We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kati Falk-flores a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kati, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I wouldn’t be where I am today had I not had a major breakdown in college. At the time, I was pursuing a degree in vocal performance and broke down after my junior recital. That night was the first time I truly improvised and then composed music — and the piece born that night went on to be performed by the local symphony.

Prior to that, though I loved film music, I had never considered composition, nor even improvised musically. I was terrified to get things wrong. And I was stifling myself creatively through that fear of failure. I got into grad school for composition and after earning my Master’s went on to study film scoring at UCLA.

However learning to write music for trailers is really what’s shaped my path and skills into what they are today. I learned a whole new skillset for music production that is absolutely essential for versatility as a composer.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I got my professional start as a composer in trailer music, with my first placement for Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge in 2016. From there, my music has been used in more campaigns including Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Star Wars Andor, and Venom: Let There Be Carnage. This led to me writing for other music libraries with my work ending up on synced TV shows.

However, it’s been the past couple years where I’ve stepped back to more of the film scoring side, and have really enjoyed getting to write to picture again. I’ve had the chance to work with wonderful collaborators who push me to do my best for the scene and help me shape the music to be exactly what it needs to be. I’m also wrapping my first game soundtrack which has been a lot of learning and a lot of fun!

I’m really proud of the way that writing trailer music has pushed me out of my comfort zone and far beyond orchestral music. I love writing completely organic scores and tracks, but have also really enjoyed being able to approach music and sound in new ways thanks to being more comfortable with sound design and processing. I’ve been really luck with my collaborators and co-writers in trailers, and am grateful to have received a Golden Trailer Award for Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns and a Golden Trailer Award and Gold Clio for Apple TV’s Cherry.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, the music is the reward. When I get to create music for a film, or a trailer, or a game, in each of those moments I get to emotionally respond with music. That music may drastically change styles based on what’s being asked for, but when my emotional response is honest I create a piece of music that never stops being personally fulfilling.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn (/am unlearning) perfectionism. School was easy for me. I was used to getting things right (i.e. getting good grades) without really having to try. Unfortunately, that reinforced the idea that all skills should come as easily.

Enter music production. Composing for media requires a lot more skill than simply writing music, and music production was overwhelming to me at first. I couldn’t hear production when I first started, just the musical ideas. Slowly, I learned to hear production and got frustrated with my inability to mix music as I’d like. And what really held me back from getting better was the fear of failing.

Over time, I have learned that it’s okay to get things wrong. It’s far better to try and learn from the results than be paralyzed by reaching for perfection. Not only has my production improved, but I’m proud that I’ve become far more creative and free with shaping sound and music in whole new ways, like I got to do on the score for Mind of Thoughts.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://katifalkflores.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katifalkflores/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katifalkflores

Image Credits

Maria Orlova
Kati Falk-Flores