranowski:traveling with my, my wife resource lived in India for four months, so
Alex Baranowski:of course I came back with a sit.
Alex Baranowski:But again, it just sounds wonderful with adding some sort of thing to a,
Gareth:Yeah.
Gareth:And if you have a basis in, something strings like the violin or the guitar,
Gareth:see guitars on your wall, then you've got a starting point, haven't you, of
Alex Baranowski:Yeah.
Alex Baranowski:Absolut.
Gareth:And, you know, piano accordion, it's not too far a stretch, um, except
Gareth:you're, you're kind of pulling the piano apart and putting that together,
Alex Baranowski:Yeah, Absolutely.
Alex Baranowski:It's all kind of the same thing, isn't it?
Alex Baranowski:And then there's this wonderful thing called Melaine, which
Alex Baranowski:makes everything better for me
Gareth:Oh yeah.
Alex Baranowski:whenever it comes to me trying to
Gareth:spilling the production secrets.
Alex Baranowski:anything.
Alex Baranowski:Oh God, yeah.
Alex Baranowski:But I, but again, I love it.
Alex Baranowski:Like I'd rather do that than try and find a sample or try and find a thing at this.
Alex Baranowski:That sort seems to be my ethos.
Alex Baranowski:So if I'm not doing orchestral things, I'll do everything is live
Alex Baranowski:as I, I can, even if it's in my, I have mic set up all the time,
Alex Baranowski:stuff flying around all the time.
Alex Baranowski:Uh, you know, you can see some stuff in the background, but literally in the
Alex Baranowski:hallway, in our, in our hallway, just full of instruments every day as if, I'm sorry.
Alex Baranowski:I'll keep it, put it somewhere, but
Gareth:Fantastic.
Gareth:So your grandparents clearly a massive influence on you early on.
Gareth:Were there, you know, music teachers or other people, perhaps in school
Gareth:or clubs or anything like that, that might have influenced you as well?
Alex Baranowski:Yes.
Alex Baranowski:I guess I, you know, I think it's, it's, it's having strong, strong people who
Alex Baranowski:sort of really love doing the same thing.
Alex Baranowski:I, I remember really loving music lessons as at secondary school.
Alex Baranowski:I think it was only when I went to college, Doing a Apples.
Alex Baranowski:I went to this really wonderful college.
Alex Baranowski:There's, there's one, very famous composer alumni who went
Alex Baranowski:there that I knew very well.
Alex Baranowski:I knew of very well when I got there, who was hands immer.
Alex Baranowski:So we sort of went to the same school and when, when they did a, um, a Dr.
Alex Baranowski:Win about recently they interviewed.
Alex Baranowski:Our headmaster was the same guy, and he's wonderful.
Alex Baranowski:He's so supportive and wonderful.
Alex Baranowski:And I've, I've gone back quite a few times to sort of talk
Alex Baranowski:to students, things like that.
Alex Baranowski:And obviously they couldn't get a famous guy come in.
Alex Baranowski:Um, he was a bit too far, but then, um, and it was, he always
Alex Baranowski:asked, he always knows what I'm doing and I, it's really wonderful.
Alex Baranowski:And the, the teachers there, they're really supported.
Alex Baranowski:Really wonderful.
Alex Baranowski:That's kind of really where I really.
Alex Baranowski:Cubase really learn how to get my way around a door, and really work out.
Alex Baranowski:And that sort of gave me a love.
Alex Baranowski:And I ended up going, leaving there and I went to liquid in Liverpool,
Alex Baranowski:which is Paul Carney's old school, which he then turned into a sort of
Alex Baranowski:music college and they did their music and dance and sound technology, which
Alex Baranowski:I sort went and sound technology.
Alex Baranowski:I thought, well, I do, I wanna go and do music or do I wanna go and do.
Alex Baranowski:Of course it sort of helps, you know, understand how to record music and
Alex Baranowski:still do music, but then I can sort of record my own music and maybe I can
Alex Baranowski:make more money by having both things.
Alex Baranowski:Um, so that was my thought processes.
Alex Baranowski:So I sort of learned about technology and recording as well as the music and.
Alex Baranowski:And that was really inspiring.
Alex Baranowski:The people on there were wonderful cuz it's sort of going to a, a university
Alex Baranowski:like that and Paul McCartney got literally rang up his mates and got people to
Alex Baranowski:come in and, just give guest lectures.
