Vidjay featured in Voyage LA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Vidjay Beerepoot.

Vidjay, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Born in India, adopted and raised in The Netherlands, I was always into music. When I was a kid, I used to play on an old organ my parents had in their living room. It was one of those organs that worked by pumping air with your feet in order to generate sound. My parents sent me to music school and I started to learn to play the piano.

During elementary school and middle school I was always making music, writing plays, recording my own radio shows, drawing, building art installations and I started to get interested in musical theater. I started to perform as an actor at the local kid’s musical theater club when I was very young. That turned into composing music for their shows years later and that turned into a serious interest in making this into a career.

After high school, I thought of studying space engineering or becoming a medical doctor. By making the choice to study music instead I made a very conscious decision. I knew that this path wasn’t going to be easy and it would take all my energy and focus in order to make it work. I studied music composition in context at the Utrecht School of the Arts in The Netherlands. During that time my love for film and TV grew.

After college, I worked in Europe as a film and TV composer for a couple of years but I felt there was much more to explore in myself and in my musical skills.

I decided to study Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television at USC (University of Southern California) in Los Angeles. I was supposed to go back to Holland but eight years later I am still here.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Working as an independent contractor in the entertainment industry is certainly not without challenges. I faced many challenges and used them to grow and learn.

I was always very assertive and worked extremely hard because I knew that this was necessary to succeed. When I started to study in the 4 year music program in Holland I didn’t want to wait until the 3rd year to do an internship. So in the summer of my first year, I called every studio in Holland to see if they needed an intern. Everyone said no except for one animation studio in Amsterdam. Instead of an internship, they gave me a chance as a sound designer and composer, which they said they needed right away. So, I said I could do it although I had little experience. Luckily, everything went very well and I ended up working part time during the rest of my studies, working on major advertising and corporate projects in the ‘real world’. I brought my work to school to get feedback from my teachers and they were impressed I was already working.

One of the biggest challenges/obstacles was to make the decision to study in Los Angeles. I had a good life in The Netherlands: plenty of work, a nice place to live in a very nice city (called Haarlem). It sounds like there was no reason to leave but I felt that I needed to explore more of my capabilities as they were limited to the Dutch industry. One of the things I really wanted to learn was writing music for orchestra and recording it in a studio and that was not possible in Europe at that time.

Having made the decision to study at USC was one the best things I’ve done in my life. Now, I feel that everything is still possible, all the doors are still open and if I would have stayed in Europe, it would have been much more difficult.

In LA, I worked even harder and now after more than 7 years, all the hard work is starting to pay off. I did not choose a safe, comfortable life but it is definitely worth it.

Although it has not been easy I never doubted myself and I kept on believing everything is possible if you really want it.

Please tell us about Vidjay Beerepoot Music.
Today, my main focus is composing music for film and TV. I am composing a lot of music for fun animation and serious drama projects. Those two genres can be opposites but that is also kind of who I am: always fun but I can be serious too. I love to explore the technical fun side of animation and the emotional side of dark drama. I mix traditional orchestra with electronic music in order to get an unique musical voice. I certainly compose in other genres as well but at this moment I love to really explore these genres.

In my career so far, I have tried to do as much as I can to really know what I would love to do most. I have composed music for musical theater, commercials, corporated films, artists, pop music albums, big bands, traditional orchestras, video games and much more.

The thing I am most proud of is the fact that I made this all work by myself. When I started in Europe and the US, I didn’t have any connections in the industry at all or a wealthy family. I built everything up myself. I have never been in debt because I worked very hard and always in little steps. I am still doing this today and I see my career progressing and growing slowly but steady. I think it is important to get yourself out there and make connections and build relationships. This takes time and energy but eventually, it will pay off. This is a career of persistency.

Of course, there are many projects I am very proud of in terms of musical accomplishments or goals but this is very personal and has not necessarily to do with commercial success.

It is hard to say what sets one apart from others. Of course, there is the music, the unique voice of a composer but what really counts is also how you are as a person. Are you easy to work with, how are you handling feedback and criticism, can you lead a team, work under immense stress and pressure, do you have a feeling for running a business?

The most successful people in my experience will have a certain combination of those qualities. In an extremely competitive industry, I try to stay true to myself and attract the same kind of people to work with. This is not always something you can control but I think it is important to always keep this in mind. It is hard enough to survive in this business, why not work with people you like. What sets me apart from others is being me.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite childhood memory is being raised in an environment where I was free to explore the artistic side of me. My adoptive parents always supported me in trying things although they didn’t have jobs in anything art related. I loved to try as much I could possibly do in terms of acting, drawing, making music etc. At one point, I thought of becoming an actor but I never pursued that route. I always knew when I was very young that I would would end up in Hollywood somehow. And here I am!

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Vidjay Beerepoot