I'm an American composer for film, television and video games, and a session and live drummer for radio and records.
I'm also very passionate about creating resources for and providing mentoring opportunities to creative artists all over the world. I am founder and editor-in-chief of SCOREcast, the popular online consortium of global film music and post-production professionals. I author the creative resource The Conversation, which is distributed monthly to more than 550 subscribers across all disciplines of the creative arts space.
I speak internationally to creative artists about the convergence of art and business.
I'm interested in working with incredible people who love to initiate extraordinarily creative projects. If that resonates with you, please get in touch and let's do something great together!
At some point, no matter what you do, there will be times in your creative career when you just cannot seem to get excited about doing what you know you are supposed to be doing. It could be now. Maybe you've not created a single thing yet, or maybe you've been somewhat successful in the past and now, suddenly, you are facing a blank page/canvas/staff/word processor/potter's wheel with no inspiration on the horizon. It is during these times that it is hard as a Creative to stay motivated. Then you add in the fact that most of us create best in solitary confinement, and things can get real bleak real fast. Creator's Block. It happens to all of us. It's happened to every artist from Picasso and Beethoven to Andy Warhol and Eric Clapton. It is something that you need to learn to deal with as a Creative, and maybe even embrace. Historically speaking,...
There are two kinds of artists: Innovative ones and utilitarian ones. Innovative artists are those who create things that nobody has thought of yet. Or, they create things in a way that makes them necessary as value-adders to projects. If you are an innovator, you are a person others love to work with because you make their product better, you improve the team's creative experience, your work ethic or artistic philosophy inspires excellence in the industry, or all the above. Utilitarian artists, by contrast, do what's expected of them. They add value by being non-dramatic. They offer no-frills pragmatic service. They don't cause drama or heart-attacks, and they don't piss people off or put people on edge. They just get it done and they get it done like people expect them to. Sounds perfect, right? Not always. Sometimes being utilitarian is just that: acting like a utility. The Utilitarian Trap Think...
About a month ago, I wrote an article at SCOREcast called You're Not Ready. It received a ton of feedback, and it turned out to be the highest ranking post in the history of the website. I must have hit a nerve. But there was something that happened that I didn't expect to happen... and it's STILL happening: People interpreted it as a negative-motivator. I have received emails from people who say it woke them up to just how poorly they've acted in their professional lives, and how they have discovered, through my little list, that they simply aren't meant for creative work. I got another one today, in fact—a guy saying, "Man, I'm so far from being ready. I had no idea I've been wasting my time trying for something that is never going to happen." WHAT?? Who's Ready? You have it all wrong. You're Not Ready wasn't meant to be...
I had a phone conversation today with a potential client in Asia. We are making plans for a huge music project that could very well set things in motion for my business in that part of the world for years to come. After I hung up with him, I had this thought about the project: "You've done this kind of gig so many times, this is going to be a slam dunk." Then I thought: "Wait a minute. Did you hear what you just said to yourself, Ogden—you lazy bastard?! How about making this one better than a slam dunk? How about making this the very best thing you've ever put your hand to?" "How about treating this as if it is the last musical impression you'll ever leave on this earth?" When you do the same thing for people day in and day out for years and years (in...
For years, I’ve played in the double-sided sandbox of orchestral music and pop radio, making my living first as a film composer, but with my career as a drummer and percussionist in pop radio running a close second. As a result, I have quite a few Facebook friends who follow me and pay attention to what I do with the artists I work regularly for. These people are some of the most knowledgeable, discerning, and intelligent music lovers out there, and I’ve learned a lot by considering their opinions about popular music. As I’ve come to know many of them personally, several have begun to share with me their private lists of songs that have meant the most to them over the years. Through this exercise, I’ve really learned the incredible impact that music can have on a person, and how it can literally heal, hurt, restore, or tear down....
