Thomas is a German composer and orchestrator based in Los Angeles. He creates expressive and modern music for film, television, trailers, and production music. He is also the founder of Inlet Audio, a sample library company dedicated to supporting musicians and fostering collaboration.
His work has earned recognition at film festivals worldwide, and he has collaborated with various industry professionals, including industry leaders such as Warner Chappell Production Music, Sound Insurgents, as well as countless music production houses in the US and around the Globe. His work has been featured in numerous studio productions and can be heard on platforms like Netflix, HBO Max, Oxygen, Peacock, and many others. We had the pleasure to discuss his love of music, current projects and advice for Benslow course attendees.
Thank you for agreeing to catch up. Please share with our readers your introduction to music.
I grew up in southern Germany, close to the Alps, which inspired my early passion for music. I learned to play the piano at an early age and started composing my own music. Now, I'm based in Los Angeles and the founder of Inlet Audio, a sample library company creating artist-driven music software instruments for musicians and their communities.
Did you ever consider pursuing a different career path during your formative years?
I always knew I wanted to work in music ever since I learned how to play the piano at a young age. Over the years, my passions and focus within the music industry have changed. I have explored different areas such as classical composition, sound engineering, and orchestration. However, I have finally found my true calling which is writing music and creating software instruments for Inlet Audio. This path allows me to support musicians and music communities, which is something I am deeply passionate about. I absolutely love working in production music, creating albums of vast amounts of music, working on films with other composers, as well as running a sample library company that is so artist-driven.
What’s the driving force that compelled you to pursue a career in the arts?
I would say that sharing music with other people and seeing how they react was and still is one of the main motivations for becoming a composer. I love composing new music, particularly when it involves working with other musicians, and seeing where the music ends up being listened to or placed (in the case of Production Music). I have a passion for recording and sampling with musicians. There is something magical that gets unlocked when creating experimental and improvisational recordings with them. Musicians bring so much human emotion and artistry to the table, and I love incorporating this into my music. My goal is to work with as many people as possible, learn about as many different points of views as possible, and to be creative with as many people as possible.
Please tell us more about your sample library company called ‘Inlet Audio’ and its origins?
As part of Inlet Audio, we lead sampling and recording sessions with musicians to capture their unique sounds. We record and capture improvisational and other playing techniques to preserve the raw emotion and expression of the moment. These recordings are then transformed into music software instruments, known as sample libraries, which we distribute to composers and artists for use in their media projects. We deeply value the human artistry each musician brings to the table. At Inlet Audio, we have had the privilege of collaborating with a diverse range of people to create one-of-a-kind sample libraries. The idea for Inlet Audio was born out of the desire to continue working with musicians during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite the challenges of not being able to meet with them in person or record with them.
You recently collaborated with Grammy® award-winning vocal ensemble Roomful Of Teeth, as well as contributing orchestrations to the documentary "The Princess," which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Please tell us more about these recent projects.
These were incredibly fun projects to work on and I feel very thankful to have been part of them. Norwegian composer Rebekka Karijord kindly asked me to create orchestrations and transcriptions of her music for her newest record. Rebekka created such wonderful music for this, and it was a pleasure to record with Roomful Of Teeth, an incredible vocal ensemble that works in an incredibly unique collaborative way. Can’t wait to hear the full album once it is released! “The Princess” was another really exciting project I was lucky to create orchestrations for. Dutch composer Rutger Hoedemaekers who created additional music for Martin Phipps for the documentary film “The Princess”, a very personal look at the life of Princess Diana. I worked with Rutger a few times before, and he kindly reached out to ask me to orchestrate for this part of the soundtrack. The music is incredibly beautiful and I had a really fantastic time working on this project. It was also a pleasure to have Rutger’s music recorded at The Empire Studio in London, working with great London session musicians.
As you know, Benslow Music provides inspirational lifelong learning for all ages. What advice would you give to our budding musicians, both young and old?
I would say the most important tip(s) I can give is: stay true to yourself and trust your gut. It took me a very long time to realize that true authenticity is the thing that is ultimately valued and respected the most. Be yourself, don’t let anything or anyone change you into something you’re not. True authenticity always finds its way and is the thing that ultimately gets you further and makes you happier. Trust your gut along the way and be persistent.
What projects are you currently working on?
I am currently working on two brand-new albums with Warner Chappell Production Music, together with my partner in life, singer/composer Kirsten Evans and our friend and Berlin-based composer Marvin McMahon. We are writing some of my all-time favourite music and I can’t wait for these two albums to be released.
My partner Kirsten and I just wrapped an album with Sound Insurgents, a boutique trailer house here in LA, creating some really creepy and scary horror trailer music.
With Inlet Audio, we are working on a lot of different sample library releases this year. We just launched our first piano sample library called “Scoring Piano”. For this product we sampled and recorded a vintage Fischer upright piano from 1900, recording it at Altamira Sound in Alhambra, CA. We also have many other products in the works at the moment, all to be released this year.
We also have a very special collaboration coming up in June which I can’t talk about just yet, but maybe we can do a follow-up about this one soon!
Where can we find out more about you?
For my work as a composer: https://www.t-e-music.com/
For Inlet Audio:https://www.inletaudio.com/https://www.instagram.com/inletaudio/