Meet Andrew Lipow | Film & Television Composer

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

Hi Andrew, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I am a big risk taker. And in the music industry, it seems the higher the risk, the higher the reward. Risks help me grow as a musician, composer and human being. I have uprooted myself several times and moved around the world to pursue music. I wouldn’t have met my wife if I didn’t take a risk and attempt to talk to a beautiful stranger at a Nashville bar. All of these moves, especially the most recent move to LA, were big risks. Taking risks can be fun and rewarding, if one understands things might not always end in success. Even so, there will always be a lesson learned. I am sometimes tasked with composing custom music for trailers or ads, which is a highly competitive corner of the industry. In these situations, I have to take musical risks, work as hard as I can under the tightest deadlines, and hopefully land a placement. The more risks are taken, the more lessons are learned, and the more progress is made.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Music is all about drama: Love, loss, victory, peace, sadness, dancing, stillness and burning passion. It is the best way I can truly communicate a human emotion, whether my own, or to a scene on screen. I am absolutely in love with the process of scoring for film, from the initial meeting with a director to talk ideas, to the final soundtrack mix. When tasked with scoring a film, I truly want to bring the director’s creative vision to life, and use every tool in my toolkit to do it. Filmmakers, songwriters, and other composers seem to enjoy working with me because I work quickly, bring my creative best to the situation, and genuinely enjoy getting to know people and their stories.

Looking back on my journey, it has been a wild ride so far, but I always make the best out of every situation I find myself in.
Since I was a young kid, I wanted to be a musician and filmmaker. I grew up in New Rochelle, New York, a diverse suburb of New York City. My friends and I loved to make little horror or action movies on the weekends and school breaks. In middle school I would watch The Shawshank Redemption multiple times a week. I can recite the dialogue to that film in my sleep. Thomas Newman’s score to Shawshank is my favorite soundtrack of all time, and it amazes me to this day. The depth of the harmony and the emotion it elicits is beyond words. It was also at this time that I discovered the music of Jimi Hendrix. Between Hendrix and film scores, my passion for music was set ablaze.
In high school, I wrote songs and played guitar in bands, without a care about genre. I loved rock, jazz, hip hop, and classical music. I became a musical sponge, and practiced all the time. I studied classical guitar in college and after graduation I gigged around NYC, playing in jazz and rock clubs, with the occasional recording session. I moved to The Netherlands for a year, which put me in an incredibly diverse music scene. My experience in Holland expanded my musical palette to include the different genres of electronic and world music.
While playing at a jazz club in Greenwich Village, I made a decision to move to Nashville, Tennessee and pursue the life of a session guitarist and composer, always keeping my eyes open for movies to score. This path allowed to me to perform with incredible talents and put tens of thousands of more hours on my instrument. With the money I made from gigs and recording sessions, I was able to slowly build a home recording studio, move to Los Angeles, and fully commit myself to writing music for film and television. My music has been placed on shows like American Greed, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Love & Hip Hop Miami, Are You the One?, Forensic Files II, How It Really Happened, Very Scary People, and Celebrity True Crime Story. Since moving to LA in 2021, I have scored indie feature films and award winning shorts while continuing to find work as a collaborator with other composers.
I am very excited about a dark comedy indie feature I recently scored for filmmaker, Frankie Frears, as well as my work as a guitarist on the soundtrack of the Tubi original series, The Freak Brothers. I am incredibly thankful to the show’s composer, Justin Burnett, for calling me up to play on that one.
The path of a composer and musician is hard and always a hustle. The competition, especially in LA, is fierce. I have learned over the years to choose projects I know I will love, never be afraid to say no, stay kind and professional, and always do my absolute best. The journey feels like it is only beginning.

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?
First off, I would try to secure concert tickets to a show at either the Hollywood Bowl or Greek Theater. Experiencing a concert at one of these venues is always memorable. My wife and I go every year to see the incomparable John Williams conduct the LA Phil. After the concert, we would grab a sandwich at Canter’s on Fairfax and a drink at its back bar, the Kibitz Room. Then grab a cocktail at the Roger Room. On the next day we would drive out to Shanghai Dumpling House in San Gabriel, for the greatest soup dumplings ever. We would check out Greystone Mansion and LACMA. On Friday night I would take them to Grand Central Market for their choice of amazing food and catch Carey Frank on the Hammond B3 organ. The beach is a must, and my preferred spot is Torrance Beach, for how beautiful and relaxing it is. It has an amazing sunset view and the backdrop of the Palos Verdes cliffs is so picturesque and calming. We would end the trip with dinner and drinks at Casa Vega.

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?
I dedicate this shoutout to my father, Walter Lipow. Without his constant encouragement and support, pursuing music as a career would have been a much more strenuous and scary journey. My dad was always there to drive me to a gig, pick me up from the train, and provide the occasional reality check when I needed it. He has always been my biggest fan and I call him for advice to this day. Thanks pops!

Website: https://andrewlipow.com/

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-lipow/

Image Credits
Eden Lauren