Interview with Thomas-Adam Habuda
Thomas-Adam Habuda is a young composer who will release his debut album this year.
Trailer Music News : Can you tell a little bit about yourself? When did you start composing and why?
Thomas-Adam Habuda : Hi! I was born in Budapest, Hungary. I am an up-and-coming music composer, the founder of Media Music Factory. I produce music/sounds for many kinds of interactive media and I am about to release my debut album (containing mostly epic, trailer pieces) Epic Hearts in the end of this year.
When I was a child my mom once offered me a small red Casio SA-1 keyboard with 32 mini keys (smaller than my little finger). I wasn’t really thrilled about, I just couldn’t use it; I was already too old to appreciate the noise I was able to produce but still too young to press (even accidentally) any ear-pleasing chord progressions to enjoy it, I was only 6-year-old. Few weeks later one of my mom’s friend played a few easy pieces from Bach and Mozart on it. It was my first life changing experience, hearing a piece of music performed live. I wanted to do the same thing right away. After that it became my thing, I played everything by ears for years. It never occured to me or my mom that I could learn music or go to a music school. In fact I was a junior professional football (soccer) player and I went to a sport school. I was even selected in my country’s junior ‘dream team’ hehe but I never felt I was good enough in it and I didn’t even like it that much but sometimes in life you just go with the flow.
When I was 15 I heard Hans Zimmer’s score for Gladiator, it was my second life changing experience. Till then I only listened to/played classical music and suddenly that film score was so much different, so fresh for my (this way) unexperienced ears, I was in love instantly. It was the first time something not only inspired me to imitate but also to ‘create’. I bought every Hans Cd I found in local stores and not only I learnt to play all of his themes I also started to compose my own simple ideas. I bought a computer. It was the first time in my life I was able to record music. I heard Hans Zimmer supports young artists, so I made a 50 minutes long Demo Cd in a few weeks and sent it to Media Ventures. Few weeks later I called them and I was sure I’ll be invited to join the team, of course it wasn’t the case. The person on the phone, Mark Berger was very nice, tried very kindly not to hurt my feelings and he succeeded, it’s a great memory.
That whole experience was a boost for me, made me realize it’s possible, not the opposite. I bought dozens of workbooks related to music and I learnt everything on my own; using computers, instrumentation, orchestration, composition, mixing/mastering etcetc. In the meantime I had a kidney failure, I had to quit football after 10 years so slowly everything fell into place.
With internet connection I got to know hundreds of genious artists; Philip Glass, Michael Nyman, Thomas Newman, Giacchino, Williams, Goldsmith, Vangelis, Sigur Rós, Newton Howard, Queen, Guns ‘n Roses, Björk, Steve Reich and the list is nearly endless. All of these great composers made me wanna be better in what I do day by day (they still do). By now I am lucky enough to make a modest living from what I love to do and I hope to one day join the list above and become an inspiration for other young composers. That would be the greatest fulfillment It’s still a long road ahead, but hopefully I am on my way.
TMN : What style(s) of music do you compose? What do you compose for?
TAH: When I compose music for a project then it dictates the ‘style’ and everything else. My main focus is never to sound authentic in a specific style (except when it’s required of course) but to reach the desired emotional impact however I can. I love to experiment, to combine things. Who ever said a techno beat can’t blend with an orchestra accompanied by crazy synths and big choirs or ethnic drums with electric guitars and a human whistle for example? Whatever works right?
From a personal point of view, when I compose for myself I love to write music that is thought-provoking, meditative and in a way hypnotic. I don’t want to force the audience how to feel, I’m always trying to create a ‘park’ where they can walk freely to any direction they want, if you know what I mean. As for inspiration bad and emotionally challenging experiences are more inspiring for me musically than the good ones, but at least it creates a weird kind of ballance in my life.
