We were lucky to catch up with Maurice Soque Jr. recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Maurice thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
My most cherished and involved project I’ve worked on (and still working on) is an original musical titled Non-Player Character (NPC). I’m acting as music director for the project, which has involved co-writing and producing the music, as well as performing the music live when we play the show. For a little backstory, this project was started by LA-based actor Brendan Bradley who initially reached out to me to help him produce some tracks for the project. He briefly explained how this was a non-traditional musical, and was a hybrid musical experience that was staged in VR. This sounded so cool to me, so naturally I was on board from the start. As the project progressed and I continued to help write and produce more music, Brendan had an opportunity to perform the work live in London, and asked me if I was interested and capable of performing the show. Now, this would be a huge undertaking, but also would look so insanely cool. Essentially I would be a one-man pit orchestra, cueing tracks on the fly and playing on multiple instruments across the length of the show. I said yes obviously, and fast forward 2 years and we’ve performed this show and another smaller work both domestically and internationally more than a handful of times, and we’re en route to debut NPC fully at this year’s Fringe Festival in Edinburgh this August. Not only has this work challenged every aspect of my technical and musical capabilities, but it’s also been the most fulfilling project I’ve ever been a part of. This show has been curated so specifically to each of our team members’ specific set of talents, and I truly believe that this show would not be able to run without me as a part of it. I’ve never truly felt so bonded and connected to a team before like I am with NPC, and I’m just very lucky to be a part of it. You can learn more about the NPC Musical and our performances in Edinburgh here:
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/non-player-character-live-virtual-reality-musical
https://www.brendanabradley.com/npcmusical
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Hello readers! For those who don’t know me, my name is Maurice Soque Jr.; I am a musician, music producer, and audio engineer based out of Los Angeles. I do a lot of things, but in short I work with artists to help bring the visions and musings to life! I’ve been very passionate about music my whole life, and started my journey as a gigging saxophone player across New England (where I grew up). I learned about all different types and styles of music, how to play with a band, and all that good stuff. However, when I got to college I was exposed to the studio for the first time, and my whole career path took a hard turn. And now, I’ve relocated to Los Angeles and I’m working with songwriters, artists, and other creatives to bring their music and other audio related projects to life. Currently, I offer full music production services as well as remote recording and session playing. If you have a song written, I can help build the musical and produce the music, record any necessary instruments, record your vocals, and mix and master the project for you. I also do any of these steps individually as well! But also, I haven’t forgotten my saxophone playing roots. If your song is missing a ripping sax solo, or you need a full horn section to support your production, I can write, record, and produce saxophone and horn parts for you! If you’re looking to work with me on a song or other project, I built out a website under my production company called Multiplex Sound, check it out and send me a message!
https://multiplexsound.com/
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
At first I thought that careers in music were based on meritocracy. I had the belief that if I was just better than the next person I would get the job or land the gig. Oh boy I was VERY wrong about that. When you take the music school route, everything is based around grades. You have to play your instrument at a certain level to pass juries, you have projects that get graded by professors, and on top of all of that there are auditions to even get into school in the first place. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being skilled in your craft, and I think you should strive to challenge your own abilities and find areas to improve in. But if you don’t keep your ego in check like I did, there comes a point where you feel like the world is cheating you if you don’t land a job/gig/project/client etc. When I first moved to Los Angeles, I had thought that my skills and talent were going to speak for themselves. I thought that once I started going, the people here would recognize my abilities and get me work that I deserved. But as we all know it never works out like that. I hustled day after day, week after week for find new ways to attract artists and creatives to work with me, and sometimes those opportunites didn’t pan out. I would look around at some of my peers and feel that “well I’m as good as so-and-so, but why aren’t I getting any of the work?”. The truth is there are HUNDREDS of other factors at play. Personally, I’ve found that the most important are your soft skills; how effectively you communicate, are you pleasant to be around, can you create a creative and inviting atmosphere. Having those traits allow artists and other clients to trust you with the work they need you to do. When I started to focus more on creating fun and creative environments for my artists and clients I started having more fun again in the studio. But not only that, I also began to celebrate the accomplishments of my friends, I was having more fun creating and working on music, and lo and behold, I started getting more work. At the end of the day there’s always going to be someone more skilled than you in your craft, it’s like one of those universal laws of existence. But being a genuinely decent human being, not undercutting your peers, and showing support for fellow artists and creatives is what is going to open the door for more projects.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Despite it being the bulk of work that I do now, I never initially intended on making a career out of music production. While still in college, I knew that I loved the art and creativity of playing the saxophone, and I knew I loved the technical aspects of being a recording and mixing engineer. Close to graduating, my goal was to work as a mix engineer primarily, and then play saxophone in bands or as a session player. As neared the end of school, I found myself primarily among other audio engineers and producers who were perfectly fine recording and mixing their own projects. I was having a tough time convincing producers or artists to mix their songs as they usually had people that were already taking care of it. However, I happened to know more artists and songwriters who needed help with production (as well as recording and mixing) to bring their songs to life. I figured to myself, what better way to get more songs to record and mix than to just produce them myself. At this point I was brand new to beat-making, songwriting, and using a DAW for anything other than recording and mixing. I had to learn a whole new set of skills that I hadn’t developed yet and I was kicking myself because I was at the end of my time in college. But I took every trick and workflow I could get from my fellow producer friends and youtube, and I’ve absolutely fallen in love with it. Generating a fully produced track (or a demo at least) from nothing is such an incredibly rewarding and fulfilling experience, and watching artists’ faces light up when they hear their music come to life in front of them is a high that I will never stop chasing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://multiplexsound.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicmaurice/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maurice-soque-307a38159/