Alex Baranowski:There's a, we had an amazing guest lecture in Glen Johns who was the one
Alex Baranowski:of that Leo, the amazingly dressed guy on the, like the get back documentary
Alex Baranowski:doing You record all the, let it be.
Alex Baranowski:And he sort of came and listened to our material and some diagram around how he
Alex Baranowski:sort of invited the stereo technique.
Alex Baranowski:And, um, just really amazing.
Alex Baranowski:Like we have so many people like that come in and Paul himself like
Alex Baranowski:gave us to degrees and sort of came in and did some master classes.
Alex Baranowski:And so it was a really incredible time.
Alex Baranowski:So the college and university, this sort five years of being so
Alex Baranowski:inspired and that it, it's not about going, this is how you make a
Alex Baranowski:guitar, this is how you make a thing.
Alex Baranowski:They sort of said, look, these are the tools we.
Alex Baranowski:And look, you can do this.
Alex Baranowski:This is a compressor, but it's sort of, you know, you need to figure
Alex Baranowski:out how you do this compressor.
Alex Baranowski:How you wanna mic this guitarist.
Alex Baranowski:You don't just say, right, you put on the 12th threat and it's done.
Alex Baranowski:You go, well look, you can, you can tune it this way.
Alex Baranowski:You can, you know, you see how resonant is.
Alex Baranowski:Try micing it around the back.
Alex Baranowski:Try doing this, try playing it in a bathroom.
Alex Baranowski:Like we really learn all these amazing, just, it gave you so much creativity.
Alex Baranowski:And that's something I do every single day now
Gareth:was gonna say that it seems to be something that, you've kind
Gareth:of put your own stamp on, and use.
Gareth:I think as a, we both know as a modern kind of media composer, you need a ru
Gareth:at least a rudimentary knowledge of recording techniques and stuff like that.
Gareth:But to have that kind of background, to bring into your work,
Gareth:It shows in your
Gareth:work.
Gareth:Definitely.
Alex Baranowski:Oh, that's really good for you.
Alex Baranowski:It was so useful.
Alex Baranowski:And I think once I left the, you know, once I left Leper, I said I
Alex Baranowski:went traveling for a year, you know, with, uh, went to India places,
Alex Baranowski:um, bought lots of instruments.
Alex Baranowski:But, um, when I came back, sort of letter says what I wanna do,
Alex Baranowski:I wanna, I wanna write music.
Alex Baranowski:Like, but how am I gonna do this?
Alex Baranowski:I dunno, anyone, I don.
Alex Baranowski:I don't have any contact, I don't have any money . So, I ended up moving in
Alex Baranowski:with my then girlfriend, now wife's parents and her granddad had an, uh,
Alex Baranowski:a house a couple miles down the road.
Alex Baranowski:And this is in south, northern Liverpool, nowhere near where I'm from.
Alex Baranowski:And, my mom gave, gave a bit, let me a bit of money to buy a, a Mac and I had
Alex Baranowski:all these instruments and I bought a mic.
Alex Baranowski:Um, and I just learned again, like, so I've, I'd sort of learned how to recall
Alex Baranowski:in as studio situation and I learned again how to everything, how to write, how to
Alex Baranowski:make a sound, what my sound was, what I wanted to say as a composer, what my.
Alex Baranowski:What did I sound like?
Alex Baranowski:How did I record?
Alex Baranowski:How do I, so I spent, I literally spent like year, year in a quarter
Alex Baranowski:doing that seven days a week.
Alex Baranowski:And I was obsessed.
Alex Baranowski:And this is the days before Twitter.
Alex Baranowski:This is the days before.
Alex Baranowski:You know, I didn't, I didn't have , internet access on my computer.
Alex Baranowski:I was in this attic.
Alex Baranowski:It's really cold with a gas heater, with a gas, c gas sort of heater.
Alex Baranowski:But it was, it was sort of my little space and I adored that space.
Alex Baranowski:It was my bad, you know, instruments, computer, and I, it was just
Alex Baranowski:about learning my craft and that was the best year I've ever
Alex Baranowski:had for myself, for my career.
Alex Baranowski:Like learning what I do, like figuring out how I do it and
Alex Baranowski:figuring out what plugins do.
Alex Baranowski:And I, I, cause I was sort of, I, I went over to pros when I was at, at
Alex Baranowski:Lipper and learned sort of pros and then that's how I, I, I still use Pros
Alex Baranowski:now, sort of, I, I wanted to figure out how I could make things sound great.
