Interview with Claire Gallagher, of Animal Theory.

I’m so excited to introduce you to the brilliant mind behind the artwork for my Album. Claire Gallagher is a great friend and beautiful artist. She really made my vision come true and was so wonderful to collaborate with. Here’s a little more about Claire!

How did you come up with Animal theory? 

Animal Theory was born out of the desire to house all of my creative endeavors (graphic design, illustration, music playlists, etc) in one place. For me, the name speaks to the contrast between the presence of animals and the headiness of humans. Animals are, humans think they are. So I like to try and play with that. Also the url was available. 

What are some inspirations for you as an artist and how did you get into it? 

The first thing that comes to mind is folk arts and crafts -- Mexican ceramics and textiles, Inuit printmaking, the quilts of Gee's Bend. There's such a vibrancy in all of these. I respond strongly to moods, and I love the idea of art being accessible and made by anyone. But I also like art that feels dark and strange, like Egon Schiele and Goya's stuff. I suppose I love life and color, but more-so against a backdrop of death and darkness. 

I got into art through working in film (though I had always made some form of art while growing up) - doing everything from pitch decks to set design. I have an English degree and a patchwork art education, so I think that's why I am drawn to a naive, democratic concept of art. 

What do you like most about collaborating with other artists? 

Artists have a first hand understanding of and respect for the process. I've worked with a lot of folks who have no idea how something artistic, whether it's a logo or an illustration or whatever, is actually made. It's not entirely linear. So it's really nice to work with other artists because there's an unspoken understanding of how fickle creative work can be, and you don't have to rely on faulty language to try and communicate that. 

Where can I find more and are you working on anything exciting? 

My website! www.animaltheory.com. I've been on a much needed Instagram hiatus, but @animal.theory is still alive out there. I recently did a neat collaboration with a San Francisco boutique called Gravel & Gold, so the textile pattern I designed could be on your bod come Spring 2019! Scope their Instagram for some sneak peeks. (@gravelandgoldsf)    

4

Goodbye UCLA

It has officially been two years since I moved to Los Angeles to do the Film Scoring program at UCLA. Last week I attended graduation and it is pretty surreal to think that my time at UCLA has come and gone. This program has been so much more than I expected and I genuinely feel equipped to begin building a career as a media composer. I came to LA with a degree in Voice; while the subjects aren't unrelated I felt extremely intimidated. For the past two months I've been writing the music for a web series (post on that later) and it has been so rewarding to know what I'm doing. Two years ago I would have felt completely clueless as to where to even begin. I've done many projects in this program that, when assigned, all I thought was, "what the hell am I doing here?". (see video below for example) To come to the other side of this experience and know that I was able to accomplish the tasks at hands, and experience so much growth as a musician and as a person makes this whole thing a beautiful blimp on what I hope to be a long career as a film composer. 

Onward and upward

Lets do this.

Here is the video clip of my final assignment in my conducting class- the last class where I got to work with musicians. 

-HB