What do I compose for? Literally anything I can. I had the chance to work with some great people from many countries, I composed music for documentaries, indie films, games, websites, corporates, animations, production music companies etc. I am still in the ‘up and coming’ phase of my career, I’d love to do more games, I really enjoy composing for those, make music for some big epic trailers and cool thought provoking films. Any project can bring great challenges, it’s just very hard to find gigs nowdays.
TMN : What is Media Music Factory?
TAH: Nice one! 🙂 I would call it one of my most uncreative name choice ever hehe 🙂 About 7 years ago when my best friend (owner of WhiterShores) made my first website I had to come up with a domain name. I wanted to be all creative with a cool sounding name, but he told me to come up with something that only contains words related to what I do/offer, because that way it will be easier to be found on the web. We were unexperienced and that sounded like a reasonable idea. So I wanted to make ‘music’ for the ‘media’, ‘Factory’ was the only creative input, back then it sounded huge 😉 Since then it grew on me of course and now I wouldn’t change it. In the past years it started to work like a one-man-company. I compose/record/arrange/orchestrate/mix/master everything in my own studio: mmf Room 1 ;). My collaborators are mostly musicians; players and vocalists. My most frequent collaborator is my dearest friend Mikolt Gyuricza. She is my favourite vocalist with a beutiful voice and a spectecular range, a true inspiration she is. You should see us working together, it’s a real dance party! 🙂
TMN : You will release your first public album, Epic Hearts, this year. Can you talk about it ? What musical genre(s) will be featured ?
TAH: Actually there will be two albums : Epic Hearts and Addicted to Experimentation.
Epic Hearts will be released first, it will contain – as the title says – mostly epic pieces, huge orchestras with choirs, vocals etc. but of course there will be surprises. Some of my older pieces will be featured (remastered) like “Activated for War” “Anima Doloris” “Ecstasy of War” “Hungarian Revolution” “Aventus” just to name a few, and there are about 6-8 more pieces in the making right now including the sequel piece to “Anima Doloris”. I plan to release it this December at the latest, but hopefully earlier, I’ll keep everyone updated.
Addicted to Experimentation will feature my more personal abstract/esoterical pieces that won’t be for everyone, though I really hope it will find its audience too 🙂 Will be released few months after Epic Hearts.
TMN : Do you have other plans for the future?
TAH: I never really believed in a plan B. It would mean I don’t have enough faith in plan A and without that it’s almost impossible to succeed. I would like to compose for great games, epic trailers, beautiful films, realease more albums and perform live concerts in the future. If for any reason that doesn’t work out, my only plan B is: Try harder!
TMN : Any other thoughts you want to share with us?
TAH: I would like to take the chance here to say thanks to my mom. She is not only the greatest person I know, but without her support and faith I would have never been able to be here where I am now, doing what I love. She never questioned me why I wanted to do this instead of a ‘normal’ job, she was just there, no matter what others said. I wish this kind of support for everyone pursuing their dreams. It was a true inspiration and an infinite boost! I am also very grateful for all the great works of my favourite composers/artists (there are dozens of them), their hard work inspire the hell out of me every day. Many thanks to those who listen to my music and seem to like what they hear, for all their kind words, comments and every support. I truly appreciate it! Keep listening, I’ll do my best to please your ears in the future 🙂 And, at last but not at least, thanks to the TMN team for giving me the opportunity to do this interview. It was a real pleasure! You guys are great, keep up the good work on this great site!
TMN : Thank you very much Tom!
Among the preview tracks of Epic Hearts, here’s the beautiful “Anima Doloris” featuring the vocalist Mikolt Gyuricza :
And the energetic “Activated for War” (remastered):
Don’t forget to also listen to “Ecstasy of War”, “Aventus” and “A Hungarian Revolution”! You can follow Thomas-Adam Habuda on Facebook and Youtube, and visit his website (Media Music Factory).
UPDATE – December 16, 2011: Epic Hearts is now out, under a new name, The Freak Inside. The album is available to the public for purchase through iTunes, Amazon and CDBaby. For licensing information, contact Thomas-Adam Habuda.
