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

Georgie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I have always been involved in music since I was a young child. My father plays drums in local classic rock bands as well as owns a local recording studio, and my mother plays piano and saxophone, so I was destined to learn at least one instrument. I started taking piano lessons at 5 years old and, later, became enamored with learning more instruments, including violin and clarinet. I found that out of all subjects, music just came the most naturally to me. That is how I knew I wanted to make music a life long career!

Georgie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Before I took on composing music as a career, I actually pursued my undergrad degree in piano performance and music business at The Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. During my time there, I took a music business class where we had to choose a music industry topic from a single chapter in a textbook to research extensively and present to the class. I got the first hand in picking the chapter “Scoring for Film, TV, and Video Games”. I became very engrossed in the topic but, for some reason, I just never thought I could compose large works. I had occasionally composed piano pieces but kept them mainly to myself.

Flash forward to February 2020 and the piano studio I was working for at the time was holding a piano recital for all of the teachers to perform in. I decided I wanted to put on a brave face and share an original piece I composed back in high school. After the recital, there were teachers that immediately told me I needed to make composing a career and that this should be my “thing”. I remember being so floored and shocked by their words. One of those teachers was also a film/tv/video game composer, which meant so much to me.

Through the Covid period, I made it a point to spend time taking online composing lessons from different people as well as taking the time to dive into learning Digital Audio Workstations such as Logic Pro and Pro Tools. I knew I wanted to dive into the film/tv/video game industry, rather than the concert composition world. This led me into taking my education seriously, first obtaining certificates in Composing for Film and TV, as well as Game Audio Production and Design through Berklee Online. Now, I am currently pursuing a Masters degree in Screen Scoring at New York University!

To date, I have composed for all medias, including for film, TV, and video games. I love connecting with clients and sharing their vision to bring their media to life. Right now, I love experimenting with different styles and genres. Even though I came from an orchestral and classical background, I have been influenced in many different genres, such as classic rock, pop, hip hop, even listening to lofi beats from time to time. I have used all of these influences in my works and I love being open to new ideas with filmmakers/game designers and ultimately putting them to the test. It bring me joy to see the look on their faces when I show my music to their picture.

I am most proud of how quickly and efficiently I can compose, even for the most wild of styles. I recently participated in the 48-hour Film Festival in New York City and it was one of the most exhilarating and insane experiences. I believe I composed all of the music for a 6 minute film within two to three hours. It was a satire film too, which can usually be difficult for composers, but (I think) I nailed it! Because of this experience, it has opened my world for other comedic genres, which I never thought would be the case. Of course, I compose for other genres as well. I definitely lean toward drama and emotional style media.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

“Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert. It is geared more toward creatives of all kinds. I learned that if you want something so bad, you will make time for it, even if you have the busiest life outside of art. I also learned to always be putting work out whenever and wherever I can because, no matter what, there will always be one person that enjoys it and one that doesn’t. There is usually a positive outcome to the experience whether I learned something new about myself or knowing that someone enjoyed my work!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being a composer is not only having the satisfaction of storytelling through music but establishing beautiful connections with my clients. As a past serious, classical pianist, the one thing I struggled with was not being able to socialize as much while being in a practice room 6 hours a day. It felt very isolating. Even though composing music can be long hours as well, the difference is that I am also talking to people at the same time. Socialization makes a huge difference in my life and, seeing clients’ reaction when I show them my music to their picture is such a rewarding feeling as well. It’s the best of both worlds!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @ge0rgie__ https://www.instagram.com/ge0rgie__/
• Facebook: Georgie Rickard https://www.facebook.com/georgie.rickard.3/
• Soundcloud: Georgie Rickard https://soundcloud.com/georgie-rickard