Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Noah Lifschey. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Noah, thanks for joining us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?
Thankfully I’ve been composing music full-time for quite a while. Straight out of college I thought I wanted to be an audio engineer/mixer/producer and landed in L.A. immediately after graduating to do that. I went through a couple of studio jobs where it turned out I didn’t like doing that at all in the real world: Being an engineer at an R&B recording studio and then an assistant mixer/mixer at a post production house. The post-production house was a much better experience than the other but still felt like a desk job to me. I was constantly playing and writing music but didn’t have a clear vision of what I wanted to do. One day we had a session with a client who did infomercials and I heard him on the phone in back telling someone he lost his composer. I broke out of my usual shyness and spontaneously turned around and said, “I’ll do it!”, even though I’d never done that particular kind of thing before. So I did it, and he loved it.
Scoring infomercials wasn’t a dream of mine but I learned a lot doing them, and when I got my first royalty check (at that time infomercials aired a lot) I felt I could risk quitting my job and try full-on for composing. I didn’t have a plan in place, but through people I knew from college and being in the music/entertainment scene in L.A. things came together quickly and I found myself making a good living doing songs, music, and themes for major shows on TV. It was exciting and freeing because I was doing what I love every day and I thrived on any challenges that came up (still do!).
I feel it’s an unusual story because I didn’t specifically strive to be a composer. But since I connect deeply with who I am when I make music, when it happened I knew it was what I needed to be doing. I’d been doing music my whole life, and graduating from a place like Berklee College of Music helped me up my game even though, funnily enough, my major wasn’t composing or writing because I thought it was too risky a route to make a living! But I took the risk by diving in when opportunity knocked, and having the relationships with those who had/needed the kind of work I was doing helped in a big way. But besides knowing I had the talent and love for music to do it, I totally flew by the seat of my pants with the whole thing.
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 musician from San Francisco. I currently live in Santa Monica with my wife, daughter, and cat Theo. My father was a world-reknowned classical oboist (and so humble that I didn’t even know how famous until college!) and my mom is a classical pianist.
I do music scoring and songs. I’m a one-stop shop from writing to producing to recording to mixing the music I do. I’m told I have a unique approach and sound, even on a more “standard” job, and I love being on top of the latest tech while also having my feet firmly planted in real and weird instruments as well as analog gear/modular synthesis. At this point I’m pushing strongly in a feature/short film and episodic scoring direction because it’s where my passion has taken me, but I also value and still enjoy the kind of work I’ve been doing for years which is music and songs for TV/streaming shows, themes, branding, and VR. My work encompasses music for things like America’s Best Dance Crew and So You Think You Can Dance? to Google VR and The Squad to The L.A. Lakers and Spectrum Sports/News Networks to the Academy Awards.
I’ve a deep and addictive love for what I do and I’m proud to deliver distinctive and diverse music that captures the vision and mood of each project. I also pride myself on my speed and being easy to work with. I’ve won multiple awards for my work and was nominated in 2022 for a Hollywood Media in Music Award for Best New Film Composer.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
About five years ago I started to feel that a lot of the work I’d been doing for so long wasn’t artistically fulfilling enough. And even though my music had been heard/seen all over the world by millions of people, not many people knew who actually DID that music. The times I felt truly satisfied weren’t when I saw my music on TV but when someone would find me and write me to say how that music moved them — that’s the gold for me. I was feeling a bit depressed about it all, which is hard to say out loud because I know how fortunate I am to have been making a good living from doing music for so long…but that’s what I felt even though I still enjoyed doing the other stuff.
So I decided to pivot strongly into film and episodic scoring with an emphasis on the kinds of music I want to do artistically. I’d done scoring here and there over the years and always loved it because there was more room for risks and creativity. It’s been a difficult lateral move because the two worlds don’t really talk to each other, so I had to dive into networking and make new relationships in the film and episodic world. It’s been an amazing learning experience but also a big challenge and downright scary at times because it felt almost like starting over in some ways. Nevertheless I’m driven by the reason I turned more to scoring: It’s where I can let my unusual/non-standard approach shine the most, and I love the creative and collaborative process of diving in with a director/other creatives on a story.
Risks are where it’s at both in my music and my career (and life!). If you’ve got the skills to back it up, some verve, along with a bit of luck thrown in, then taking big risks is worth it…at least it has been for me; also thinking outside the box as far as how to meet and actually connect with people/possible future collaborators/work.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Three!
1. I want to be creatively excited by what I’m doing, not only as an artist but by what/who I’m doing the music for. I like to find projects and jobs where I feel that way, and if they don’t on the outside I still try to find a way to get into it artistically. The goal has never been money, which to me is the death knell for an artist. My joy comes from the work of doing and making of the music, and collaborating with others.
2. I’ve mostly managed to work with people who are good humans — that’s an important mission for me because I feel life is way too short for anything else, and it without a doubt always enhances the art, creativity, and final product.
3. Always keeping a deep sense of humor and irony is huge for me, even in the darkest music I make!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.noahlifschey.com
- Instagram: @noahlifmusic
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/noah-lifschey-397a4a9
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuUIGr-kCTY2qbgg3IaEzXw
Image Credits
1st, 2nd and 3rd additional photos: Jeff Lovin