This infinitely talented Jingle composer was literally born to make noise. The son of a musician with an innate passion to learn, create and appreciate sound, Cody spent his formative years mastering every instrument that he could get his hands on. While his strength might be his original classical compositions he has a strong ability to adapt his sound to his projects. His resume is impressively extensive and his potential is limitless. We were lucky enough to grab a few minutes of Cody’s time as he took a break in his West Coast studio. It’s always a treat to meet the voice behind the instrumental tracks.

TAL: Okay, let’s start at the beginning. Did you find music or did music find you?

CW: Wow, that’s a tough one…I guess it found me. I started playing piano at age five and really had no interest other than to just pound on the piano keys aimlessly. My Mom remembers my teacher complaining that I gave her a headache! That didn’t last long….it’d be 5th grade, when I picked up the trumpet that things started to get going. From there I moved down the brass chain to euphonium, then tuba and back up to trombone. Tuba (classical) and trombone (jazz) stuck. I started up piano again in 7th or 8th grade and loved it and started composing within about a year of that.

TAF: Were you inspired by anything during those formative years? What contributing factors helped to drive your musical curiosity and skill at such a young age?

CW: I’ve always liked challenges and i’ve always like to create. For whatever reason music was something I could work on when alone at home or when at school in a group. It was really all consuming…That’s just my personality – I go in 110% when I’m into something! It was kinda like….”let’s try this” and it stuck.. I joined the youth symphony and started a jazz combo on a whim and it stuck…like anything I guess – you try something and if it’s a good fit you stick with it. As far as inspiration…man I was such a John Williams geek but I would say my greater love of music came from my early years – from my father especially. He wasn’t a trained musician, but had a killer voice and could play mean harmonica. I remember him singing me to sleep at night and his musical taste was spot on. We’d listen to Paul Simon and The Who all the time.

TAF: Those are pretty solid influences . I read that when you went to college there was a pretty impressive demand for your composing skills on the student film front. What was that like?

CW: [Yes] indeed. I went to USC and got my “BM” (love saying that) there. The first three years were straight up music composition – everything from classical counterpoint and orchestration to modern art music, which I really grew to love- but while I was doing that I was moonlighting at the film school and nearly had enough film units to have a “minor in film.” I scored  almost 50 shorts while I was there. It was fun but totally demanding along with my typical coursework. I think that’s what gives me the edge I’ve got today though – working with a director and their vision is so different from just composing on its own. It’s an art in itself.

TAF: I can imagine that was quite a hectic and exciting experience! What was it like in those early stages of your career to hear your music in a film?

CW: Well, in school they transferred all of the sounds to a now (hopefully) defunct media called “Mag.” It was horrible honestly! It was like listening to the first tape machine or something! Like the piano was all warbly, etc…it was actually kind of comical hearing your hard work degraded in such a fashion. Seriously though, to be able to bring emotion to picture is a privilege – always. The first time, once I got past the “Mag” it was like….I’m “living the dream.” I remember my very first hire…I was a freshman and this grad student called me up. I was maybe 3 weeks into the school year and stayed up all night to turn around this 7 minute kung fu film. I think it was 18 hours for 7 minutes of music – then we hand sync it up to his 8mm projector…

TAF: Haha I imagine somethings have changed now, with your JinglePunks deal…how about hearing yourself on TV? Different ball game?

CW: So different! with the TV thing, I’lll be watching tv casually while returning emails, etc and then my ears will perk up and I’ll think….wait….is that me? I’ll listen more closely and it IS me! It’s a very strange feeling – even though a lot of music sounds very similar, I can always tell almost instantly if a track is mine. I don’t know why but it’s cool!

TAF: YEAH it is! What’s your goal with your music right now? How would you like to see your career continue to evolve ?

CW: Well the first goal is to keep payin the bills. I was on a bike ride the other day and this guy and I ended up riding for awhile together – I learned he was a banker at Wellsfargo. He asked what I did and his response was “You can make a living doing that?” I kinda smirked to myself, as I feel really lucky I can answer “Yes.” The other goal is to maintain an upward trajectory. I love indie film and will always partake in them – or at least as long as they’re hiring me!!! But I’d love to get into scoring some more studio films. A lot of the indie budgets only allow me to record MYSELF playing live instruments – the bigger budgets allow me to collaborate with other (more talented!) musicians. I’m lucky that I play a ton of different instruments, and have a decent collection of them (guitars, brass but also some cool/unusual stuff like dulcimers and autoharps – not to forget my favorite – my toy piano!) A film I scored last year currently making the festival rounds “Conception” was scored with almost every instrument in my arsenal. Even though we were on a shoestring budget I was able to deliver an almost completely live score – plus it was a blast!!!

TAF: Sounds like it. Okay I’m going to shoot over some rapid fire questions now..

TAF: favorite composer

CW: Toru Takemitsu -

TAF: Past film that would have been a dream to score?

CW: Dances with Wolves, but I couldn’t do better than John Barry.

TAF: If you were a rockstar, who would you have been?

CW: David Bowie-he was (strangely) my idol growing up. I was even Ziggy Startdust for Halloween

TAF: Do you have a special writing place that inspires you?

CW: There’s this place called Ellwood in Santa Barbara that I try to visit – it was where my Dad and I always went to for walks and where his ashes are today. If you want a more regular place we’ve got a really restful backyard and ive got a koi pond outside my studio so im all set!

TAF: Okay last question. Favorite recording gadget?

CW: Millennia Preamps by John La Grou. AMAZING. I’ve got three channels of them. Hands down the best.

TAF: Thank you so much for taking the time to chat, we’re huge fans of your music, its really fascinating to put a voice to your music. It was certainly hard to imagine what you were like without any vocals of lyrics to go by. We very much appreciate you giving us a peak of the man behind the music!

Check out Cody doing what he does best below! www.codywestheimer.com