MEET LUKE HELDER: HEAD OF MUSIC COMPOSER AND AN INQUISITIVE STORYTELLER
This is InnovatorsBox’s “IB Backstage“ series, where in celebration of InnovatorsBox’s 6th year anniversary that’s coming up in November 2021, we are highlighting the stories of our incredible team members.
Luke Helder is an inquisitive storyteller. He loves creating music that tells a story and that helps people feel and see through the beats, with intention. While music was something he knew he wanted to do all his life since an early age, it wasn’t until later that he decided to pursue creating music that tells stories. And when Serin introduced us, I knew he was just the right person who could be the Head Music Composer at InnovatorsBox Studios to give us our voice in music as we build our universe.
From InnovatorsBox main theme song to The Journey, you’ll hear a lot of key pieces that he gave us voices to. Meet Luke as he shares more of what drives him and what inspires him to create the magical pieces you hear today under our IB Studios.
In my Q&A with Luke, we cover an array of topics from why music is important to him, what propels him to continue making music, what are trends he sees in the industry, why is storytelling in music so important for him, where and how he finds inspiration, and more.
MONICA: How would you describe yourself in three words?
Luke: Inquisitive. Dedicated. Thoughtful.
MONICA: Why is creativity important to you?
Luke: The mystery of creativity fascinates me because we don’t know where it comes from. And despite this, we all feel the innate desire to create!
MONICA: What was your favorite project, experience or memory working at InnovatorsBox?
Luke: Bringing the IB OST – The Journey to life was an incredible experience that helped me hone my skills as a composer and storyteller. I got the chance to write such a wide variety of music and to tell a story that means a lot to me and Monica.
Trend about work:
MONICA: Why is music important to you?
Luke: Because music is, in my opinion, the greatest and most direct language we have to communicate emotion. In the (rough) words of Hans Zimmer – “Music may not be a very effective language to write a dentistry textbook, but it sure is an effective one to write emotions.”
Ask yourself this question every day until you have a compelling answer: “Why do you create art?”
MONICA: You mention the importance of being a storyteller with music and art instead of pure entertainment. Tell us more. How can more creatives who want to tell stories and art with their work do so?
Luke: Because of the value art has as pure entertainment, I think what can often be overlooked is the power of the tools we wield as artists. Art has not only the potential to entertain, but to change the mind of another human being.
To provoke us to ask questions of the world and of ourselves, and to speak to a place within us words cannot reach. This is what drew me towards art from the very beginning, but it took more than a decade for me to realize it. My advice for creatives who want to tell their own stories would be to ask yourself this question every day until you have a compelling answer: “Why do you create art?”
MONICA: If you feel stuck, where do you find new inspiration?
Luke: In the work of others, and the emotions they draw out of me.
MONICA: Any routines that help you stay creative that you would encourage others to try?
Luke: Create when you don’t feel like it. The more you do this, the better you will understand where your creativity comes from.
MONICA: What is one music composing hack that you’d share for someone who is starting off?
Luke: The only hack that truly works in art is to make more of it. A lot more. One day you will realise you have something to say and you know exactly how to say it.
MONICA: What trend are you seeing in music that you are excited about and worried about?
Luke: As a result of streaming services fundamentally changing how we access music, new songs have been progressively getting shorter. This worries me as it can limit what stories we tell with music and how we tell them, but it excites me because it also forces us to tell leaner and less bloated stories, and to move beyond the tired traditions of song structure.
The only hack that truly works in art is to make more of it. A lot more.
Getting to know Luke
MONICA: What advice would you give your younger self?
Luke: Keep going. Everything else will work itself out.
MONICA: Who are musicians or creatives that inspire you?
Luke: There are far too many to list here so I will pick some at random – Miles Davis, Billie Eilish, Denis Villeneuve, Michael League, Kendrick Lamar, Bong Joon-Ho, Krzysztof Penderecki, Tyler The Creator, Johnny Greenwood, Xiu Xiu, Tierra Whack, Childish Gambino, Jordan Peele, Outkast, Phoebe Bridgers, John Williams, Arvo Part.
MONICA: What is a book that you couldn’t stop reading?
Luke: Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
MONICA: What are you listening to lately – music or/and podcasts?
Luke: I’ve been listening to a lot of Kendrick Lamar recently and a great podcast called Philosophize This!
MONICA: What are you watching lately that you really enjoyed? Why?
Luke: An amazing show called The Man In The High Castle. It forces you to consider whether good and bad people really exist and the damage that ideologies can cause.
MONICA: What is your favorite way to decompress? Why?
Luke: The best way for me to decompress is always to spend time in nature. So much of my time is spent inside computers that it can be easy to forget the world that exists outside it.
MONICA: If someone is visiting London for the first time, where would you recommend they go, eat, or do?
Luke: To one of our amazing public parks! There are so many to choose from and they are all beautiful!
MONICA: If you could travel anywhere and do anything, where would you go and what would you want to do?
Luke: Zhangye National Geopark in China. I would take my guitar and write a song in the rainbow-coloured mountains.
Thank you, Luke for picking up your guitar and choosing music; InnovatorsBox Studios wouldn’t be the same without our head of music composer! Thank you for showing up as your authentic self every day and as incredible as the journey has been thus far, we’re excited of the future. and look forward to working together to create more music and art!
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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