Nicholas O'Toole
Open Labs Exclusive Artist Interview
- by Tatiana Ryckman, Open Labs Staff Writer
Nick O'Toole didn't know he was looking for something special. He was convinced it already existed. And though it did – it wasn't what he expected.
Writing the music along his quest like the score for the movie of his life, Nick searched for a simple MIDI keyboard controller that just happened to also have a trackball and QWERTY keyboard. He found himself frustrated with the heap of individual pieces he was being asked to settle for in its place. He worked like a mad scientist, toiling between pieces of digital audio recording equipment and their cables. “I thought it was really stupid that nobody had built a MIDI controller with a QWERTY and trackball built into it, because now everybody's going to buy this stuff with weird gesticulating arms and shit.”
Trekking though forests of USB devices, he came upon a solution like a clearing bursting with light: an Open Labs NeKo. When he tells the story he quotes himself, “... and I go, 'That's pretty brilliant.'”
In the beginning, his drive for that brilliance was based on one desire: to be a rock star. “I went to Berkeley because I wanted to do music for a living, and like everybody, I wanted to be a rock star.” But by the end of his tenure at the famous music school, he wasn't sold on the lifestyle. “I'm not a spotlight type, I don't know, I realized it’s not what I wanted to do.”
Luckily, during that time he found out what he did want to do, and he found out in time to get his degree in film composition. “It was a pivotal moment when I realized I wanted to become a film composer. For the first time I felt like, 'Okay, well here's something.' Film scoring is a lot more exciting to me ... every project is different than the last.” A realization that his diverse resume supports.
From the darker, eerie undertones of “Guardian,” (one of the amazing tunes you can hear on his Myspace page), one can envision the scene the song might be meant for: medieval espionage and sweeping cinematic views. It's almost impossible not to imagine breath-taking wide angles and wicked suspense. Yet just as precisely as he builds these intense monsoons of sound, he creates subtle and unobtrusive tunes, perfect for a hero's first kiss.
All this, and he didn't even have to give up his dream of being a rock star. At least, not entirely.
When he's not scoring for films or assisting on major motion pictures he's assisting bands who've found their way to the Open Labs guild, like Korn and the side and solo projects that have spawn from the band. He's also worked as a technical consultant for Shiela E. and Maroon 5, giving him plenty of opportunities to play temporary rock star. Despite the stereotypical image of fame, he insists, “At the end of the day they're normal people. They're all particularly happy with their lives, they have families, they go home at night. They're all really talented and super smart, super talented, creative people ... In the vicinity of them you pickup that creative vibe.” Maybe that's his secret, that his musical muse is still that early dream of stardom.
Symphonic cinematic grace and world-class rock'n'roll is not where Nick O'Toole's musical adventure began, though. It was in gritty garage bands and mediocre metal music that he played just for fun. “I started putting together shows ... like really bad hardcore bands or metal bands that could not play but wanted to. I couldn't believe anyone could sound like that, but it was fun in high school.”
His recording set-up hadn't improved too much since high school, when he moved out to California and started assisting for Richard Gibbs. “I was working in his room when he wasn't using it, I didn't have any gear.” So the Gen 3 NeKo was a welcome addition, as well as the opportunity to help Open Labs introduce their gear to some of the biggest names in music today.
Through the musical wiles of his own and the endless possibilities provided by his Open Labs gear, Nick O'Toole is every bit the rock star he hoped to be – without the blinding lights, tabloid rumors, and months on the road away from friends family.
Nicholas O'Toole's Credits include:
Fast Girl (2007)
Price To Pay (2007)
How To Be A Serial Killer (2007)
Existence (2006)
Valley of the Heart's Delight (2006)
Clive Barker's: The Plague (2006/I) (music scoring engineer)
John Tucker Must Die (2006) (scoring assistant)
Raw Footage (2005) (Winner 2005 D.C. Film Festival Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature)
2 Laps 2 Go (2005)
The Clone (2005) (Short Film for Samsung Phones)
The Honeymooners (2005) (scoring assistant)
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism (2004)
Fat Albert (2004) (midi transcription)
Ghost Writer for a FOX T.V. series
Equipment Used
Purchased NeKo LX (Gen3)
Artist Links