Alex Baranowski:And then I sort of bought some, I think it was the, the original East.
Alex Baranowski:Gold library.
Alex Baranowski:Um, which, you know, of course they had no lato things in those days.
Alex Baranowski:They had nothing like that.
Alex Baranowski:Um, and it was just, I just spent my time obsessing, how do I make this sound real?
Alex Baranowski:How do I make this sound, the string sound interesting with, with
Alex Baranowski:adding some guitars, adding some pianos, adding what, what can I do?
Alex Baranowski:And I just, I, I've completely obsessed and I ended up putting
Alex Baranowski:music on my MySpace, I think.
Alex Baranowski:And I got people sort of contacted me saying, oh, can you do this,
Alex Baranowski:film, you know, we know well, well, I say film was student film
Alex Baranowski:stuff, so then I, I learned, you know, made all the mistakes on a student film
Alex Baranowski:and like, I'd had the best time ever.
Alex Baranowski:I loved it.
Alex Baranowski:Um, you know, no money involved.
Alex Baranowski:You don't even, I didn't even think about that.
Alex Baranowski:But, it was, yeah, like I say, it was the best.
Alex Baranowski:And I, I know I'm saying, as I'm saying, I know I'm saying this from a
Alex Baranowski:immensely middle class, white male, p.
Alex Baranowski:A position to be in this, because I know a lot of people don't have the
Alex Baranowski:opportunity to go and spend a year living on someone else's dime without having
Alex Baranowski:to, you know, after, like it's, it's a really, really privileged position to
Alex Baranowski:be in, and I completely understand that.
Alex Baranowski:And I, and I, I can understand why having done that, why it's so difficult
Alex Baranowski:for people who aren't able to afford to do that, to, to get in this, because
Alex Baranowski:look, it, it is this kinda interesting where, you know, you as, as we all
Alex Baranowski:know, listen to this, however, Little long, we've all done this thing.
Alex Baranowski:It it, it takes so much to do this.
Alex Baranowski:Like no one, no one comes in.
Alex Baranowski:He goes, oh, great.
Alex Baranowski:You can read it now.
Alex Baranowski:You've done it great.
Alex Baranowski:Do you wanna come and do this?
Alex Baranowski:Like it is, but that's what's kind of wonderful about it.
Alex Baranowski:And, um, you know, it's, it's about learning and learning and learning.
Alex Baranowski:And, and even in my twenties I thought, oh, I can score films now.
Alex Baranowski:I've been doing this for a few years and, and it's looking back now like I.
Alex Baranowski:There's so much I know now that I didn't know then that I, you, you
Alex Baranowski:learning all the time and I'm sure in 10 years time I'll look back at
Alex Baranowski:what I'm doing now and think, oh, you were so naive, You know, it's about,
Alex Baranowski:it's about learning all the time
Gareth:Yeah.
Gareth:But then if you go into it, knowing what you're in for, I, I'm, I'm not sure many
Gareth:people would actually decide to go ahead,
Alex Baranowski:no,
Gareth:See, for me, it was totally unexpected.
Gareth:You know, the amount of graft and the amount of the, the amount
Gareth:you have to really dig deep and think, is this really what I want?
Gareth:You
Alex Baranowski:I completely agree.
Alex Baranowski:And, and, and we all have many moments like that.
Alex Baranowski:And I remember, you know, thinking that now, like it really affected.
Alex Baranowski:You know, mental health, you know, when you sort of go up for jobs and
Alex Baranowski:you don't get them with this, and it's frustrating cause you then you move
Alex Baranowski:to London and you can't pay the rent.
Alex Baranowski:Like, it's just so, so, so hard.
Alex Baranowski:And, and then, you know, you, you maybe find a way out, you know, I'll pitch
Alex Baranowski:this advert, pay my rent for three months and then you don't get it and you, and
Alex Baranowski:you just, all you can think about is not being able to pay your two months.
Alex Baranowski:And so it's, it's a really really hard thing and it, you can see why
Alex Baranowski:everyone struggles because we all struggle and it's what's really bad,
Alex Baranowski:you sort of look at other people and you can compare yourself with them When
Alex Baranowski:you think why it all looks so easy.
Alex Baranowski:And even sometimes I look at my own.
Alex Baranowski:Terrible website and go.
Alex Baranowski:Got it.
Alex Baranowski:It looks, looks quite impressive actually.
