Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Axel Castro. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Axel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I think a part of me wishes I had gotten to start my career a bit sooner, but I am happy with how things have played out.

There is an element of learning simple things early on in your career, whatever that may be, that allows you to move on to more complex or supplemental things that can help bring a career to the next level. For example, if I had known that I wanted to write music for film and TV, I probably would have started writing sooner. I would have learned how all my software works and become much more fluent in it when I was in highschool.

My thinking is that this would have let me focus on other aspects of the job, networking, how to email other composers and directors, reading the room, etc. These are things that take a long time to get good at. If I had been able to start writing sooner, I think I would have had more time to dive into the early workings of networking, emailing, and reading the room while I was at Berklee and really been more proficient at it now that I am in LA.

This is such a critical part of the job, and it is important to get right, but in my opinion, you should really be trying to network and email when your skills can justify wanting to work with other people as a composer or assistant. This is why I wish I had started earlier, but as I said, I am happy with where things are at now.

Since I started later, I got to make plenty of lifelong friends at The University of Florida, I have a background in Biomedical Engineering, and I got to go to Berklee a few years more mature than 18, which I think really helped more than one might think.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Well, my name is Axel Castro, and I am a film, TV, and game composer!

I got into writing music for visual media in 2020 and really committed to it by going to Berklee in 2023. I had always loved film and never really caught myself paying attention to the music in films until I had a call with the composer for The Incredibles, Up, Rogue One, among many more. He encouraged everyone on the call to actively listen to the music in whatever film or show you might be watching. Now I can’t watch anything without listening! Blessing and a curse. This call is what really inspired me to become a composer, and I never turned back.

My goal is to contribute to the film, TV, and video game music community as much as possible. This happens to be by providing music for projects in that realm, but I truly believe that making connections with other people is what the job is all about and is what I most look forward to when being brought on to work on a project.

This method has gotten me some success so far. I am currently scoring a commercial for Coca Cola which will play in theaters in April, and I will be working with the team that scored “The Walking Dead” for a few months as well, starting in April. I have also been selected to audit one of the most prestigious music conducting intensives in the world, the Los Angeles Film Conducting Intensive, which brings in artists from Maroon 5, A-list Hollywood conductors, composers, and players, all to one place for a week to conduct and play their music at the Sony Scoring stage in Los Angeles.

Something I am most proud of is my ability to work with others and deliver satisfying musical products. I truly just want to work with others to come up with the best story possible. Whatever the story might be and whatever the demands of the project are, the making of something unique based on the experiences of everyone involved is such a special process and is why I do what I do.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I think if people want to get into film scoring, the most important thing they can do is just start. I know that is the most cliché advice ever, but it really is true.

There is so much concern with “my sounds not being good enough”, or “I don’t have the best gear,” and any other reasons to avoid writing, but the best way to learn what you like and what you don’t like to write is by doing it. Whether you have the best gear or not.

That said, I do think certain resources make getting into film scoring much easier. I think one of the things that really helped me was watching composer Junkie XL and his YouTube series about how he scores films. Junkie XL has worked on incredible projects ranging from Mad Max to Deadpool to Godzilla vs. Kong.

In his video series, he opens his sessions and goes through the sounds he is using, what each musical component is doing, and how everything fits together to make the iconic sounds of each of those scores. I have had several “aha” moments watching his videos.

Another fantastic resource is the BBC Symphony Orchestra “Discover” by Spitfire Audio. This orchestra sample library is absolutely free and it includes the very basic orchestral instruments and articulations.

This is a great way to get started and feel good about what you are using. Building a library of sounds takes a long time and can be a one way ticket to being discouraged from continuing forward. I wish I had known about these resources from the beginning. They would have saved me some time and money that I did not need to be spending on other things!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I kind of touched on this on a previous question, but I truly believe that the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is getting to work with others.

Everyone has had a different journey up until we meet, and I believe that these journeys are reflected in the work that we do together. Every piece of music that I make has been influenced by everything I have ever done, as much as every line of dialogue coming from the director has been touched by everything they have done.

There are not many things in the world where getting to share ideas and stories is the focus of a career. I am very thankful to have met some incredible people along my way, and I hope to repay them in the future.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://axelcastromusic.me/
• Instagram: axelcastro_music
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/axel-castro-24451016a/
• Other: This is my reel!

  https://play.reelcrafter.com/M1cW1krAQFyGtM9jJ0vuSg