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

Michael, looking forward to hearing all of your stories 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.

I always felt I had unconditional support from my parents in everything I would like to pursue in my life.
My father used to say “I’d rather like to have a composer in our family than a banker”.

The idea was that I should follow a profession that I’m truly passionate about and that I like to spend a lot of time with.
And so I was always surprised how someone could choose their life paths based on other people’s opinions. I used to hear things like “Study this or that, because there are a lot of jobs in this field at the moment.”
The problem of course is that once you’ve finished with these studies the job market looks completely different.

I’m really grateful to have been taught this mindset. I think what really makes a difference with this thinking is that you’re much easier getting through tough times than if you’d have to work somewhere you don’t like.
Also, if you work in the field that you love with all your heart, it’s much more likely to be able to create your own opportunities. After all it’s deeply human to create – even as a non-creative.
Think about it. Nothing in our society would be the way it is, if nobody ever sat down and created a piece of it, because he thought this could lead to a better reality.

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?

I’m a composer and write music for film, TV and commercials.
This year we’ve scored an official Super Bowl commercial with my creative partner Matteo Pagamici. We’ve also worked with Academy Award Nominee Sandra Hüller who sang on a song we’ve produced for the historic drama SISI & I. Earlier, we wrote the music for NEW HEIGHTS, the first Swiss TV series sold to Netflix in 190 countries.

I’m really passionate about great stories and great art and what it takes to make them. I love going the extra mile. I do everything to dive deeply into a project and find a musical perspective that enriches the watching experience.

So much content in today’s world is done in a mediocre way. I think it’s really important to respect the audience and deliver an experience they won’t forget. This means hard work, but it’s the most satisfying feeling.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

There’s a tendency for composers to work with sampled instruments only if the project budget is tight.
I feel it’s my responsibility to make our projects always work with live musicians. They are the emotional heart of my music and I have to take care of them.

I followed this philosophy since composing for my first feauture film. Never has it occured that there was absolutely zero budget for musicians. If budget is tight, it’s my responsibility to come up with a musicial concept that allows at least 1 musician to play on our score.
It’s always a win-win situation. A live musician brings emotions alive on screen that you wouldn’t get without.
And more often than not you come up with a creative solution you would have never dreamt of.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think it starts with ourselves. I pay my musicians fairly out of this mentioned sense of responsibility. But it leads to me being payed fairly by my clients as well.
The same responsibility applies to the creative field you’re working in. If a composer sells services under its worth, he automatically hurts the ecosystem. We have to be really careful with our decisions, because every single decision does make a difference.

If you like your local Café, buy something there regularly. If you like an artist, buy their art. If you like a creative and would like to collaborate, pay for their services.

The same goes for the quality of art you’re making. If you push your friends and collaborators to thrive for their best, your own work gets better. If you allow mediocrity you’ll never be able to create something great.

If we see the bigger picture a lot of change can be done. Not everything, but a lot.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.michaelkuenstle.ch/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelkuenstle/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michael.kunstle.5
• Other: Handcrafted Music: https://handcrafted-music.com/

Image Credits

Sandeep Abraham, Benno Hunziger