Alex Baranowski:I mean, but it doesn't feel like that when you do it.
Alex Baranowski:But everything looks, looks better on the, on the outside and I
Alex Baranowski:think you need to remember that
Alex Baranowski:and I remember sort of being in studios and, and seeing composers and who were.
Alex Baranowski:Many, many wrongs above me and working on these incredible films, and it's
Alex Baranowski:sort of being satisfying that they're having a really hard, difficult timing.
Alex Baranowski:Okay, great.
Alex Baranowski:Like I always imagined it'll be easy.
Alex Baranowski:You just be drinking coffee and getting assistance to help, you
Alex Baranowski:know, but actually, it's, it's not, it's a hard, the whole way through.
Alex Baranowski:And that's, okay.
Alex Baranowski:As long as we, we know that, I think it's not about taking your eye off the ball.
Alex Baranowski:There's never a moment you can just go, yeah, I'm done Now.
Alex Baranowski:Just
Gareth:Exactly, and there's a massive responsibility on
Gareth:your shoulders, isn't it?
Gareth:You know, you get into a position where you think, yes, I've got a gig, I've got a
Gareth:commission, and then you are responsible.
Gareth:You know, you, you are . Then the sleepless nights start because, oh God,
Gareth:you know, you gotta get everything right.
Alex Baranowski:Absolutely.
Alex Baranowski:And it's, and it's not something I think, I think, again, and I, I'm
Alex Baranowski:guilty of it, I know when I was younger, but I think as a, when you
Alex Baranowski:are as a young composer, you sort of.
Alex Baranowski:You, well, I know I can do this.
Alex Baranowski:I'm, why aren't I doing this?
Alex Baranowski:But, but you think about it like you are as a composer for a film.
Alex Baranowski:You're, it's the equivalent of being a CEO of a, of a multimillion pound project.
Alex Baranowski:You know?
Alex Baranowski:Or a head of department of a of a very, very big, you know, you
Alex Baranowski:this, this just writing music is, you know, in charge of hundreds of
Alex Baranowski:thousands of pounds of, of budget.
Alex Baranowski:That, to go to orchestras, I, it takes so much experience and knowledge and.
Alex Baranowski:No one gets given a CEO job when they're in their twenties.
Alex Baranowski:And if they are, God help you because you know, like it's about working
Alex Baranowski:on those smaller projects, isn't it?
Alex Baranowski:And learning and figuring it all out bigger.
Alex Baranowski:And they get bigger and
Gareth:Yeah, so not to end on a despairing note , I ask, all of my guests
Gareth:to leave an item and a piece of advice, in the music room for others to find.
Gareth:So have you got an item that you'd like to leave in the music room?
Alex Baranowski:So I was thinking about this and I was listening
Alex Baranowski:to what other people left behind.
Alex Baranowski:And I was thinking, so one of the most useful things is a little black book.
Alex Baranowski:And in that little black book is people.
Alex Baranowski:And it's not my people.
Alex Baranowski:I'm not giving you a black book full of people.
Alex Baranowski:I'm giving you a black book for you to fill with your people.
Alex Baranowski:Cuz I think what you do is all about people.
Alex Baranowski:Like we sit in our little rooms on our own most of the time and we, we write,
Alex Baranowski:we, we want the stuff to come to us, but it doesn't, you know, we have to go
Alex Baranowski:out and do it and I love writing music.
Alex Baranowski:I love getting musicians to, to play and collaborate with.
Alex Baranowski:And so I have a, a lovely, lovely group of people now that I sort of like, but at the
Alex Baranowski:moment I'm like ringing up people saying, can you put this some cello on this?
Alex Baranowski:Can you do this?
Alex Baranowski:Can you write, you know, can you help me with this?
Alex Baranowski:Can you do some, some surveillance things on this one?
Alex Baranowski:I'm doing it and directors and people, like I said, that you meet assistants
Alex Baranowski:when you are really young and they end up becoming their own directors.
Alex Baranowski:And I, I was sort of starter when Facebook was really just in it, in its
Alex Baranowski:infancy from, um, For the masses like us.
Alex Baranowski:I remember, you know, before Twitter, and I remember sort of being recontacted
Alex Baranowski:with all these, you know, people from Mays and school and going,
Alex Baranowski:oh, you've worked in the BBC now.
Alex Baranowski:Can I ever do
Gareth:Yeah,
Alex Baranowski:now even more connected, I guess so, and Twitter
Alex Baranowski:getting some wonderful work and meeting wonderful people on Twitter.
