We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rhyan Reyes. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rhyan below.

Rhyan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Depending on what kind of life you live and where you are in said life, success can have different meanings and can be very subjective. For me, success is living an honest life while doing something you’re passionate about. Never listening to the people that say you can’t or that you shouldn’t, but instead getting your kicks on proving them wrong. Important things like staying diligent and tenacious at your career can really help you at being successful. You have to remember that this is who you are naturally whether people like it or not. Value your craft and value your work that you do. Learn to push through the barriers that otherwise hold you back.

Challenge yourself! Learn new things and new skills from everyone you talk to and from everywhere you go. I think it’s important to create problems for ourselves so that we have to find the answers to them. Be open minded to learn even if it’s extremely difficult. You’ll have a leg up on the competition if you push yourself to understand more. It’s my job as a composer to embrace problems and then figure out how to solve them. When I have to write a new piece of music for a genre I’ve never done before, a great challenge for me is to figure out how it’s done by those who know more than me. I get asked to write in some pretty crazy genres a lot. Like Magical, Cowboy, Fantasy, Dubstep.

Think outside the box. It’s a very competitive world out there. Chances are, if you think of a good idea someone else has already done it. It’s important to jump on those good opportunities first and have creative ideas that are genuine to who you are. No matter how odd or weird they may seem. Push against the norm and think creatively on how to do something different or better. Sometimes building upon the foundation of an idea is better than creating from the ground up. When it comes time for me to submit demos for a competing project, I look at what everyone else is doing and think of a way to do it differently or a way no one has done it yet. This gets me work because I tend to think creatively and diversely.

Fail and fail a lot! Wear those failures like scars and be proud of them. Learn from your mistakes and accept them. This how you grow the most and gain tons of experience points. Not failing, as ironic as it may seem, is detrimental to your success. It’s a matter of how you take it and the value you get from failing that counts. I say this because I am an insanely clumsy person and I fumble all the time at my career. Mistakes are there for us to learn. Figure out why something didn’t work and try at it again and again with a new angle each time. Don’t stop until it does work. Even as recent as a few days ago, I ran into a huge barrier and felt like the biggest failure. The point I’m making is, no matter what the barrier is, big or small, break through those walls, kicking and screaming like the kool-aid man with a mission.

And of course, love what you do. Be genuinely humble to your craft and network like crazy! Talking to people and communicating with your community is key. When applying for a video game or film gig, I always like to mention that I’m a fan of the medium, not just ‘a music and sound guy.’ This in turn gets us talking not only about the job, but as a couple of fans as well. Having genuine conversations with people can lead to success. It’s about building sincere relationships with people. Whatever the case is, go at your craft with such ravenous appetite, you need it as much as you need the air to breathe.

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

Hi readers! My name is Rhyan Reyes (Sector VII) and I am a multi media composer and sound designer. My main focus of work is in both video games and in film. At a very young age, I’ve been a huge fan of both music and video games. It wasn’t until one night I was playing a game by the name of Final Fantasy VII that I had an epiphany; a ‘AH HA!” moment. While listening to the soundtrack, created by beloved composer Nobuo Uematsu, I had the idea, I too can make music for video games! Some years later, I began my journey by going college and achieving my B.S. in music production and in game audio. From there I worked at various music studios and even started my own freelance business, “Sector VII.”

‘Sector VII’ provides unique, original music and sound design for all media. When developers, producers, and creatives are looking for that missing piece that their project needs, it’s my job a composer to understand and provide what a client wants in order to make their goals a reality. Music and sound can take a project that’s good and turn it into something truly special.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Since 2013, I have had to restart this business three times over. Whether it was my life going in a less than desirable way, or having to relocate, I’ve had to contour my business to the shape of my situation. Just keeping in mind that, “this is my way of living,” really gave me that armor I need in order to face difficult circumstances. From the bottom of basements all the way to running a brick and mortar music studio, I’ve had to find what works and what doesn’t. Through trial and error, music business is an ongoing journey that has taken me through some weird twists and turns. Often times I have to go where the work is and not where I want to be at that time. For the times when I cannot find a composer or sound designing job, I tend to teach or mix and music sessions for other artists. This is all part of it! I strongly believe that if you wear different hats, you can do different jobs within the field and craft you work. This leaves more open more opportunities for you to succeed.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

There’s this nasty, thick oozy layer of self doubt and “phony-ism” that gets between your spirit and your goal oriented thinking. This feeling always tells me, “I’m not good enough”, “everyone does it better than me”, and “I’m just a talentless hack that doesn’t know anything because I’m lame!” This ooey-gooey not so soft and chewy layer of self doubt is called, ‘imposter syndrome’ and I myself, am an artisanal master of conjuring up such feelings. It goes without saying that most creatives have, to some degree, a case of ‘imposter syndrome.’ I bring this up because I took a risk by going into business for myself. I quit my 9-5 retail job to invest and pursue a life that I believe in.

One of the biggest jobs I’ve ever applied for, was composing music for a television pilot for a future series. When I first sent in my submission, I immediately though to myself, “WHY DID YOU DO THAT?! YOU IDIOT! You know you’re not good enough for this! You’re going to get in SO MUCH trouble for being so SUB PAR and LAME!” True thoughts. About a day later, I got a phone call that I made the cut and that the producer wanted to meet with me! “WAIT, WHAT?! They made a mistake…Maybe they got the music mixed up?” No. That wasn’t the case at all. What had happened was I took a chance on myself and got the job. They believed in my music enough to include me into their project that they put so much time and money into. It really does pay off taking a chance on yourself and believing in the potential you have. You never know what I might happen if you do…

Contact Info:

• Website: sectorviimusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sectorviimusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SectorviiMusic
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhyanmreyes/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SectorviiMusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-twspw37RtfkqD2GowJUDg/videos
• Other: https://rhyanreyes.bandcamp.com/ https://soundcloud.com/sectorviimusic

Image Credits
Photo Credit: Evan Reyes (https://www.instagram.com/evant.reyes/)