Meet Jörg Hüttner | Composer & Sound Designer

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

Hi Jörg, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
It is important to spread risk as a freelancer to different income streams if possible. I was always on the lookout for further projects, clients and companies to work for. Additionally, I tried to build up residual income over the last decade, which gives additional security outside of day to day business. The biggest risk, by far, was to leave Germany to see if I could make it here in LA, after my work permit was granted. But even for that, I was well-prepared with some savings, that would keep me afloat for a while, plus I had already business contacts over here, that I built up over yearly visits and a few projects I did from Germany.
Here and there I ask myself if it had been better to sometimes take more risk by putting all eggs in one basket at times, but looking back, my approach allowed me to also say no to things that didn’t seem right, or were paid poorly, since I was in a good enough position to not having to do things all the time. But this required planning and financial discipline.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
At the time when I finished high school in Germany in 1993, there wasn’t really anything for modern music production you could study in Germany. The only studies offered were classical instrument courses, or courses for classical audio engineers, which wasn’t something I was interested in. This would have been easier in the USA, but studying abroad was out of the question due to missing financial means. After talking to a bunch of professionals in the music industry, I decided to go the “learning by doing” route, and I started as an intern in a studio. I was lucky enough to know the owner, since he was also the boss of a record label my indie band was signed to. From there, I went to a studio equipment retailer & studio construction company, which allowed me to make contacts with companies in the music instrument & equipment business. The following job was at a German synthesizer & music software distribution company. That’s where I made contact with composers in Los Angeles over time, and this opened the door for a later move to the US. Especially in a country, where a degree means a lot, this was difficult for people to understand that I had none, never went to university, nor was this ever needed for what I wanted to do and what I do now. If I was ever asked about it, it was over dinner and purely out of curiosity of people I worked for or with.

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?
This clearly would start with some great museums here in town, including the “Getty Center”, “The Broad” and of course the “Academy Museum Of Motion Pictures”. If the timing would be right, I would take the friend either to a concert at Disney Hall, or the Hollywood Bowl, especially if it was a film showing with live orchestra. Of course, a visit to a magic show would also be required, especially at the “Magic Castle” (I have some contacts…). When it comes to food, a good steak at “Boa Steakhouse” in Santa Monica would be one, plus sushi at “Sushi King” on Wilshire Blvd, also in Santa Monica. For Mexican, I would take the fried to “Lares” on Pico Blvd.
Should the friend be interested in cars, a visit to the Porsche Experience Center in Carson would be on the list, together with a visit to the “Petersen Automotive Museum”.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are several people over the course of my life, that had an impact on my career, or decisions I made that got me to where I am right now. The first shoutout would go to Hans Zimmer, who was instrumental in encouraging me to come to the US, and who was so kind to write a recommendation letter for my work permit application nearly two decades ago. After my move to the US, he introduced me to another composer in his production facility who was searching for a new tech assistant at the time. That is also the next person I need to mention here: Icelandic composer Atli Örvarsson (“Chicago Fire”, “FBI Most Wanted”, “Silo”, etc.). My time as his assistant was an invaluable source for learning and inspiration, and I work for him to this day, whenever he needs some help with electronic sounds for a specific project.

Website: https://www.jorghuttner.com

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jörg-hüttner-01195210/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jorg.huttner/

Other: https://www.threads.net/@jorghuttner

Image Credits
Mel Castro