I was surprised when I called in to interview Madsonik and there was a woman’s voice was on the other end. “Hi this is Merissa, Brian’s assistant. I will get Brian on the line for you.”
‘An assistant? This fella just burst onto the scene and he’s already got an assistant? Most impressive,’ I thought.
My nerves of being star-struck quickly deteriorated, however, as the hold music came streaming through the phone. It was “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley.
For several brief moments, I thought I was a victim of a live Rick-Roll. I imagined a prankster setting up the fake interview with me and then pretending to be Merissa, now whooping it up on the other end of the line.
Admitting a job well done by the troll, I prepared to hang up when suddenly a man’s voice picked up. It was, in fact, Brian Tyler aka Madsonik.
I told him about the situation unfolding before us and he burst out laughing. “I had no idea that was the hold music! That’s awesome,” Tyler said. I knew immediately
that we would have some fun during our conversation.
Brian is a self-described artist of “blurred lines.” Although he is relatively new to capturing the ears of hardcore EDM fans, he is certainly not new to the music industry. Brian has composed a wide variety of music from symphonic orchestras to the scores of popular movies such as the Avengers: Age of Ultron and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
For those of you who have had the pleasure of getting your face melted off by Madsonik at one of his shows, imagine the same dude conducting a 100 piece orchestra with flutes and violins while waving a baton harmoniously. I certainly cannot.
However, through speaking with Tyler, I learned that having a vast background in different genres has helped him not only gain a fuller grasp on making music but also what he enjoys listening to the most.
In fact, just the other night, Madsonik could be seen amongst the rowdy crowd of Excision fans at his show in Los Angeles. “I still love going to shows and being a part of the crowd,” Tyler comment, “The energy, the people; it’s all great. It reminds me of why I love doing what I do.”
As a music lover, it makes me happy to hear that musicians still love being students and patrons of their own craft. It’s a simple equation: the more artists enjoy what they produce and hear, the more they feel compelled to release their own musical artwork.
One extremely positive outcome of this equation is the meeting and collaboration of different musicians. Artists who share a passion for the same work and come together to produce their own collaborative sound is a beautiful byproduct of the music industry. One such byproduct is the collaboration of Madsonik and Kill the Noise.
Brian and Jake Stanczak aka Kill the Noise have collaborated on several projects, including an American tour, the theme song of TMNT called “Shell Shocked,” and
most recently a collaboration with Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello called “DiveBomb,” a blood-pumping banger in the movie “XXX: Return of Xander Cage.”
But Brian and Jake’s collaboration reaches far past the studio. “Jake’s a good friend,” Tyler said of the face-melting artist Kill the Noise.
There was a time during my conversation with Brian where he reflected on looking up to artists he is now working with. “These guys have appeared in credits on the big screen and sold out shows throughout the world. Now they’re coming over to my place and jamming in my studio next to me,” Tyler said.
I was humbled by his humbleness.
Look out for Madsonik on the festival circuit this summer and at the top of the charts in the future. Brian Tyler is going places.
Follow the Madsonik journey on his social links below:
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | SoundCloud
