Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Siddhartha Khosla

Listen to "Siddhartha Khosla This Is Us" on Spreaker. Siddhartha Khosla is a film and television composer, and singer/songwriter/producer of the critically acclaimed band, Goldspot. Siddhartha is currently scoring NBC’s hit Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated drama series, “This Is Us,” starring Mandy Moore, Milo Ventimiglia, and Sterling K. Brown.  The show is television’s biggest breakout hit of the year, adored by both audiences and critics alike.  Within the series (Episode 16 “Memphis”), Khosla composed the hit song, “We Can Always Come Back To This,” which ranked #12 on iTunes Top 100 songs and #1 in the Billboard Blues Charts for 4 consecutive weeks. Upcoming for Khosla is Hulu’s newest original series, “Marvel’s Runaways,” premiering November 21st, and CBS’ comedy series “Me, Myself and I,” premiering September 25th and stars John Larroquette and Bobby Moynihan.  He also scored the upcoming film drama “The Sounding,” starring Teddy Sears and Frankie Faison, and musical film "Basmati Blues,” for which he composed original songs, starring Academy Award-winner Brie Larson and Golden Globe Award-winner Donald Sutherland.  Khosla’s other scores include Lionsgate TV drama “The Royals,” starring Elizabeth Hurley, and the feature film comedy “Fat Camp,” starring Chris Redd and Vivica A. Fox, which recently premiered on BET.   Khosla began scoring for television and film while fronting his acclaimed band, Goldspot, which was first discovered on KCRW’s  “Morning Becomes Eclectic.”  NPR described Goldspot as “An inventive sound and independent vision,” and the Sunday Times UK called it “the best band to come out of America in years.”  In 2013, the band’s album “Aerogramme” captured #1 Album of the Year on the Los Angeles Times’ pop music editor's year-end best albums list.  Goldspot released three studio albums, including one with Mercury UK/Universal Records, and had hit singles reach #10 in the UK radio charts, and #11 in the Alternative Charts.  Goldspot’s original songs have been featured on numerous TV shows, including  “How I Met Your Mother,” “The O.C.” and “The Neighbors,” as well as in major advertising campaigns for Google, Target and Apple.   Siddhartha’s Indian-born parents came to the US in the mid-seventies to make the American dream their own.  With only eight dollars in their pockets upon arrival, they were forced to take night jobs while they completed graduate school during the day.  They had no choice but to send their toddler son back to India, where Siddhartha  was raised by his grandparents.  During this time, when international phone calls were prohibitively expensive, music became central to Khosla’s life as he listened to his mother sing to him on cassette tapes she mailed from America.  Khosla’s song “Evergreen Cassette” is about this very experience, and was featured in the first season of  “This is Us.” Khosla’s love of music and connection to his Indian heritage were kept alive by his parents once he returned to the US, as they played old Indian movie soundtracks in their home. As a teenager, he embraced Western bands such as The Smiths, The Cure, The Beatles and Paul Simon.  Today, his childhood experiences and musical roots inform his scores and songs to convey a sound that is engagingly unique -- from vintage electric and acoustic guitars, and rare 1950s organs, to live orchestras and instruments from the Eastern hemisphere like the harmonium and the Greek bouzouki, to Flemish harpsichords and 80's analog synthesizers. In November 2013, Khosla was invited as the musical guest for First Lady Michelle Obama's Diwali celebration at the White House, where he delivered an emotional performance of several of his original songs. Khosla has a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, where he composed and sang for the university’s award-winning a cappella group, "Off the Beat."  He now resides in Los Angeles with his wife and children.

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