Mark Slater is an accomplished film and television composer, known for his work in immersive media. With a strong background in music and a passion for storytelling, Slater has made a name for himself through his unique blend of orchestral compositions and electronic sounds. Read more on Wikipedia.

Early Beginnings and Education

We adapt to and reflect our environment. Although my first formal attempts to emulate a composer began at age 10 as a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, my exposure to the conventions and formats of music in European culture and the privilege to “grow up” in liberty (in a home filled with knowledge and art from across the globe) is the earned results of the work of generations upon generations of my ancestors who walked out of Africa and settled in Northern Europe and what we call today England. While I’m not a big fan of institutional education and attach very little kudos to it, I attended the London College of Music, where I studied film composition.

If you’re not a fan of the concept that what you have is what you’ve earned and that therefore you probably deserve it, that’s okay. I was myself very envious of what others had for many years and was led astray into misery by a number of fallacious theories that supported the notion that human society as we find it is all terribly unfair. But I am now quite sure that everything is perfectly aligned with the deterministic laws of the universe. You can only take from another if they permit it and if you’re not strong enough to defend what you have, it isn’t yours to have. This is the transitional nature of all classes of things. If you find a door closed to you, membership of a group denied, it is simply because you do not at the time possess the required properties to belong to that class of things. While some classes or groups in human society can be changed or over time lose their relevance, where you come from, your culture, the economic and social status of your parents, their parents and so on down the full line of you ancestry DOES matter in many situations. Discrimination happens to everyone. For example, I attended a very expensive private school because they awarded scholarships for children of parents without the money to afford the fees, but did I belong there? No, I didn’t and I felt it. My father although well educated, a part-time professor at the Royal College of Music, did not move in the same circles as the parents of most children there. Their parents had earned the privilege of their social and economic status through their choices and work. My father wanted to be a professional musician and provided well for his children, but not at the level of doctors, dentists, and engineers. These are the realities. A person with 10 income generating properties has more than likely earned that through the hard work they did or the path their ancestors paved for them to achieve it. Go and do likewise if you want it. People will always be ahead of you and behind you. Help them if it serves your interests, but feel no obligation.

First Film and Success

Some of the above issues of class are explored in my first feature length film, an animated adaptation of Edwin Abbott’s “Flatland.”

A Diverse Range of Collaborations

I’ve had the opportunity to record film soundtracks with prestigious orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Budapest Film Orchestra, Prague Philharmonic, and Metropolitan orchestras. The LSO at Abbey Road was a dream made manifest. I wasn’t and still am not a first rate composer, but I brought something personal to those soundtracks and they have touched the hearts and minds of many people.

A Unique Musical Style

My compositions primarily focus on writing for the orchestra, infusing electronic sounds and popular styles when appropriate for the projects. This is because the acoustic instruments of the orchestra, the natural human voice not reinforced by microphones and speakers, in solo or in combination, are the sounds I was immersed in growing up over 30 years. While synthesized sounds have interesting qualities, they quickly become dated and outmoded. The development of orchestral instruments took hundreds of years and every voice and timbre we find their has earned its place over a similar time period.

A Multi-Instrumentalist and Former Chorister

I practiced the piano and cello in my youth to the level where I could perform virtuosic concerti. However, since the age of 13, I was aware that a great performer on those instruments I would never be. My proficiency on these instruments opened the door to a lot of performance experiences and adds an extra layer of authenticity to my compositions. The many concerts, recordings, TV and radio experiences I had during my five years as a chorister of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, provides me with the perspective to judge outlier excellence in music. I may not be much good myself, but I know genius and dedication when I meet it.

Award-Winning Film and Television Composer

One should take these things with a pinch of salt, but for what it’s worth, my work has not gone unnoticed and has been in league with several prestigious awards and won a few minor ones.

Conclusion

Finding talented, conscientious people to work with and hire is a challenge. As a project manager of many years experience I know it’s hard to find good staff, and you also never really know someone until you do business with them. I think you’ll find me skilled, intelligent, worldly, flexible, innovative, timely, hardworking and keen to overdeliver with the occasional flash of the divine spark if you give me the chance to show it.

Awards for Mark Slater

Mark Slater Credits

Mark Slater Clients