Meet Nicolas Neidhardt | Music composer and producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nicolas Neidhardt and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nicolas, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk taking has played a major role in my career. I think that (calculated) risk taking is essential in order to evolve, be it personally or professionally. Innovative thinking in business comes with risk as one explores unknown territory and somehow pushes existing boundaries. Risk taking has helped me to become more creative, involved and aware of my industry.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m a music creator and my goal is to create music at the highest possible level of quality and taste. I’m French & German born, now a proud U.S. citizen, I try to constantly utilize my multicultural background to create something unique within the boundaries of the briefs I get by my clients. I recently set up a collaborative group of mostly up and coming composers in order to help them with my experience but also get inspired by their innovative vision. A lifelong freelancer, I never really worked 9-5 in the corporate world with a fixed salary which has good (freedom) and bad (uncertainty) sides. My life and career has been determined by encounters with industry people who became collaborators, sometimes partners. It was not easy, setbacks are a part of entrepreneurship. My wife and children have always been extremely supportive and have helped to overcome challenges such as the destruction of the record industry by the internet and peer-to-peer around 2005, the economy crisis of 2008 and more recently, COVID. I learned countless lessons along the way, a major one being that everything is always possible if you put yourself in the right mindset.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Venice Beach, stroll on the canals and boardwalk and have a drink at Zinque on Lincoln. Go on a hike in Topanga State Park.
Visit the Broad Museum and the Arts District in Downtown.
Have lunch or dinner in Silverlake
Go Vynil shopping in Eagle Rock.
Visit the Griffith Observatory.
Rent a bicycle and drive from Venice to the Santa Monica pier.
Take the PCH to Malibu, spend the afternoon at Paradise cove.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are many people who encouraged and advised me on my career path. It’s impossible to mention all of them here. One relatively recent example that played a key role in my choices was a film producer from NYC who told me at a dinner in 2010 that LA would be a much better choice for a film & tv music composer than NYC (which was my first choice in the US at the time). I also had incredible music teachers and have to give credit to my mom, who gently but steadily insisted on me taking piano lessons at an early age.

Website: www.gowestsound.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-neidhardt-7954797

Youtube: https://youtube.com/user/nnmoments

Other: www.nicolasneidhardt.com