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

Alright, Mau thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I’ve never had a job that wasn’t either music or film, and I made that decision very early in my life, that I would bet for the uncertainty of being an artist, at the beginning it is easier, as you are young and don’t worry about much but not being hungry, but it certainly showed me darker moments later on, mainly because I’ve been a musician all my life, but a filmmaker only for 7 years, and the transition of just making music for a living to creating films, took a period of adaptation and learning that coupled with me closing the music world down for a while entirely, left me in an occupational limbo, where I had turn down all music jobs and at the same time I wasn’t good enough in film to get any jobs, it had to be done, for the purpose of getting my film skills closer to my music skills, but it was tough, I remember having $800 in my bank account, no savings, and rent was coming in 5 days. I had a few episodes like that, but I had a mission and I kept at it, and eventually I found myself where I am now, where I work in both music and film, and I’m able to pick the projects I want to work on, I’m very grateful for that, but it came with a price for sure.

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?

My name is Mauricio Quiros, but since I was a kid everybody called me Mau, I’m from Costa Rica originally, and now live in New York City. I started with music at a very early age, there are plenty of musicians in my family, and my parents were always very supportive in every way. I somehow got a full scholarship to study music in the United States and that’s how I left my country, it was a risky endeavor that honestly I couldn’t wait to go on. Prior to that moment of going to college, I was self taught, my journey with music is and has always been a very personal one, and that sparked the interest in film as well, I was always fascinated with capturing moments but never really acted on it until I moved to New York City, the city pushed me to it in a way. I work now in different projects, all related to either music or film, or both. I’m a composer in residence for a Symphony Orchestra, I tour with different pop and latin artists, I produce and record for different artists and play my music with different ensembles, 2 years ago I wrote and directed a whole tour with the United States State Department in Russia, where we played my music and arrangements with many different Russian Orchestras. In film, I’ve shot commercials for lots of reputable brands like Samsung, Coca Cola, Ciroc, Pizza Hut, and work as a cinematographer and editor as well. My latest project and one of the things I’m most proud and grateful for, was to work in the latest film of legendary director Godfrey Reggio, which is a magical fairytale that features the music of Phillip Glass and legends like Mike Tyson, where I started working as an editor, and ended up doing music as well.

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

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is definitely the process of creating, I know it sounds cliche, and it is often used lightly, but the emotion and almost benign anxiety I feel when an idea pops up, or something inspires me, to the point that I have to make something now, its priceless to me, the final product is indeed a beautiful thing, but I always compare it to the sun and its benefits, I can only look at the sun for a bit, and move on, but the results of sunlight, I could look for days, to me the sun is the finished product, I have to move on from it after its done, but I can appreciate the process of creating, just like I can appreciate the many ways in which sunlight manifests and how it affects everything that touches.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My goal is to share my stories, the ones only I know about, I think storytelling is one of the greatest miracles of being alive, right next to water, to hear a story feels like compassion and love to me, to be relatable, and vulnerable. I do believe we all have great stories, you can find them in the most unthinkable places, but storytelling is also one of the hardest things in the world. My goal is to become a great storyteller, make my own movies and music to go with them.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mauquiros.com
• Instagram: @mau_quiros
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mauquiros/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mauquiros

Image Credits
Pablo Vargas Fernando Alvarado Mau Quiros Pavel Korbut