Hi Ayda, we’re so glad to be interviewing you for an AWFC Spotlight!  I’ll begin with what I always love to know from fellow composers: Where was your start?  How did you know that music was the journey you wanted to take? 

My start was admittedly a bit cliché. I started learning the piano when I was about 6 years old, and the place where I was learning piano also taught composition (Yamaha) – so from day one, composition was a part of my language when talking about music. From there, everything flourished. My school had an incredible music program, where I was able to go from playing the cello in its symphony orchestra, to singing in choir, to playing piano in the big bands. It was really a safe haven for me throughout my life, to be able to have music and write music, and it definitely still is.

In terms of knowing that music was the journey I wanted to take – I was actually talking to my anne (mother) about this the other day – it really felt like I didn’t have a choice, there was no other way. I couldn’t see a life without music, and when I got the opportunity to pursue it fully and wholeheartedly, of course, I said yes. Funny enough, I am currently completing a Graduate Diploma in Psychology, which may seem to be against that idea. But really, I am pursuing that path on the side, so I have this other option in the future, which, if I need, can protect the music I want to make by giving me the freedom to choose what I work on, and create what I would like to create.

I know you released an album last year that was a deeply personal project for you.  Please tell us more about that process, especially when it comes to live performance of your work.

Yes, “Where Do I Belong? Here.” is definitely one of the works I’ve created that I am most proud of. It is an album exploring what it means to grow up as a second-generation Turkish immigrant in Australia, featuring stories both borrowed and my own – from my family and the artists I collaborated with. It is a deeply personal project, but to my absolute delight, it is the one that resonated the most with the people I’ve shared it with. Whether I’m sharing it in LA, NYC, Türkiye or Melbourne, the album and its accompanying film have brought my audiences a deep sense of catharsis – having their experiences so vividly and intimately represented for the first time. That is more reward than I ever could’ve imagined.

When it comes to live performance of this album, it is the thing I love to do the most, but also the thing that – honestly – terrifies me the most. But the more I do it, the easier it becomes, and every time it is such a rewarding experience – being able to connect with the audience in that way, and bring them into my world. I also want to say a massive thank you to The Night Temple, who have given me a platform to share my music in the most welcoming and supportive environment I could ask for as an Aussie who has just moved to Los Angeles.

Learn more and listen to Where Do I Belong? Here. https://aydaakbal.com/where-do-i-belong-here/

It’s amazing that you got the opportunity to write themes for the Official Marvel Podcast!  How did this project push you and challenge you as a composer?

This was an absolute dream project, and I can’t wait to keep working with Marvel. The most difficult part of composing for The Official Marvel Podcast was the brief: write a theme that encapsulates the sound of Marvel, without sounding like any of the (well over 100) themes. The one theme that I got too close to – that Marvel referenced – was Laura Karpman’s ‘Higher. Further. Faster. Together.’ from The Marvels. The contour of one of my horn lines was getting too close to Laura’s (what a compliment), so I had to change it up.

We would do revisions on a weekly basis, getting ready for a recording session with Budapest Scoring at the end of the month. On the same day as the recording session, I flew to Sydney to perform a solo show of my album, which was quite serendipitous – leaving me to run a remote orchestral recording session with a view of the Sydney Opera House. I then delivered the masters to Marvel – and really didn’t believe that I had just scored a Marvel project until I heard my music in the podcast. Surreal.

Your credits include additional music, arranging, and orchestrating as part of the Joy Music House team. What have you learned about the co-composing and collaborative process as a member of JMH? 

The main lesson that I’ve learned, as a musician, that has been emphasised to me when working at Joy Music House is that to be collaborative, truly collaborative, you must be open, respectful, and remove your ego from the situation. 

When working at JMH, we are always working for our clients, and all of our clients work in different ways. I have to be dependable in being able to get the job done, but also adaptable in the way that I get that job done – and I think that is a real strength of JMH, and it has now become a strength of mine. As a concrete example, a client may be working in Logic, Cubase, ProTools, Sibelius, Dorico – a combination of all five, or something else entirely. We, and I, have to be able to MIDI prep, orchestrate, arrange, copy, print, and score-produce, no matter the combinations of software we have to use. I have to be adaptable, respectful, and get the job done without getting ego involved, and I think that’s what I’ve learnt the most (so far) at JMH.

What styles, instruments, or sounds are currently inspiring you the most in your composing?

Moving to Los Angeles has been an interesting challenge in limitation for me, and the way that can make creativity bloom. Back home in Melbourne, I have access to a multitude of colours and sounds – my piano, my cello, various guitars and ouds, recorders and wind instruments. Here in Los Angeles, for most of the time, it has just been me and my voice.

The sounds that are currently inspiring me are Bon Iver’s “Sable, Fable”, Elliott Skinner’s “Recalling”, Ludwig Göransson’s score for Sinners, Ennio Morricone (always and forever), and most recently, Bryn Terfel performing “Ar Hyd y Nos” with the Welsh National Opera Orchestra. And so, so many more.

You have found incredible sources of support along your journey from professional development organizations such as APRA-AMCOS. What are some of the ways in which the Australian composer community has strengthened your career path?

The Australian composer community has been the backbone from which I’ve been able to flourish – and this includes both composers back home, and Australian composers here in Los Angeles. To come into a community of welcoming Australian faces in the States, within the first few weeks of my moving, has been a blessing – and there’s less tall poppy syndrome out here than you’d think.

I’m incredibly fortunate to come from a country that values the arts and supports artists through funding. Support from organisations – specifically APRA AMCOS, Music Australia, The American Australian Association, and The Ian Potter Cultural Trust – has been integral to me laying the groundwork in Los Angeles, so I can work, write, and represent myself at my best. 

I was also awarded Emerging Screen Composer of the Year at the Screen Music Awards this year, hosted by APRA AMCOS and The Australian Guild of Screen Composers, which is quite surreal for me. It is not often that, as composers, we get that external reassurance that we are on the right path. It has also been one of the hardest years of my life, as a young person living away from home, my family, and my partner. However, this award has really amplified that quiet voice in my head, reminding me that I am on the right path, and that I can ‘make it’ in this industry – and maybe I get to define what that means for me.

It’s been such a pleasure, Ayda, and we can’t wait to see what you do next!  What are you most excited about to share as an upcoming project or highlight?  

Thank you for having me!

One thing that comes to mind, that I’m quite excited to share, is a film I worked on titled Catalina. It’s a sci-fi drama that explores the intersection between artificial intelligence and human caregiving through the eyes of a mother and a son. Creating the score for this really challenged me in the best way, and I think it’s the perfect blend of my artistic work and cinematic scoring. I’m really proud of it.

I am also working on my next album, working with themes extended from my previous album, and with some familiar voices and players making an appearance. I can’t wait to finish it.