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

Hi Peter, what’s something about your industry that outsiders are probably unaware of?
Media music is a very complex industry (within the music industry), and it is very different from the pop music industry. When I say “media music”, people usually think of film music, but there is so much more to it: music for TV and streaming programs, library/production music, game music, music for corporate videos and commercials, etc. These are all very different. Most people don’t even know about library music (pre-written background music for TV). Also, I think when people hear an orchestra playing in a background music track, they don’t think it’s samples and not live recordings, even though, except for big budget movie scores, a lot of the instruments we hear are either virtual or sampled instruments. You can create orchestral music on a laptop computer these days, and if you are clever enough, people will not notice the difference.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Growing up in a family of music lovers, I was surrounded by music all my life, but my parents didn’t play music. They wanted me to play instruments, so I learned to play the violin and clarinet, but I didn’t really like it. In high school I chose punk rock music and played in a band, but I always thought of music as a hobby and nothing more. Fast forward to 2020, I had a burnout in my day job and started composing music on my computer. I fell in love with film scores and film music in general, and since then I have dedicated all of my available time to making music. In less than two years, I have composed 7 production music albums, a documentary film score, sound design for art videos, soundtracks for game music projects, and many other pieces of media music.
I think when you find the art form that is really made for you, you will always find inspiration. I really found myself in applied music. For me, whether it is a video game, a short movie, or even just a picture, I can always draw inspiration from it and create music that I think fits and enhances that piece of art.
The biggest lesson I learned was that applied art is inspiration combined with hard work and practice. And the hard work will bring the inspiration.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Szeged, Hungary (not LA) – it is a city of 200,000 people. The downtown area is very nice, rebuilt in Art Nouveau style after a big flood. The Dóm square with the votive church and one of the many “boat cafes” are also worth a visit; we have many great parks and small forests along the river. The specialty of the town is the so-called “fisherman’s soup” – a spicy fish soup with paprika and different kinds of river fish. If you come here, you must try it.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Sebastian Watzinger – he is also a composer and my mentor in production music composition.

Website: peterlepahin.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterlepahin/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lepahin-peter/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@peterlepahin

Other: You can also find me on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/peter-ivan-lepahin

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