Alex Baranowski:I guess it's just about connections and not being on your
Alex Baranowski:own and having a little book.
Alex Baranowski:Remind you of all the, it doesn't have to be a physical, it can be in
Alex Baranowski:your head, it can be, it can be in
Alex Baranowski:your
Gareth:no.
Gareth:It's a, it's a physical black book.
Alex Baranowski:and, and in
Gareth:go
Alex Baranowski:book, and it's a, and and to be fair, there's a little
Alex Baranowski:black book of people that are, have not been particularly pleasant or not
Alex Baranowski:be, you know, that I, I, I've been, I've been very lucky that I've had a
Alex Baranowski:lot of positive experiences and there's been a few negative experiences, but,
Alex Baranowski:you know, whether, whether it's people working with, whether it's a musician
Alex Baranowski:being a complete ass about something, or it's about this, or it's about,
Alex Baranowski:you know, no, no one's gonna, you.
Alex Baranowski:I, I wanna try and be as fair and wonderful and you wanna be with everyone,
Alex Baranowski:you know, but, but it's, you wanna surround people with you, be positive.
Alex Baranowski:And it's about, it's about trying to figure out the way through it.
Gareth:Fantastic.
Gareth:Well that's going in.
Gareth:Uh, what advice would you like to leave in the music room?
Alex Baranowski:um, so I.
Alex Baranowski:Said it before, but I think the, the biggest bit of advice is not comparing.
Alex Baranowski:There's a wonderful quote, I, I dunno who said it, so I'm sorry it's not
Alex Baranowski:mine, but like, don't compare your beginning with someone else's middle.
Alex Baranowski:Like, don't look at other people and think.
Alex Baranowski:Why am I not doing that?
Alex Baranowski:Why am I not doing this?
Alex Baranowski:Why am I, you know, I don't think, um, I'm young.
Alex Baranowski:I'm young.
Alex Baranowski:I need to get an agent.
Alex Baranowski:I need to do this.
Alex Baranowski:Like, you need to, like, you don't, you just need to keep going and meeting
Alex Baranowski:people and finding avenues to write music, whether it's above a pub, whether
Alex Baranowski:it's, whether it's just writing some library music, whether it's pitching
Alex Baranowski:for some adverts, whether it's doing some theater, whether it's doing a load
Alex Baranowski:budget doc, um, doing a dance piece.
Alex Baranowski:Like I, I did it all.
Alex Baranowski:That's how, I guess, I'm so lucky to work in so many.
Alex Baranowski:Avenues now is cuz when I was a young composer, I just wanted to
Alex Baranowski:meet as many people as I could.
Alex Baranowski:So I met choreographers, I met, you know, documentary makers and theater
Alex Baranowski:makers, and I just wanted to make as many connections as possible.
Alex Baranowski:I was very lucky.
Alex Baranowski:I had income by, you know, doing a theater job or getting the odd advert pitch and
Alex Baranowski:doing, you need, you sort of grab your income from other wear or do other jobs.
Alex Baranowski:So, yes.
Alex Baranowski:So that's what it, my advice, you know, it's about trying to be you.
Alex Baranowski:And it's not trying to, you know, we know, of course we get, we get
Alex Baranowski:influences from here, there, and everywhere, but figure out who you are.
Alex Baranowski:I always have this horrible analogy, which I always say.
Alex Baranowski:Composers and I, there's, there's two types of composers.
Alex Baranowski:There's one type of composer like, oh God, we need to get someone to do some music.
Alex Baranowski:Like, you, you, you, you, yeah, you, you're great.
Alex Baranowski:Done.
Alex Baranowski:Well, there's other site where you go, okay, I really like what you do,
Alex Baranowski:and I want you to come and do this because I really love what you've
Alex Baranowski:done, and I think we all all start.
Alex Baranowski:In the one, the first one we all start and just wanna be a composer.
Alex Baranowski:But the, the, the aim is sort of get onto that side and go,
Alex Baranowski:oh, people wanna come to you.
Alex Baranowski:And the only way of doing that is by being you not trying to copy
Alex Baranowski:someone, not trying to do this, like trying and just figure out your own
Alex Baranowski:way of, of getting through stuff.
Gareth:Alex Barovsky composer.
Gareth:It has been a joy chatting with you.
Gareth:Thanks for joining me in the music room.
Alex Baranowski:Thank you very much for asking