Tuning in to the art of Gergely Kis
As a continuation of introducing the talents that form our team, we present Gergely Kis a.k.a Geri, our Chief Operations Officer. He has been working at Brick from the company’s inception, for 9 years now. Geri is perhaps our most versatile member – apart from being the COO of the studio, he is an architect, 3D artist, pianist and music composer too. This article is dedicated to his musical work by listing various compositions, from tunes created for self-expression to melodies produced for Brick animations.
Geri’s flair for music surfaced in early childhood: he started playing piano at the age of 7 and created his first musical composition when he was 10. The most memorable experience that encouraged him to stay on the musical path dates back to a casual gathering, which also happened to be his very first performance. When he was 8, a group of 40 university students visited their home and sang a song for his mother in appreciation of her academic registrar activities. Geri accompanied the group on piano, for which he received acknowledgment. The ongoing support of his family, school and all those who inspired him along the way contributed greatly to his success as a musician, for which he feels a deep sense of gratitude.
Inside, the impro song that the artist is most content with
Style & Inspiration
His main inspiration comes from movie soundtracks – he cites Ludovico Einaudi as his role model, who has composed scores for prominent films like The Intouchables. Apart from that, Geri has an interest in and knowledge of a broad range of musical styles from classical to electronic, jazz and pop music. He is most confident in expressing himself through heroic and jazzy styles, but he welcomes the chance to perform at weddings and to create songs for children or commercials. