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

Hi Can, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
My interest in film music started when I paid attention to the soundtracks of the movies I loved very much when I was a kid. I had the chance to watch some of the iconic movie series in film history, such as The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and The Matrix at the movie theaters. Since there were no online/digital movie streaming platforms like Netflix in my childhood, I used to collect CDs of these movies at home and watch them over and over again. Sometimes I only watched the movies to listen to their music.

My father is a musician and one of Turkey’s first private radio broadcasters. My family encouraged me to study music from a young age. Since I was six years old, I have been studying piano, guitar, and percussion while going to school.
So we can say my house and my childhood were surrounded by supportive, creative, and artful family members who helped me to boost my creativity almost all the time!

At the age of 17, I was accepted on a scholarship from Berklee College of Music and double majored in Film Scoring and Composition. So, I packed up my belongings and moved to Boston!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I compose music for film, TV, games, and other media. I’m known for my recent projects that appeared on some of the most popular online/digital movie streaming platforms all around the world. One of my recent achievements was composing the original theme music for one of the biggest and leading companies in the Turkish automotive industry Ford Otosan. I composed music for the company to use for its TV and website commercials, events, and premiers.

After I got accepted to study at Berklee, I took part in various opportunities at a very young age. I composed and created a live dance show with the Boston Conservatory dancers that we performed with a live ensemble and dancers. In 2020, I was chosen as one of the 6 students to attend the Advanced Dramatic Orchestration and Recording Techniques class to record some of my film cues with the live orchestra in one of Berklee’s finest studios every week (unfortunately due to covid they had to cancel this class). All the opportunities that I was involved in during my college year in Boston helped me to prepare for my professional career.

Some of my most notable recent projects were composing additional music for movies that streamed on platforms like Lifetime Movie Network, Passionflix, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would definitely take my friend to a concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and Hollywood Bowl. It would be a great experience to watch LA Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel as well as many other artists and shows!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
In order for a person to be truly successful, it is very important to have people who always support and believe in them… My family has always been very supportive of me; always encouraging me to achieve “more” in this regard. I couldn’t have done this without their support. They motivated me to grow as an artist to reach my goals!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cancanel.music/

Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6w6sSJdiedVj005yXMrJPR?si=feT9aMSaQeGofdRdSbGsJA

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.