He dreamt of moving to Berlin for a long time and once one of his friends was looking for a new flatmate, he didn’t hesitate and moved to this city where he felt he could truly be himself and where he’s found much inspiration not only for composing his music.
When he was a teenager, his best friend signed the two of them for a competition for young filmmakers, and among other things, Orlando worked on the music for their film. That was the moment he found out he is very good at writing music, and that he would love to be a music composer when he grows up. He fell in love with the whole process, trying to find the melody, and creating something beautiful that will affect other people’s emotions; to make them relaxed, happy, or calm with the music, take them to other worlds or back to the past with nostalgic tones. “Music is like magic…” says Orlando with a sparkle in his eyes and I feel that he is a magician with the gift of hearing melodies and sending them to the hearts of other people.
To become a composer, he followed his dream and studied composition for films, and then started to write music for different projects and commercials. I asked Orlando, how can he overcome the composer block, when he has to write a song for a commercial and simply has no idea. He has his methods: “When I am composing something, and I have a writer’s block, it is important not to push yourself and write it immediately at all costs. Not that you should procrastinate and keep making excuses, you should try it and when it is not going well, simply sleep on that and try the next day again,” Orlando explains to me. However, according to him, one can train creativity, just like other skills. No matter if it is writing, drawing, or playing a musical instrument, if you practice regularly, and create something every day even when you just don’t have an imaginative mood, you will slowly learn how to turn on and use your creativity.
“Everyone working with creativity has their methods for creative works…” When Orlando composes, he always sits by the piano and just improvises, and once he hears something interesting, that he feels could be part of the melody and his song, he writes it down and starts to develop that motive. Sometimes he can also hear the melody first and then play and write it after, but most of the time, he just improvises and lets it flow.
Orlando also shares with me how his music taste evolved, how it influenced him and what are his inspiration in the music world. During his studies he was listening only to classical music, thinking that it was the kind of music he should learn the most from, but now, he can see how limited this thinking was. He used to think that pop music is too simple, but now he can appreciate and enjoy even this genre. Not only because of the melodies, which are sometimes very well done, but also because of other dimensions that pop music, unlike classical music, contains. The sound and different effects, or the messages that talk directly to the listener, are expressed not only with the music, but also through the lyrics. Orlando doesn’t think that pop music is less than other music genres, it is just another type of creativity that you can do well if you put your effort into it.
From the way Orlando talks, I can see that music and composing have been a big part of his life. However, at one point, before he moved to Berlin, he realized that he didn’t want his life to be only about music. Long nights and days sitting in front of the screen and typing, it is kind of lonely and stereotypical work. And Orlando feels that he needs to be more around other people, work together with them and experience more adventure during his job. That is why he’s recently taken a break from composing and he’s moved to another field that is still full of creativity: film industry. So far Orlando has been working on several sets and he found himself again. Being part of the whole organism that works on making a film, looking for the location, directing actors, and realizing your ideas not alone but with the skills and views of others. However, what Orlando enjoys the most, and where he can eventually picture himself, is music video production. When he first appeared as an assistant on a music video, he felt that magic again and was impressed by the whole process of movement, actions and connection of music and production work.
This is what he would like to do soon, and since Orlando is the kind of person who is following his ideas and doing things with passion and a huge amount of creativity, I can picture him doing music videos and production in Berlin, in this city that became an inspiration and place full of freedom for him. And if not, and something else occurs in his life that he would like to dive into, that’s fine, because life is full of evolves, full of changes and you don’t have to stick with the dream you had and followed when you were young.
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After a coffee and wine talk, comes a story about music, composing, and creativity. Orlando, a young enthusiastic musician and producer with an eye for emotion and details, came to Berlin 5 months ago, after he fell in love with the energy and freedom of this city. But more than just composing, this story is also about the power we have to change anything in our lives, even though we thought we found our way. Orlando’s story is a beautiful example that if you do things with love, passion, belief, consistency, and especially with all the creativity you have inside, you can make your dreams come true and then discover other you can follow.
