When did you start to get interested in music?

I started getting interested in music when I was 5 years old. I began playing violin and as I grew up, I fell in love with the piano.
As a young child, I was not very keen to talk and express myself through speech; therefore playing the piano gave me my own voice.

I definitely used my instrument to express myself as music is the most powerful form of communication.

If you were an advertisement, which would your slogan be?

YOU TELL THE STORY, WE SET THE TONE

As a music composer, I work with a team; therefore my slogan aims the audience as in a group. I own a production company, AOW MUSIC PORDUCTIONS, in which all work is managed through a team as well.

Which is the part you enjoy the most about music?

I really enjoy the creative part. Having an idea, then orchestrating and hearing the orchestra play it. That feeling is absolutely incomparable. It is like seeing your own child grow and live.

I always get the goosebumps at the recording sessions.

Most artists say that through their art they learn more about themselves, heal injuries… In which aspects has music helped you?

Music has helped me communicate and it has helped me grow to become who I am. It has healed wounds as well, and always reminded me of how strong I can really be.

What does music mean to you?

Music means power. As a film music composer, my job is to make the audience feel something, and through music, I can shape and direct their emotions to any mood the scene reflects. It can be said that music moves minds.

Who are your idols?

Within my list of idols, I would say, my composition mentor: Vuk Kulenovic. Former professor at Berklee College of Music. He was a composer who pushed me to explore more within music and experiment with the atonal system. His orchestration and his musical work are charged of emotions, texture and strength.

If you didn’t like music, what would you like to do?

I would be a doctor. I love helping others and making them to feel safe and soothed. It is peculiar how music resembles to that career.

Do you consider that nowadays there are more or less opportunities for new artists? Why?

I consider nowadays there are many more opportunities for new artists. The world is opening its eyes to more genres, such as folklore and Afro-Cuban.

We must not forget our heritage, roots and where music really came from and why it has propagated in so many forms. It is due to the African Diaspora. Music has as well a hidden history in which many black artists have been purposely and unfairly hidden from the industry.

Now that times have changed, technology is in our side and politics are mildly experiencing a more liberal focus, more musicians from different backgrounds are re-gaining their voice.

What would your idyllic life as an artist be like?

An ideal artist life for me would be very similar to the life I am living now. Charged with discipline, an organized agenda and creativity.

I would say that in order to really enjoy and work as a musician, we need a balance of imagination and order.