We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ramesh Kumar a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ramesh Kumar, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Learning being a lifelong endeavor, started for me from formal lessons on the classical piano and music theory from a very young age. It continued through the many influences from all the music I listened to, composers I studied, movies I watched, film-makers, artists and technicians I worked with.

Growing up in a small town in India in the 90s, access to music, movies and knowledge had its limitations. There were no professional film music composers, for that matter even music composers in general in my environment. I remember having so many questions in my head for a good period of time with nowhere to go for answers.

Then somewhere in my teens, I was introduced to the internet which opened up the world to me.

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 am Ramesh Kumar Kannan and I am a music composer based in Los Angeles. I work mostly crafting music for visual media and you can hear my music in films like The Final Chapter, Nightingale : A Melody of Life and documentaries like Zzaslow K-427 and Interpreters Wanted. I have also worked in the music department of films such as Mad Max: Fury Road, The Minions, Killing Season and the Japanese superhero film Gatchaman previously. I have also composed and contributed music to over 200 TV episodes on shows such as And Just Like That (HBO Max), Sin City Murders (Oxygen), Gordon, Gino & Fred’s Road Trip (ITV), The Great American Recipe (PBS), Chrisley Knows Best (USA Network) and Growing Up Chrisley (USA Network).

I’ve always had an eclectic taste in music and movies and I believe that it reflects on my music. I have had the pleasure of working on a wide variety of films and my music covers a wide variety of styles, instrumentation and genres.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Where do I even begin? Just waking up everyday knowing that you’re gonna be doing what you love the doing the most is a blessing and something to be grateful for.

A very particular aspect of my work that I can never get enough of is this…

I play a scene of a movie or a show to the director for the first time along with the music that I had just composed and recorded. And please note that this may be the person who conceived that very scene in his/her/their head, considering that most of the directors I work with are also the writers of the movie/show. Even otherwise, the scene was constructed by the director, who’s read it many times, orchestrated the actors and all the other technicians to film it. Watched it over and over again at the editor’s desk, carefully editing it to it’s best possible version.

But something I have noticed is that when they see the scene for the first time with the music, it’s completely different for them. It’s fresh and new and I can see and feel their excitement. Many different versions of the expression of it. But none less rewarding than the other. It’s got to be the most inspiring and exciting part of this work for me. To witness that and know that Music can do that.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

A Society is a collection of individuals. As individuals, when we acquire a taste in art, cultivate a hobby, find something we love to indulge in, make time to do it, it not only enriches our lives but creates a thriving creative ecosystem.

I also think it’s a dire need in the day and time we live in. We all live busy lives filled with challenges. Any time spent watching a movie, a dance recital or a play, listening to music, reading a book, going to an art exhibition, tasting some food, etc. is time well spent. It is a nourishing change from the routine which sometimes seems mundane. Art and Artists thrive when they have their audience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rameshkumarkannan.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rameshkumarkannan/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Ramesh-Kumar-Kannan-100030340693735/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramesh-kumar-kannan-5317869b/