Scoring Big in a Small City.

What happens when a state’s hearing officer receives honorable press for court cases and stellar reviews for music compositions? His boss tells him he cannot continue to compose music on the side. Emmy award-winning composer, John Keltonic recalls, “I agreed…so I turned in my resignation and made music my full time job.” Since then, John has made a living scoring for film, television, and radio. His clients have included PBS, Discovery Channel, VISA, CNN, NPR, BBC and Busch Gardens to name a few. I sat down with John between scoring sessions to ask him questions regarding his career and experience working in the film and television industry.

Where were you born? How long have you lived in Richmond?
JK: “I was born in Alexandria, VA. I’ve lived in Richmond for thirty years.”

What age did your interest in music spark?
JK: “My earliest memory was when I was five. My parents brought me to see ‘The Music Man.’ Weeks later, I was whistling a melody that caught my parents attention. After I told them it was from the show, they didn’t recognize it.  I whistled it for their friend who taught piano. She told my parents it was the French horn line from one of the show’s songs.”

What was your first instrument? Did you take lessons or are you self-taught?
JK: “The first instrument I learned was the piano. I took lessons for two years but wasn’t too wild about playing other people’s music. My teacher would get frustrated with me when I would add my own parts to a composition. I would play my idea and ask, ‘What if it sounded like this?’ A question a piano teacher doesn’t like to hear.”

At a young age, who inspired you?
JK: “The Beatles, Muddy Waters, Aaron Copeland and Tchaikovsky.”

What age did you start playing in bands?
JK: “I joined my first band when I was twelve. We were called Velvet Haze [laughs]. This was way before Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Purple Haze’ came out! I played piano in a variety of bands in high school. Eventually, the school’s music director would call on me to assist his class. I was happy because I got to leave my classes and perform with bands, choirs, and musicals.”

Growing up, did you dream of having a career in music?
JK: “I didn’t dream of having one. Music was always a love of mine. I enjoyed playing and composing as a hobby. I didn’t think it was possible to make a living from it.”

What direction did you take after high school? How did you get connected to composing for film, television and the radio?
JK: “After high school I studied Psychology at University of Richmond. I’d compose music in my spare time and would always cut through the music building when I was walking around campus. One afternoon, I heard really strange sounds coming from one of the classrooms. I walked in the room and met Alan Stein, a composition teacher, who had just bought an ARP 2600 synthesizer and was trying to figure out how it worked. We spent the next twelve hours learning its parameters and we became friends fast. Under Alan, I took an independent study on composition. He took me under his wing and is largely responsible for projects I picked up in the future. After working on a variety of projects, he introduced me to television producer, Earl Hamner, Jr. He asked Alan if he could score a film about the University of Richmond. Instead of taking the project, Alan passed it on to me. From that point on, I was constantly composing. The music department allowed me to use their equipment and facilities for scoring in exchange for recording the University’s musicians and groups. It couldn’t have worked out better!”

In the early stages of your career, how did you make a living?
JK: “After I graduated, I worked for the State of Virginia as a hearing officer. I’d listen to opposing sides and decide who was right and who was wrong. My nights were either spent composing or performing with various bands around Virginia. I wrote jingles for radio and television commercials. I also composed music for Richmond’s Theater 4.”

What was the defining moment where you decided to make music your full time job?
JK: “While I worked for the state, I received positive press about the cases I was involved with. Around the same time, my music was popping up on television and radio. Theater 4 received praise for its musicals and encouraging reviews of my compositions. As buzz began to build, it created tension with my job as a hearing officer. It was a public relations conflict. My boss told me I couldn’t compose music on the side anymore. I agreed…so I turned in my resignation and made music my full time job.”

What business steps did you take when you began picking up scoring projects? Did you wear a variety of “hats” as a one-man business team?
JK: “I was put in touch with a New York music production company at the time, Gavin-Connor. They educated me on licensing agreements encouraging me to own everything. Today, I have ownership of all my compositions. Their helpful hints and advising have helped me through ropes of the film and television industry.”

What is your most memorable scoring experience?
JK: “My most memorable experience was when I conducted the London Symphony for a music group, GLAD. During that time, I recorded a composition for my dad who was in the hospital battling cancer. I transferred the song onto a cassette tape and when I returned to the states, I drove to the hospital and played him the song on a portable tape player. I am so thankful to have shared that with him before he passed away a few weeks later.”

How did you feel when you won an Emmy award for “best original music” in the PBS documentary, Over Alaska?
JK: [Laughs] “Disgusted, because I wasn’t there to receive it! Normally, if you want to be nominated, you pay money and apply to nominate yourself. PBS paid the money to nominate me without me knowing! I don’t care much for awards, but the recognition has helped bring in more business.”

On your website I noticed a “Uganda” link. What is the connection?
JK: “Ten years ago, my wife and I heard a missionary give a small presentation about children’s needs in Uganda. Our hearts were moved and felt the calling to go. Since then, we have gone a dozen times with volunteers from our church, Stony Point Presbyterian Church. We have developed a close relationship with an orphanage, Canaan Children’s Home and its founder, Pastor Isaac Wagaba. With fundraising and generous donations from others, we have been able to provide medical supplies, school fees, and sponsors for the orphans. The children are very close to my heart. The link allows me to share my passion for Uganda and Canaan Children’s Home with others.”

How has the film and television industry evolved since the start of your career?
JK: “Ten years ago, budgets allowed me to work with forty musicians at once. Today, budgets are lower and allow for fewer musicians. At times, it’s a lonely profession but the recording process is much faster since recording has gone digital. Sampled instruments are sounding closer to the real thing!”

What projects are you currently working on?
JK: “I’m working on a three hour PBS series, The Human Spark with Alan Alda. Another project is We Heard The Bells, a documentary about the influenza epidemic of 1918.”

What “pearls of wisdom” can you offer the novice composer wanting to score music in the film and television industry?
JK: “Do it because you love it and hope the next job comes along. Be persistent. Score student films for free. Own the rights to your music. Network with others and get involved with all kinds of projects. Don’t limit yourself to one genre or style.”

What music are you currently listening to?
JK: “Bela Fleck, Steely Dan, and Bela Bartok.”

What are your three favorite albums?
JK: “The Beatles ‘Abbey Road’. Tchaikovsky’s ‘Capriccio Italien’. The Dillinger Escape Plan’s ‘Calculating Infinity’.

What do you enjoy about living and working in Richmond? What is your favorite Richmond spot?
JK: “I am blessed to do national work in a small city. I can score for film and television and not have to live in Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, or London. My wife and I love our church community. Richmond has great neighborhoods, good schools and is full of history. A few of my favorite Richmond spots are Bookbinders, Tara Thai, Brio, and Bottoms Up Pizza.”

Thanks, John!


To hear John Keltonic’s scores, check out www.jdkmusic.com

By Author: Michael King

Michael King returns to Richmond, Virginia after working four years in the music and television industry. He’s a VCU graduate thrilled to finally use his English degree for Magazine33! On road trips, he enjoys listening to indie rock, folk, and NPR. He digs the sound of a Fender Telecaster and is nerdy about guitar pedals. An ASCAP member, his music has been placed on MTV and Destineer video games.

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