Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeffrey Carabelos.
Hi Jeffrey, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in 1987 and grew up in an era of epic action and adventure movies. My father came from a family which deeply cared for the orchestra and classical music. It was more of a reverence, actually. For most of my early years, I wasn’t even allowed to listen modern music, save for movie scores.
John Williams had captivated the imagination of my father the moment he saw Star Wars in 1977. It was a revelation in modern composition for my dad, and he made sure to pass the sentiment on to his kids. We would spend our free time guessing the theme songs of our favorite heroes, my father whistling and humming the timeless melodies of Indiana Jones, E.T., Star Wars, Jaws, and the like. It was always one of my favorite games, and my love for film music bloomed.
I devoured as many movies and scores as I could. While my father loved Williams almost exclusively of the modern film composers, I couldn’t get enough of everything the world of cinema had to offer. From the opulent orchestrations of John Williams and Howard Shore to the minimalism and intimacy of Max Richter, the imaginative innovations of the likes of Ennio Morricone, Hans Zimmer, Don Davis, and many, many more…my only policy was “does it move me? Does it make me feel alive?”
I knew then, at the age of nine, that I would be a composer for film. But life doesn’t always unravel as we expect.
I hated piano lessons. I didn’t want to learn technique from Mary Had A Little Lamb. I wanted to learn it while playing Mozart, Bach, Williams, etc. My parents insisted (quite correctly) that I follow the instructions of my teacher. When I decided to teach myself to play Fur Elise and Jurassic Park, reading one note from the staff at a time and committing it to memory, then playing it all back by ear…well, they finally allowed me to quit lessons and learn on my own. My grandmother was a self-taught pianist, so it made sense to everyone involved.
But I wasn’t disciplined. I took numerous shortcuts, as most children will do, and by the time I was supposed to go to college, I was nowhere near ready to audition for music school. Desperate to salvage my dream, I took a private lesson from a world-renowned pianist who finally said “you should give up music as a vocation, you’re too far behind.” He invited me to sit there all day and watch as the six and seven-year-olds played complex piano pieces, effortlessly putting my work to shame. I took his advice to heart. Instead, I graduated with a degree in Psychology, and in the years that followed I found it very difficult to listen to the music I loved. It was a constant reminder of the childhood promises I had forsaken.
Before COVID hit us, I had hired a videographer (who was quite passionate about film) to advertise for a business I had started. His love for cinema was infectious, and I was reminded of what I had given up. He and a love interest of mine both pushed me to pick up where I left off, try my hand at composition, and I finally caved during the lockdowns. I had nowhere else to be, no more excuses to make. I took what little I had and invested all of it into the things I would need to compose and write modern demos. I sent my early work off to a few directors and received a very positive response, and the fire burned brighter.
Now my schedule is full, I am writing music that makes me profoundly happy, I get to work with exceptionally talented creators who pull the best out of my work, and I’ll never look back. I’m grateful for the road I’ve taken to get here: each step taught me something new that I can use to advance my career. Each failure was an opportunity in disguise, and I have no regrets.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I have dealt with numerous struggles to get here. The first being my coming out experience. I was homeschooled and came from a tight-knit community of religious people. When they discovered my sexuality (which was not intentional), I was shunned, mocked, bullied and harassed with literal death threats. My family life became quite difficult, and I just felt completely alone. I was suicidal, began using a number of substances and generally treated my life and wellbeing with disdain. I didn’t want to be here anymore. Overcoming those scars, that trauma, has been a life-long process which still requires growth. Despite how dark this experience was, it taught me to be strong, to truly value my life and love myself enough to put in the work to heal, and to never allow anyone to take that from me again.
One of the most difficult lessons embedded in this experience was learning to trust people again. Building a business and putting yourself out there requires trust. You have to believe in and see the best in people if you’re going to effectively network, build bonds and healthy relationships. No venture can succeed without this, and it took over a decade to rebuild a sense of peace around what others may or may not do when they come to know more about me.
Building on that, I want to underscore how important it is to see the best in people. We live in a world which encourages us to see a red flag, assume the worst about someone, and disallow any opportunity for growth. If I lived by this philosophy (and I did, for years), I would not be where I am. All of us are capable of hurting others, and most of us have done it whether we intended to or not. But we’re all capable of growth, of change…and frankly, all of us need it, not just the people we think are wrong.
The people who matter most to me in this world were raised to believe that my existence is problematic, because it doesn’t affirm their view of the world. But those same people have grown past those ideas to love me as I am, and that wouldn’t have been possible if I decided to focus on the negative. I wouldn’t even be here, writing this reply, if it weren’t for the love and support I receive from those very same people.
I firmly believe that love is the only thing which can cause people to change, and we need more of that. Less anger, less hatred, less fear around what someone’s belief represents, and more love for the person underneath, who has the power to grow and share that love with others.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a film composer. It’s my job to sit down with the director, learn everything I can about their film, and create original music which serves their vision. The director is the guide, and their vision is the goal, and the alchemical experience of working with a great director always pulls the best out of me.
I specialize in nuance. I’m exceptionally good at picking up on the little moments in a film which need to be emphasized. And I have a well-trained ear. All the years I spent listening and truly taking apart the compositions I loved have brought me to a point where I’m confident in saying I can write in most any style and create something unique and moving.
I’m most proud of my latest work for The Apprentice, a Star Wars fan film. I finally got to create music that belongs to that universe, and I feel I did the job well. It’s not John Williams (can anyone live up to that standard?) but I feel it belongs to the universe, and that’s an accomplishment I’m quite proud of.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The most important lesson I’ve learned is to have patience. Oh my how I’ve struggled with that! I’ve always wanted things done right away, such as my insistence on playing my favorite music at the piano rather than the music I was given by my instructor. I was strong-willed and stubborn, and I have had to learn to put those parts of me in the back seat and allow the world to shape itself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jeffreycarabelos.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/jeffreycarabelos
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/jeffreycarabelos
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-carabelos-51180a237
- soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/RptiYyjspt1e9WM59
- Other: https://linktr.ee/jeffreycarabelos
Image Credits
Micah Groenevelt
