BLOG, MUSIC

Introducing: The Journey

I’m thrilled to introduce you to our new album “The Journey” by InnovatorsBox Studios. It’s extra humbling to share this as we recently celebrated our 6 year company anniversary in November 2021. I hope this is another album you’d enjoy, cherish and remind you how you can be who you want to be as an innovator and how your voice matters. I hope it feels like a hug.

Like all music albums we produce, “The Journey” was born out of curiosity. How can we celebrate the journey of an innovator into music?

While what we do, why we do, and how we do what we do as innovators differ, many share a lot of similar challenges, growing experiences, and the joy of innovating and paving new paths. I was curious because while the pandemic pushed us all to do something new every day in many ways many of us have never anticipated we didn’t have enough time to celebrate, reflect, and acknowledge the journey we have taken and continue to take. In the spirit of creating and problem-solving, we have focused so much on meeting the deadline instead of enjoying the journey to discover.

Everyone is so busy that we’re not being present enough to enjoy where we are today or notice how we are going to our next chapters. We wanted to gift this music to you so that innovators could feel a gentle hug and nudge saying “oh hey, look at how far we have come and look at how far we will go.” I hope this album reminds them to take a moment to celebrate the present journey as much as celebrate the milestones in innovation and pivotal impacts they are leaving. Do you feel our cheering you in the beat we created here?

As we celebrate our new release, I’m excited to take you behind the scenes in how we developed this thinking of you. First shoutout to the team who worked on this with me to welcome you to this new universe together.

Monica: What makes making music at InnovatorsBox different from other places?

Luke Helder

What makes InnovatorsBox so special to work with is that I am always given complete freedom to explore and experiment. As a creator, being given the space to follow an idea that may not end up working is incredibly important, and I think the respect with which IB treats the artists’ process is reflected in our work.

THE INSPIRATION

We took a year to produce this album because we wanted to dive a layer deeper. The Korean American side of me who loves speed was itching to have this sooner but the more we developed the more we were reminded why the layers of development and reflection were crucial. Life is full of nuances and what I find often missing in Hollywood and commercial music, which I love very much, is to grab our attention with climax and pivotal moments but not enough of the everyday mundane small milestones. Yet our journey and joy of growing as an innovator start right there with one question, one insight, and one action at a time. We don’t magically become innovative because we launched a new popular product one day.

It starts in our routine and in familiar ways. That one time we thought of a different approach to a familiar problem. That one time we raised our hand in a meeting when others were ready to wrap up a meeting. It’s in those moments we build resilience, creative insight, courage to speak up, curiosity to ask more, and empathy to hear differences. That’s a lot of emotions and thoughts that could happen on any given day which is exciting and enriching. I wanted to create a piece in that we could celebrate those voices and encourage others to learn how to listen and look for those moments. We may connect the dots more easily in hindsight but that doesn’t mean we can’t be curious about the dots we experience every day earlier and enjoy that process. I hope listening to this album would help you smile as you celebrate those small daily moments in life.

THE DEVELOPMENT: FUN MOMENTS

Creating at InnovatorsBox Studios reminds me how the process of creating something out of nothing is both exciting and scary! How do you create a universe through music? How do you know what music is the right one to tell the story? When do you know when your music is good to go or still needs editing? Any creative work requires a lot of iteration but also the courage to know when to let go or dive deeper. And creating an album to celebrate the innovator’s journey? That’s certainly going to require a lot of reflection and iteration. So we gave ourselves not only enough time but also opportunities to try new things and have fun with them!

First was the initial ideation of the story and visuals. We haven’t met our illustrator yet and we wanted to first map out the story of the album. While we had the idea and concept in mind it was hard to depict that into music without visuals. And having worked on a few pieces this year I’ve learned how important having visual references areas you develop the story of the music. So this became an opportunity for both me and Luke to explore deep into the internet. We’d reconnect every once in a while with new updates on new images, stories, and insights we found, and what we envision we could communicate or celebrate. I was inspired by how artists like Robert Gonsalves creatively depict layers of meanings through his artwork or how there is a whole category called Optical Illusion and Fantasy Realism illustrations. It certainly makes you think twice when you look at the illustration and it made me hungry to find an illustrator later who could communicate our album in a unique way too. Luke did a fabulous job not only mapping that all together and capturing that into a mood board and storyboard. How can you not get excited looking at this and daydreaming about what the music could become!

Monica: What was the inspiration for the OST?

Luke Helder

The driving force for the OST was a story. Monica had explained to me that she wanted to chronicle the journey of an innovator, with all its twists and turns, and my background in film music made this a natural fit. We began exploring what “The Journey” would entail, and I started mapping out this narrative to draw my music from. We also looked for images to inspire us and built a moodboard to bring the world of the innovator to life. This approach of composing to an imagined world, almost as if scoring a film that never was, turned out to be a really compelling method, and I hope the music we created allows others to enter the world we imagined together!

Monica: Why is this OST project special and different for you?

Luke Helder

This is my largest project to date as a composer, and the increased scale of this OST provided many new challenges for me which I learned a great deal from. It will always be a special project for me as IB and I’s first instrumental album release.

The second fun was also bringing on the Studios to be part of the project! While the album will be largely instrumental we wanted to have one piece where we tie in our Studios team member’s voice. So I wrote an introduction script that became the lyric of our introduction piece that includes ten of our Studios team members’ voices! Can you spot who is who in the track?

