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Name: Tim Hare, Creatively known as FranchisedYouth
Major(s): Contemporary Writing and Production (CWP)
Hometown: Panorama City, CA
Current City: Glendale, CA
How does your degree play a role in your current career path?
I recently switched jobs so that my CWP degree would be the focus of my career. I was making a lot more money working behind the scenes in the touring world, but I wanted to compose and score music. That was the reason I went to Berklee in the first place, to learn the skills to compose and arrange music. It wasn’t an easy decision to make, but utilizing all the things I learned as a CWP major to work in creating music for media was vastly important to me and what I wanted to make out of my career.
What is something you’d wish you’d known “then” (before starting Berklee, during Berklee, or your first year out of Berklee)?
How important being able to create professional mixes on your own is. I focused much more heavily on scoring techniques and my song writing. I didn’t focus on mixing as much and the ability to create a “Professional” sounding mix would give me a lot more jobs than using clever musical ideas. I was recently looking at an online Berklee Class for mixing and thought “Didn’t I already pay for four years of this?” I wish CWP focused twice as much attention on helping students develop mixes.
Can you touch on the importance of your networking, skill and talent?
Networking is everything to me. I have skill and talent like anyone that comes out of Berklee, but all of my gigs have come from networking. Taking people out for coffee, picking their brain, getting feedback, and seeing who my contacts know that can help is how I spend half of my week. I try to be equally as helpful because you never know when you might help someone kick start their own career. Networking with your peers also allows you to continue to learn and grow your skill set.
How do you connect with other people? How much does social media play a role in your career as an employee and artist?
I use Social Media as a launch point for my work and brand. Soundcloud/Facebook/Youtube are free and essential tools to creating a hub where you can quickly showcase who you are as a talent. Outside of that connecting with people face to face or via phone are exponentially more important than Social Media. In 10 minutes of physical discussion you can learn and gain more than 100 emails or messages. Once you establish any contact through a social network, get that person in front of you or on the phone so they can get to know you better and see your face.
What should a new alum focus on as they enter the job market?
In my opinion it would be organization and productivity. Set daily and weekly goals for yourself. I try to send out at least three networking emails a week and finish one composition for my Soundcloud. Find ways to gain traction in your field even when you’re not working on a specific project for monetary reasons. There are hundreds of aspiring composers here in LA so I have to find new markets to attract if I am to make a career out of this. As a new alum you are already four years behind me in terms of networking and productivity so get started right away!
Originally from Southern California, I moved to Boston when I was 15 and started playing Bass soon after settling there. By 19 I was playing in the local Boston scene with the bands, Baby Strange, Aloud, and The Painted Lights which included a few tours of the UK. I graduated from Berklee in 2011 and got a job in 2012 working for Warner Music Group doing VIP Concierge tours with Wiz Khalifa, Smashing Pumpkins, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, and Mac Miller. I moved back to LA in 2013 and soon began working in production and day to day management for Mick Jones of the heritage rock band Foreigner. I traveled all over the world before settling back in LA in 2015 and began working as a composer and employee for music library Sonic Librarian.
Tim Hare can be found in the social spheres via FranchisedYouth’s Facebook and Soundcloud
Two Five One is a series of blog posts by alumni. They write about two places (where they’re living & their hometown) answer five questions about their post-graduate experience, and it’s a one-off post. For more information about blogging for Berklee as an alumni, email alumniaffairs@berklee.edu