We recently connected with Kartika Luky and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Kartika thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
One of the best things my parents did is investing in the best education for me by allowing me to go to Berklee College of Music and pursue what I’m passionate about. It really laid the foundation for my life and career that I have right now because I found my passion for video game sound design when I was halfway through college. Had that I never gone to Berklee, I’d probably never found out what sound design is. It all started when I was in high school trying to decide what do I want to do for college and where do I want to be. I have background in music since I was a kid, and I already started learning about audio production in high school. Though, it still took me a bit of convincing to ask my parents to send me to music school for college. I finally got to Berklee and I was overwhelmed by so many variety and options for what you want to major in, but after doing some research and asking several seniors and alumni, I decided to go with Electronic Production and Design, where I learned about sound design. At first, I didn’t know anything about sound design, so when my parents asked me what I wanted to major in, I didn’t know how to tell them. I told them about the major and the program, and fortunately they allowed me to go for it and left it up to me. Fast forward, this turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve made. Through the program, I grew so much academically and creatively. I learned a lot about sound design and kept improving. It also led me to meet the people in the video game industry where I’m in right now and eventually led me to get the dream job I’m currently working on at Respawn Entertainment.
Kartika, 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?
I am currently working at Respawn Entertainment as their sound designer. I just finished working on Star Wars Jedi: Survivor game. I came to Respawn first as their associate sound designer, and before that, I was at Berklee College of Music, studying Electronic Production and Design. That’s where I found my passion in sound design, and decided that I wanted to pursue career as a video game sound designer, working on AAA titles. After graduating last year in 2021, I got this job at Respawn. I make sound effects contents for in-game stuff and implement those in the game engines, so I’m doing a mix of both technical and creative work here at Respawn. It’s been very exciting, I love the work, my team, and the studio. I am definitely super excited about that. This has been an absolute dream for me to be in the team and work on Star Wars as my first job after graduating from college.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
It wasn’t an easy journey to get to where I’m at today, given that my field is already very competitive to begin with. For the past few years, it’s always hundreds of applicants applying for a single open sound design position in major AAA game studios. I was scared of not being able to land on any job prior to working here; let alone as an international student I don’t really have that freedom and time to stay in the States without having a job. I’ve been through a lot of rejections. I had people telling me to give up, but I did not, though I didn’t know if I could land on any single opportunity or not. I’m very glad today that I ended up not quitting to pursue my dream. That turned out to be one of the biggest things I’ve learned. Pursuing dreams is a steady grind. It takes passion, failures, perseverance, and hard work. I strongly believe that hard work always pays off. Had I given up when people told me to, I’d never be where I am today, working on my dream job. I’m also glad that I had a great support system, such as family, friends, and mentors to not only help me to be better, but also believing and supporting me throughout the whole time, even when things were not easy for me.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Making something that a lot of people around the world can experience and enjoy has been the most rewarding aspect of my job. When working on Jedi: Survivor, the team, including me, we’ve gone through sleepless night and worked tirelessly to make this game happen. At the end, when the game released, there’s so many positive reviews from everywhere. My work itself is not perfect and I definitely still need to improve in so many aspects, but when I can finally share to people the things I work on and they enjoy playing the game, I think that’s all that matters and makes me feel like all the hardwork paid off
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kartikaluky.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kartikaluky/?hl=en
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kartika-luky
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kartikaluky_?lang=en