Sandy Nuttgens
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If I were 22: Sandy Nuttgens

Want to make it as a composer? Stop asking ‘why me’ and start asking ‘why not me’, advises Sandy Nuttgens.

Sandy Nuttgens
3 min read

If I were at the start of my career again, I would ask people for advice and then accept it as perceived wisdom. In fact when they said “it could do with being a bit more grungy/clean/filmic/commercial/less commercial…” I should have had the strength of conviction in my own ideas. I wasted a lot of time pandering to others’ viewpoints. It took me a while to realise that no-one really knows what makes a great piece of music and that there is no standard formula to follow.

Creating great commissioned music in itself is not enough. You also need to be on time, on budget, great to work with, capable of hitting the deadline, someone that doesn’t whinge, and above all, not a pain in the arse! Leave your ego at the door. There is a place for maverick temperamental geniuses, but generally they make their own work because frankly they are unemployable and life is too short…

There will always be someone who on paper is supposedly better educated or more talented, but it is your creativity and ideas that count. I never went to university or college and my only music qualification is Grade 5 music theory, yet in 20 years no client has ever based their decision to employ me on my educational background. Similarly, if you are already in the room, don’t bother justifying why you’re there. At that point you’ve already been accepted, so you don’t need to regale the client with your past successes. Just get on with putting forward your ideas.

I could scream this one… don’t tell the client your insecurities!! Presenting work and then babbling “yes but the recording is not there yet, there’s too much compression, I’ve overdone the reverb…” Argh – just don’t do it. I have lost jobs hearing my own stupid words coming back as reasons not to employ me.

I used to write tracks with long slow build ups to a killer hook that I just knew would knock listeners dead and floor ‘em. Problem was the client never got to the hook… I was toast long before then. In life, you have to earn the right to do a slow build up. Popstars like Sting and George Michael have definitely earned the right, but then they start calling themselves ‘artistes’ and you have to wade through interminable non melodies with ‘meaningful’ lyrics before you eventually get to something you can sing along to. So be careful!

Sandy Nuttgens is a multi-award winning composer specialising in writing music to picture for television. His work has been broadcast regularly on the BBC, ITV, Channel4, Sky, Discovery, C5, and on cable channels worldwide.
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