Behind the scenes of chromonaut
Hmm, it was kind of hard to spot this ‘about me’ page on the site so you must be interested… Hi! My name is Chris Polus and I’m a freelance composer, sound designer and voice-over artist. Let’s see what I tell you about my background.
The early beginning
Everybody starts somewhere. I started as a web designer in the late 90s and founded my own company in 2000 together with good friends from the Swiss demoscene. Our company developed a real-time animation software called visualJockey that analysed music you fed to it in real-time and moved 2D and 3D animations in sync with this music. It was a great tool for clubs. We also had some success selling it as a creative add-on for exhibition booths.
We eventually sold the core of visualJockey to a UK-based company called GreenHippo (http://www.green-hippo.com). They really took it to the next level. Their animation appliance ‘Hippotizer’ (that came with a heavily modified version of visualJockey) was used in concerts of Destiny’s Child, 3 Doors Down, the Eurovision Song Contest, and Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Love’ show in Las Vegas. Their success is not mine, but it feels good in a ‘spiritual parent of the software’ kind of way.
The consulting days
I moved on to a software development company that created a B2B content management system. After 3 years as a Knowledge Manager I switched to a partner company and became a technical consultant, implementing various internet and intranet projects for large customers. In late 2007, I co-founded a new company with a bunch of colleagues where I concentrated more on the strategic (as opposed to technical) level of consultancy. I learned about how big companies work, how their information flows work and where their information challenges are. This was quite exciting.
Musical expertise
In parallel to founding the consultancy firm in 2007, I started ramping up a big passion of mine: music production (you must have been wondering where that would finally come in, right?). I grew up in a very musical family and played the flute for about ten years when I was younger. Basically, I have been surrounded by classical music all of my life. But in 2007, my friend Thomas and I founded a music label and two bands, one specifically dedicated to progressive trance, the other with a more electronic world music bent. Since then, we’ve released two albums, both of which are available on our label’s website: http://s-and-p.fm.
When time permits, I act in plays. I played in Schiller’s ‘The Robbers’, Dürrenmatt’s ‘Romulus the Great’ and detective story adventure dinners, which is great fun and a good counter-balance.
Certificates
I recently passed a game sound design course taught by Matthias Steinwachs, a well-known German game composer and sound designer.
Why should I get a former consultant to create my music?
I’m not new to music and I hope you like some of the examples you can find on this site. If there is one thing I learned during my consultant days, it was to listen to customers and to analyse situations in detail. This is a huge advantage in all kinds of project situations. Most of the time, music production and sound design actually are a kind of consulting. Thinking about creative solutions, different ways of achieving results economically, asking the right questions, and supporting the overall process and the product. Of course, there is a creative aspect as well, the actual creation of music and sounds. But at this stage, all of the prerequisites had better be clear, or the project will take off in the wrong direction. You might have a real musical genius working for you, but what use is that if the music doesn’t match your vision?
The most important aspect for me is listening – listening to you. Asking questions, analysing. For a project to be successful, both parties have to be on the same page, talking with one another. It is only then that I start working on music and sound, which then goes back and forth for further refinement.
I’m not afraid of ‘jumping in at the deep end’, unknown territory, or crazy idealistic projects. Having founded two companies, I’ve had a lot of that and I know enough to be excited about it :)
Follow Me
Why not follow me on Twitter (@ChrisPolus), Google+ (+Christoph Polus) or contact me on some of the pro networks out there like Xing or LinkedIn?