Interview with MG Music (Morabito-Guo)
MG Music (acronym for Morabito-Guo) is a new company specializing in epic cinematic music for TV, film, video games and trailers.
MG Music is the love child of Ray Armando Morabito and Tina Guo, two immensely talented musicians who recently got married, forming a unique “husband-wife” team of composers.
Their debut album, Event Horizon, is due out on October 31, 2013 and will be available on iTunes, Amazon and other digital retail outlets. Physical CDs will follow in November.
Trailer Music News: Tell us a bit about yourselves. When did you start to compose, and how did you get into epic cinematic music?
Ray: Before moving to Los Angeles a few months ago, I was actually a commercial director. While getting a Masters from the London Film School and in between directing and producing documentaries and commercials for companies like Audi, Kodak, Levi’s, and for the BBC, I also dabbled in my secret pastime of scoring movies. I started piano lessons when I was 4, but decided classical music wasn’t for me and started to write my own stuff when I was 16.
Tina: I’m mainly a cellist, but have always written music also. I started composing my first pieces when I was 9, and most of the music on my cello albums was written by me. The past two years while I was on tour with lots of extra time on my hands, I began composing in a more cinematic style using samples, full orchestra, and the like. However, the birth of epic cinematic music making happened when I met the love of my life and partner in MG, Ray! 🙂
TMN: When and why did you decide to you start your own company, MG Music?
Tina: I’ve always had this idealistic dream that one day I would meet my awesome soul mate and have a musically collaborative life together. Ray and I met while I was on tour with the Cirque du Soleil. He contacted me initially through Facebook to hire me to play on an album of Trailer Music that he was doing. He knew that my tour was coming to Turin, Italy where he happened to be working at a production company. Somehow, the business meeting that we had planned evolved between first contact and 2 weeks later when I was in town into a romantic dinner date. Before that, we had began texting each other constantly, literally every 5 minutes back and forth, but had never spoken over the phone or Skyped since we wanted to avoid seeing each other until we met in person. For his birthday which was before we met in the flesh, I wrote a song for him called “Ray of Light” and posted it on Soundcloud. I was too embarrassed to tell him that I did that in fear of coming across as overexcited or stalker-ish… He asked me on birthday morning when he woke up and saw my new song online if it was for him- and I was super embarrassed but relieved when he told me it was the best gift he’s ever received. On the day of our first date, Ray wrote a song for me called “Eyes of the Sky” which turned out to be the first track from MG Music – he sent the song to me, and I recorded the live cello solo part.
Ray: Yes, I was bouncing the song as I was getting dressed for our date, and uploaded it to Soundcloud before I ran out the door. I guess you can say that MG Music was our love child. We continued making music together, sending files from different cities and countries around the world while Tina was traveling and I was in Italy. We married on July 14, 2013 in Los Angeles, and we also wrote an album of music for our wedding called THE DIAMOND WEDDING that will be released alongside our debut album EVENT HORIZON this Fall. Now, we are finally in one place together and our home studio is the base of our company.
TMN: Your debut album, Event Horizon, is due out on this Fall. What is the story behind this first volume? Why the name ‘Event Horizon’?
Both: There will be 12 tracks featuring different guest artists, not every song is trailer music, but all the music is in a cinematic style. EVENT HORIZON in relativity is the point of no return around a black hole in space – where the gravitational pull is so strong that anything in its perimeter is sucked in.
TMN: Which parts of the album feature samples, and which ones were recorded live?
Tina: It’s a pretty even split- we use live soloists of course, and a lot of our music features heavy electronics – Ray is the mastermind behind that, as well as the amazing orchestral programming that he does.
TMN: You both have different backgrounds and experiences; does it influence a lot your writing?
Both: We think that every person’s particular life experiences and influences that they carry add their own unique imprint onto whatever they’re creating. Tina loves industrial metal in addition to traditional classical music, and Ray is influenced heavily by electronica. Of course, we both love cinematic scores – there’s never a radio on in the car, always soundtracks playing during our road trips and fun adventures sitting in Los Angeles traffic.
TMN: Do you have particular sources of inspiration?
Ray: Tina brings out the best of myself and although I wrote music before, she is now the reason I make music.
Tina: Awwww 🙂 Ray always surprises me and inspires me. In addition to my life with him and all the emotions and experiences we have together, I collect musical vocabulary from every interaction. Working with the many wonderful composers, songwriters, bands, etc. over the years has continued my musical growth and expansion and experimentations into different styles.
TMN: What are your projects in the future?
Both: In addition to continue releasing albums of music for licensing and trailers, we hope to score projects. There are rumors of a TV series slotted for next year, but those are just rumors. We really feel lucky to be able to make music for a living, and to be able to share all the joys and challenges together. MG Music is a division of our parent company Morabito-Guo. In addition to music composition, we are involved in philanthropy with ChildFund International and the American Humane Society. When we married, we also merged our other endeavors, which include real estate, business, and private investments.
TMN: Anything else you’d like to share with us?
Our new Official MG Music Facebook page is here: www.Facebook.com/MorabitoGuo
Official R. Armando Morabito Facebook: www.Facebook.com/RArmandoMorabito
Official Tina Guo Facebook: www.Facebook.com/TinaGuoMusic
Thanks so much!
Ray and Tina
I can’t wait for the CD. I love Tina’s cello playing and the songs I have heard thus far are the exact type of music I like. Love the interview too :).
Thanks Capri! Glad you like the interview!