DANIEL VEERAPEN

MUSIC PRODUCER DIRECTOR / FILM SCORER

danielvee

MUSIC PRODUCER, DIRECTOR AND FILM SCORER, 33-year-old Daniel Veerapen produces music for a range of people and projects. Having worked on the score and music for various, films, events and artists ‒ like Zainal Abidin, M. Nasir, Vince Chong as well as our Men of the Year recipient, Ash Nair to name but a few. In fact, Daniel was also one of the masterminds behind the opening music for the SEA Games in 2017, which took place in Kuala Lumpur ‒ in which he was music director.

How did your family suppo your decision to do music?

I’m thankful that my family were very supportive with not only my decision on a career, but even my brother, who now races cars for a living.

In the beginning it was my grandmother who got me into music by giving me piano lessons. She was adamant that I completed my ABRSM piano exam. Although, ultimately it was my father who was one of my biggest inspirations, and which has led me to become who I am today.

When did you realise you wanted to do music for a living?

My passion for music grew as I was in high school; and back then I switched to playing the drums instead of the piano, which I thoroughly enjoyed too. Therefore I joined bands and played with the school orchestra and somewhere along the way I realised this is what I wanted to be doing. It also helped that my dad started taking notice of my talent and figured I could hone my skills and put it to good use. That’s the short version of how my career in music kickstarted.

What are your sources of inspiration?

This is a tricky question, because people can find inspiration from every where, and in the very beginning, in the most traditional way, it was like I would become inspired by something and I write it out.

However now I’ve evolved to envision the final product, and think about how I want the viewer to feel, and I draw from the emotions that I want the viewers or listeners to revel in. For example if it’s a love story, I think about who would be viewing this, how would they be feeling at this particular scene, and I craft accordingly.

In an ideal world, I’d love to be able to sit by the beach and try to find inspiration, but nowadays, when you start working for clients, there’s just no time to do such things.