Here is one audio before the mixing! And here is how it is after the mixing with everyone!

Monica: What was your favorite part of developing the OST?

Luke Helder

The whole project was honestly a joy to work on! If I had to choose one part of the process, it would probably be building the world of the Innovator character.

Monica: What part was the most challenging aspect to make the music come to life?

Giorgio Schipani

For me, the most challenging part of every project is translating ideas into something tangible and musically compelling. Some concepts seem great in the imagination, but they don’t always work in reality, and this process of sorting through what works and what doesn’t can be very time-consuming, but also very fulfilling!

Another highlight of mine was of course seeing how the music and illustration finally came together. I wanted to find an illustrator who could capture the magical realism but also colorful land of possibilities. While Rowanne Chang led our album artwork that you beautifully see manifesting the land of adventures and exploration, I also wanted to tap into a new partner who could help visualize what it’s like to explore the adventures during the different phases of the journey.

Monica: How was this album different compared to other projects you’ve done artwork for?

Rowanne Chang

I feel this artwork is more bright and surreal. A bit of a magical vibe!

Monica: What helped you find the inspiration for the artwork you created?

Rowanne Chang

Some video game artworks helped me a lot!

Monica: What is important for you as an innovator?

Rowanne Chang

Always find a moment to breathe and catch more creativity.

Monica: What do you hope listeners will feel when they see the artwork? Why?

Rowanne Chang

I hope you can immerse yourself in the tracks!

I enjoyed working with Ekkapranova on another postcard illustration design we did for the holiday and knew she would understand how to visualize the journey into a storyboard we had in mind. Luke and I had some visuals in mind when we mapped out the journey and Ekkapranova gave a special twist and playfulness to the story!

Plus now with Daniel Osterstock our video editor’s help animate these illustrations, I felt like stepping into a land of stories and journeys that I wanted to stay and enjoy. And I hope you will too.

And of course, Luke and I were not the only ones who had to listen to the pieces multiple times to fine-tune the quality of what you are hearing today in the final tracks. Our Audio Engineer Giorgio Schipani has taken a lot of care into mastering the final pieces that Luke has created to produce the quality you experience. He was in charge of mastering and took a triple check to the final pieces Luke spent over a year developing to ensure quality.

In all this was a true team collaboration and effort and I hope you enjoy the magical land we created as we celebrate your and many innovator’s journeys.

THE RESULT

As any creator will relate the final miles of the marathon feel the toughest. We want to continue to fine-tune, adjust, and edit before we let it out in the world. But we knew as much as the iterations are important so are knowing when to let go and sharing with the world. So here it is now out on all music streaming platforms as of July 12, 2022.

“The Journey” building was a journey. Is that too metta? But it has been and it’s a reflection and reminder of how our life is always a journey not just an end. As someone has once shared with me just when we face those ups and downs it’s important to remind ourselves that we are having a comma moment in life, not a period.

So when things are going well celebrate but don’t forget the days of how you got there that were tough. When things feel tough don’t let that worry you or define you as you know that’s just a chapter or stage of where you are. There is so much more coming ahead in your journey and I hope “The Journey” is a reminder to celebrate the everyday moments in your journey and life.

Please enjoy it! And thank you for being who you are as an innovator!

We’re not done with our sharing though! A few more insights from our team as we look back!

In general, why is producing music important for you?

Luke: Producing music is important for me because the possibilities are limitless. Every time I sit down at my workstation, I feel a rush of excitement knowing that I’m about to create something tangible from my own imagination. I’m a bit of a control freak too, so having this sonic world inside my computer which I can tweak and tinker with to my heart’s content is something that never gets old.

What do you hope others would feel and think when they listen to this music?

Luke: More than anything, I hope listeners feel that they deserve to believe in themselves. The journey of an innovator is one that requires us to trust our creative instincts, and that isn’t always easy. I hope this OST offers reassurance and inspiration to those who need it.

Who are the artists that inspired you in this making?

Luke: There are too many to list here, but some of the main inspirations for the sonic world of this project were Ralph Vaughn Williams, Yu-Peng Chen, Joe Hisaishi, Howard Shore, Alexandre Desplat, Ottorino Respighi, and John Williams

Thanks so much for reading thus far and continuing to be a fan of our work and our creative storytelling. I can’t wait to return again with a new music release that you’ll love and can’t wait to hear your thoughts.

So let’s step back into “The Journey” by InnovatorsBox Studios!

See you in the land of possibilities!

Cheers,
Monica H. Kang

p.s. You can find us at @InnovatorsBox on all social media channels and @InnovatorsBoxStudios on all music streaming platforms. Here are some links that we’ll share as an easy reference:

About the Author

Monica H. Kang

Monica H. Kang, Founder, and CEO of InnovatorsBox® and Author of Rethink Creativity is transforming today’s workforce through the power of creativity. She helps companies rethink culture, leadership, and team development by making creativity practical and relatable regardless of industry or job title. She has worked with clients worldwide including Fortune 500 companies, higher education, government, and nonprofits. Monica’s work has been recognized by The White House, Ashoka Changemakers, National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), and Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). Prior to InnovatorsBox®, Monica was a nuclear nonproliferation policy expert. She holds an M.A. from SAIS Johns Hopkins University in Strategic Studies and International Economics and a B.A. from Boston University.

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