The Adonis Tsilimparis Interview, Composer and Supervisor 'NCIS, CSI:NY, Trending Crimes'

What is 'Dune' without Arrakis drums? ‘Euphoria' without a head-rushing tidal wave of beats? When has the "Thun-Thun" of the Jaws theme ever not conjured images of Shark-infested horror? From Hans Zimmer to Labrinth, the utter importance of an earth-shattering score has never been so evident in television and cinema, possibly even more important than the imagery it carries along. To convey an emotion where visual content cannot is no easy task.

Adonis Tsilimparis understands this necessity and has devoted three decades to the industry. His compositions have made their way from NCIS: Los Angeles to CSI: New York, from reality television to a multitude of indie works. Now, his ventures with fellow composers Mark Roos and Katherine Beggs through Cutting Room Music have placed their tunes in the hands of Amazon's "Trending Crimes" series.

Turncoat got ahold of Adonis to get an insight into his life, ventures, and career as a composer.

Introduce yourself.

My name is Adonis Tsilimparis, I am originally from New York City where I lived for most of my life, but now I live in LA. I mostly make music for film and television, compose, and scoring as well as music supervision which is slightly different. I have worked on a bunch of shows, scored many films, a few of which are on Amazon Prime right now. I have also worked on a lot of reality shows, CSI: NY, and have done supervision for several other shows, including Ozark.

What is the difference between composition and supervision?

Scoring or composition is when you write music for film and television, for the background.

Supervision is when you are essentially the music manager, and you have to find the songs that will be used in the film.

How did you get started in the realm of music?

I started playing guitar and piano when I was a kid, about 10 or 11. As I got older, I started to play in bands in New York; I was a lead guitar player and singer. I then started to get into films because I had a filmmaker friend who got me involved. They asked me, "would you be interested in scoring this?" And that's how I learned. I later started scoring short films and later met a guy who does advertisements where I began doing jingles for commercials; it just grew from there, and I realized I really love this. It was my calling, I guess.

For you, what is the most shocking thing about the industry?

There is a lot of things. I don't know if it is shocking, but I guess just how difficult it is. It's a small, tight-knit community; there are a lot of composers, especially in LA. You really have to be in that inner circle. You have to know people, mingle, do a lot of networking.

Is it ever surreal to hear your work in a film or show?

It can be surreal. It feels good. Sometimes I will be watching something, and I will hear my music in the background and think, "oh yeah, I forgot about that one." There is a documentary on HBO about Robin Williams, and in one scene, I heard a track I did; it was a nice feeling. I forgot I had actually given the supervisor on that show some tracks, and they used it.

Any advice for people trying to break into the world of music in cinema?

I would say to get involved with organizations that help other composers. There is one called the Society of Composers and Lyricists; it's a great one. They help up-and-coming people who want to get into it. Try to get involved in the community, networking events, get involved with the Guild of Music Supervisors. You just have to get yourself out there.

What are you currently working on?

I'm working on a bunch of stuff! We actually formed a composing team called 'Cutting room music,' which is Mark Roos, Katherine Beggs, and I. We are working on an Amazon series called "Trending crime." I believe they are still filming, and we will be scoring it. Other than that, we have a few indie films which will be coming up in the spring. We are excited. I also did do an ESPN documentary recently that should be coming out soon as well.

You can find Adonis Tsilimparis at Adoniscomposer.com and Cutting Room Music at CuttingRoomMusic.com.