TWIS Asks: Colin Thomson

After recently graduating from Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, near Chicago, Sarasota native Colin Thomson decided to hit the road and move to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a composer for film and media. We caught up with Thomson after his first six months in his new city to talk about growing up in Sarasota, his niche field of choice and starting the next chapter of his life.

What is your first musical memory? When did you first start playing music?

I started with piano, which is my primary instrument. Everyone is my family had to take piano lessons. I'm one of eight kids, and after the first two kids took lessons, my parents just had them teach the younger ones. I started when I was 9, and I got sick of it after a year or so, like most kids do, but I didn't really have the option to quit. When I was 14 or 15, I started to develop a deeper interest on my own. I got a guitar, and that actually inspired me to start writing my own music and get into it more seriously.

How did your interest develop from there?

Around that time, I started getting into film music. I got pretty deep into that before I even went to Wheaton, and my end goal was always to move to Los Angeles. There's a lot that can be done over the internet in this industry today, but especially for something this niche, it really helps to live in the area.

What about scoring films appealed to you?

I just really enjoy storytelling through music. Everyone enjoys stories. When I was younger, I actually used to write stories, and so when I got into music, I sort of gravitated toward that. It made sense. I like the challenge, because a good score needs to not get in the way of the film, but it also needs to not be boring as a standalone piece of music.

How long have you been out in L.A.?

I moved here in August. I graduated from Wheaton in May, and then I got married. In August, we went on our honeymoon, and the next week we moved out here. It was a busy year for me.

What kinds of projects have you been working on since you've moved?

It's funny, actually. A few of my projects have come from people I met in Chicago. But, before the wedding, I came and spent a week out here setting up meetings and interviews. I'm teaching lessons at a music studio, so I had that job lined up. Part of my strategy was to work other jobs to avoid the whole starving artist thing. L.A. weeds through people pretty quickly, so I wanted to have some everyday work, too. I wait tables as well.

As far as music projects, I'm currently working on an independent zombie film, called "Sleep, Wake Forget." We've scored about half of that so far with live instruments, which is so great to be able to do, when there's the budget for it. A lot of things are done digitally, so it's great to be able to do it live with other musicians. I also worked on a short film called "Paper Crane."

I've also been writing some short pieces for videos made by a company called Broce Brooms. That's good practice for me. I've also recorded an EP for a singer/songwriter friend of mine, which we hope to release soon.

It sounds like you're keeping plenty busy. What are your long-term goals?

I'd like to work on music for films with the budget to do something I'm really proud of. My heroes are the people who are doing that right now.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to pursue a similar career?

A lot of what has helped me is to not be paralyzed by how good or bad you think what you're writing is. You have to have the ability to recognize that what you're writing probably isn't as great as what you want it to be. A lot of musicians have the idea of what they want to write, but maybe they just aren't quite there yet, technically, and that's okay. Just keep writing the best you can right now, and each piece will continue to get better.