Meet David Hamilton | Film Composer

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

Hi David, what do you attribute your success to?
It’s definitely being both relentless and resilient, relentlessly putting yourself out there and making as many good connections as possible, and being resilient when things don’t go your way. I do spend a good portion of my day networking, checking facebook groups, emails, and other social media, and it all pays off in the end, even if you only find one gig after months of this process. I know it’s very cliche, but not giving up is definitely a huge factor.

Please tell us more about your work. 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?
It certainly wasn’t easy, and it still isn’t. One of the biggest challenges (that I haven’t fully overcome) is finding a unique style that doesn’t draw to much from other composers, which I think is more difficult than is was 30 years ago, because now we have every recorded piece of music at our fingertips. I always found myself listening back to a piece I wrote and thought “I’ve literally ripped off Hans Zimmer by accident”. I’m still learning to develop my own style 100%, but I’m getting close. I’ve been listening to film scores my whole life. When I was a kid I had a tiny little MP3 player that was full of soundtracks that my older brothers downloaded onto it, then as a teenager not much changed, except I had them on my blocky flip phone. I think what might set me a side from others is having this long obsession, and knowing scores inside and out by ear. If I had to describe my style, I’d say it’s like Danny Elfman meets Howard Shore, a bit weird at times but also very melodic. I feel like I’ve been able to pay homage to my heroes in my own work, all the while retaining my own style at the forefront.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’d have to recommend Hotel Del Coronado, I love the 40’s/50’s you get in that area in general, it’s a great place for the summer. Another place would be the La Paloma Theatre on the coast highway in Encinitas. They play a lot of old films, which is really nice experience when you’re in an old cinema. They also often play Rocky Horror Picture show, which I love.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to give a shoutout to my best friend Yasmin Kurth, who has been a huge influence musically, and has also been very supportive. We’ve been playing and writing music together since day one, literally. She was looking for a guitarist for a gig in our college Facebook group, so I sent her a message. We then learned that we both had a slightly unhealthy obsession with The Nightmare Before Christmas, and that basically sealed the friendship deal. Her debut album “Awake” will be dropping on the 12th of December, which I’ve worked a lot on with her for the past two years, and I’m very excited for the world to here it. She’s created a truly unique and special album, and I’m honoured to have worked on something so original and worthwhile.

Website: https://www.davidhamiltoncomposer.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/david_hamilton_film_music/?hl=en
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-hamilton-031a95188/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidhamiltonfilmmusic/?ref=bookmarks
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWLlbGld3fk71qFcGNts5cA?view_as=subscriber
Other: https://soundcloud.com/david-hamilton-964212786

Image Credits
First image: Pauric Mullen Photography Second image: From the film “Scarlet” (2020), directed by Sean Brien