Musicians vs the World

Joining us today is Violist, Educator, and Coach Laura Sinclair. We are talking about one of my favorite topics: music teaching! Specifically, we’re talking about reshaping the way we think about teaching to make it sustainably work within our own musical career goals and our portfolio of musical income. Topics include: -Seeing where the "yeses" come from -Breaking the cycle of perceiving teacher as "less-than" than performing, and realizing how teaching can improve our performing career -What is tuition-based teaching? -Reshaping our relationship with boundaries, studio policies, and value-based teaching -Creating your own Stress-Free Studio

In today's episode I chat with artist, composer, and record producer Prateek Rajagopal about building bold, immersive music. Prateek breaks down how he balances "feel" with technique, why rhythm is his north star, and how hardware synth/modular workflows can turn raw electric current into musical building blocks for composition and world-building. We also focus on Prateek's experience composing for "In the Current of Being," a haptic VR experience directed by Cameron Kostopoulos that tells the true story of Carolyn Mercer, a survivor of electroshock conversion therapy. Prateek Rajagopal is a film composer, record producer, and artist by way of Oman and India, known for his boundary-pushing work across film, immersive media, and music. He is the executive music producer and composer at KOST AI, where he scored In The Current of Being, which won SXSW 2025, premiered at Cannes Immersive 2025, and the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival. In the film and television world, Prateek has collaborated, written, and produced music on major studio projects including Trolls Band Together (Justin Timberlake), Star Wars’ The Mandalorian Season 3, and Creed III (Michael B. Jordan), as part of the team under Joe Shirley and Oscar-winning composer Ludwig Göransson; a path he began after being selected for USC’s prestigious Screen Scoring program. Most recently, he has returned to his musical roots through close collaboration with electronic composer and producer Bobby Krlic (Midsommar, BEEF, Beau Is Afraid). Outside of film, Prateek is the chief songwriter and guitarist of GUTSLIT, India’s leading death metal export.

In this fascinating Part II of our conversation with multi-instrumentalist and composer Alexander Parsons, we explore how spatial audio and virtual reality are revolutionizing the concert experience. We chat about combining VR, augmented reality, and liver performances to create memorable and meaningful experiences for audiences. Alexander shares his groundbreaking work with The Room is Not Silent Collective and their immersive installation "From the Fields." Topics Covered in this Episode: -How spatial audio creates immersive 3D soundscapes with 64+ speakers -The future of VR concerts blending mixed reality with live orchestration -Behind the scenes of Mirror Shot Collective's multi-sensory performances at BAFTA and SXSW -Creating "From the Fields" - a historical audio installation exploring London's Saint Giles district -Why spatial audio changes music beyond just "sounds whizzing around" -The intersection of classical training, DJ culture, and software-based sound design

Our guest today is Etienne Forget, the award-winning French film composer renowned for his innovative fusion of synthesizers and neo-classical elements. He is known for his work on Netflix's "The Forest," "Missions," "Last Journey of Paul W.R.," "AKA," and many more. In this captivating conversation, we discuss Etienne's unconventional path into film scoring, starting with chance encounters on bulletin boards to working on high-profile Netflix projects. He shares candid stories about music school, his first film project, navigating the French film industry, and the importance of maintaining relationships while building a music career.

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