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

Hi Connor, why did you pursue a creative career?
There simply wasn’t ever another option in my mind. I’m very lucky to have a family that fostered creativity and encouraged a career in the arts. I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember and music has always been a more perfect mode of expression for me than language alone.

Please tell us more about your art. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about? How did you get to where you are today professionally? Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way? What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
I’m a film music composer and also write what I’d refer to as music for the sake of music–that is, informed by “the muse” and not a product of more destination-driven craft. One unique aspect of my art is the incorporation of natural sounds that I’ve captured through extreme and occasionally somewhat risky means. My upcoming claymation music video has the sound of actual ants that I recorded with very sensitive microphones at a science museum in Vermont, a recording of water dripping inside a lava tube in Hawaii’s Volcanoes National Park, and a rattlesnake that I encountered on Catalina Island while hiking at night. Nature is my greatest influence and the journey to capture these sounds becomes an act of inspiration.

Within the “muse music” camp, I just released my first EP “When I’m Gone.” I’m perhaps most excited about my brand new single, “Fire Ant,” which came out June 21st, and its aforementioned accompanying claymation music video, directed by Raf Bonilla. I recorded the song with the groundbreaking engineer and producer, Sylvia Massy, and the video merges four myths from different cultures (Hopi, Christian, Ancient Greek, and Russian) into what you could loosely call a psychedelic bildungsroman. Hopefully, that doesn’t sound too pretentious–it’s very trippy.

In the film music world, I’m excited to be scoring director Sonja O’Hara’s film “Theirs” later this year, starring Rita Moreno and Harvey Keitel. I’ve also begun co-composing a video game score, which is a new horizon for me. Finally, I’m in the early stages of composing music expressly for Ketamine Therapy–something I believe has incredible potential for treating depression.

Big lessons I’ve learned, and continue to learn along the way, are that the tools you already have available to you are always enough for the job if you are creative enough. The endless chasing of the latest software plugin or best-sounding gear is a huge distraction from the real goal, which is to write music. And once you have your horde of treasure around you, you’re often faced with the paradox of choice and end up paralyzed. The other lesson is not to dwell on the small details. As my mentor John would say, “There’s dirt in every record.”

I got to where I was chiefly because of friendship, persistence, and a lot of luck. My intro to film music was via my friend and fellow musician Jacob Masters, who needed someone to temporarily fill his position as the assistant for composer Marius de Vries. What was supposed to be a three-month gig turned into three years and catapulted me headfirst into this world.

The road has been full of potholes and detours, and the challenges do not cease. Chief among them is the isolation that is inherent to a career in music composition and the degree of self-doubt that most artists face due to a non-standard career with constantly shifting goalposts. The antidote is getting outside and seeing friends and family as much as possible.

I tend to bristle at the term “brand,” because it packages artists up in neat little boxes. Great artists throughout history seem to have endured without logos or defining color schemes. Not to imply that I’m going down in history as Chopin–I get that it’s part of the reality of modern marketing and the machinery of the industry, I just think it’s a strange choice to do it to oneself as a creative person who is hopefully ever-evolving. And ideally, I think art is the channeling of something universal–it comes from somewhere else, and as soon as it’s out in the world, it belongs to everyone, viz. how a listener experiences it then becomes specific to them and their life. I can’t help but think of the symbolism in the origin of the term “branding”–the act of burning an insignia into an animal’s skin with a hot iron to claim ownership of it and identify it…as a member of the herd. I’ll leave it at that.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I keep a big list of my favorite spots in LA on my phone to share with friends who are visiting, so I was well prepared for this question. Straight from LAX I typically drive visitors to Skid Row to show them the underlying reality of the city and contextualize the rest of the trip.

After that sobering introduction, Dan Sung Sa is a must-visit–I like to gather friends there over some soju and Korean delights in that smoky atmosphere. Cafe Tropical and Ceci’s are breakfast/lunch staples in my neighborhood in Silverlake. Millie’s for brunch, Triple Beam for pizza. In the Arts District–Breadlam for sandwiches, and Wurstküche for a big group to enjoy beer and fries and sausages with strange ingredients. A stroll around Little Tokyo is a must while you’re in the area. Maccheroni Republic and Osteria Mozza are my top spots for Italian.

I’d include The Magic Castle, Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and Clifton’s Republic to showcase some of the uniquely old Hollywood kitsch and charm. Hike at Vermont Canyon, run around the Silverlake reservoir. Music at the Greek Theatre. The free 10:30 show at the Comedy Store on Monday nights. Drinks at Salazar and then continued revelry at Zebulon in Frogtown. Finally, a late-night trip to the Taco Zone Truck on Alvarado in Echo Park to cap it off–I’ve eaten there more than any restaurant in my life and the family that runs it is incredibly kind.

 

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to dedicate the shoutout to John Bergeron, who has been both a mentor and friend. He was my audio engineering professor during my time at Wesleyan University and encouraged me to switch from studying Russian Literature and Language to Music during my senior year of college. He keeps an aerosol can labeled “bullshit repellent” in his studio and has helped me navigate the bullshit of the music industry with his wisdom and sense of humor. John’s own music and story also deserve to be heard by the world–please look him up!

Website: https://connorschon.com

Instagram: @connorschon

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

Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0Buo1fckOHklhhHZSomX4E?si=4-RTc-nfRM6edMbucuZotw

Image Credits
Matan Koplin-Green, Natalia Fernández, Freya Strasburg, Kitch Wakeman, Madly Stock

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