Chris Casillas
About
Chris is a composer for film, TV, and video games. An experienced performer, session musician, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and songwriter, he comes from a diverse musical background. As a composer for the screen, Chris’s job is to take the ideas of directors, game developers, or other commissioners, and bring them to life musically as he scores their projects. Chris is currently based out of New York, but was born and raised in Houston, Texas. Since living in New York, Chris has graduated from NYU’s Screen Scoring Masters Program, recorded woodwinds for many of his peers, and has scored many short films. Some of these films have won awards and have been screened at acclaimed festivals such as Red Nation Film Festival and DOC NYC.
Chris Casillas
Musical Style
Chris describes his composition style as eclectic, energetic, and experimental. Some of his biggest influences are John Powell, Hans Zimmer, and Ramin Djawadi. Like any good composer, he is able to compose music in any genre, but he especially loves to merge genres together and experiment with instrumental techniques. Chris comes from a multitude of musical backgrounds and he loves to incorporate what he has learned into his music. For example, he may take a rock song structure and a jazz chord progression, and then use it for an orchestra with world instruments and synths. Chris loves pushing the standard orchestral boundaries and experimenting with sound. Whether it is with using various effects or with using uncommon instruments, he enjoys making it all fit together.
Chris Casillas
Background
Before Chris pursued composition, he was a performing and studio musician. His two main instruments are saxophone and keyboards, but he is a multi-instrumentalist. Chris has played in various rock bands, jazz bands, and has been in student classical ensembles most of his life. Although he loved performing (and still does), he always had trouble committing to one specific genre. Chris is the kind of person who could listen to power metal and dubstep in the morning and then switch to classical or jazz later. This is one of the reasons he never formed a band of his own— he could never decide on one genre. When he discovered film scoring, he felt free of these confinements because projects can require so many different styles. In the time he has been scoring, he has had to write in at least 10 different genres, and some of them have been in the same project. Chris feeds off the constant musical changes and thinks it’s a perfect atmosphere for experimentation.
Formal Interviews
Chris has been interviewed or has spoken about his experiences in other mediums.
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