Interview with composer and music producer Yang Zhang

Hollywood-based film composer and music producer Yang Zhang has a multi-faced career. Her music career can track down when she was a teenager; she builds her early stage music career as a classically trained composer then immediately jumped into the electronic music world. After spending years of music production in the fields of film, TV, major and indie albums productions, she electrifies and re-defines film music genres by infusing her unique sound architecture designed for a variety of combined textures with electronic music elements and modern orchestral productions. Being part of the creative team of Flint Dille's, (known as the director for video game blockbuster "Transformers"), she has been working closely with tons of Hollywood-based top music publishing companies, including but not limited to Megatrix Music, Ole Music Box, Fine Tune music, etc.She serves as a member of Emmy music peer group.

 Interview with Yang Zhang

What inspired you to become a film composer?

Yang: "I was fascinated by the idea of how limitless powers of the imaginations are connecting the images and sounds. Sometimes, images can visualize the whole concept of music; sometimes, music can carry out another layer of meaning beyond image's."

What got you into producing music?

Yang: "I have been making music since middle school when I grew up in the Conservatory of Music, but to really dig my inner desire to produce music especially to create your own voice was after I heard those EDM's heavy hitters during late '90s. It sparked me to discover another landscape of all possibilities in Electronic music field; I was like Alice in Wonderland......."

What music productions have you worked that you're most proud of?

Yang: "I would say, my first electronic music album featured Asain futuristic sound. It was a challenging yet fun production processing. I wanted to find a new way to remix and concrete the element of Asain folk instruments and the texture in Electronic music, it affected the way how you programme, arrange, write a melody, record and mixing. Another project if I can describe the second one, was the transmedia project working with Flint Dille. The whole process with his creative team was really interactive, and it gave me a lot of space to develop artistic creativity. I was asked to provide the theme cue only by giving a short description of the storyline and a couple of images, but I love it! The story itself already marked a vivid image in my head, and I was glad that I also got room to develop by my own. After I had delivered my cues, then the writer team followed up to story line, and I added up another cue as the consequences......this is how we build up our creative circle."

Tell us your current projects.

Yang: "I am in the process of preparing my next album and other scoring production sessions. Will update more details through my websites."

What drives you to create your own music publishing firm?

Yang: "The idea of creating my own digital music firm came up with that scene where still 90% of composers or musicians in film scoring business today still fantasize their music and their living in a very traditional way. I want to build a digital community where members can truly be empowered by the full force of the digital revolution, share and benefit every aspect of the music biz in the digital era.”

Find more of Yang Zhang at http://zhangyang.site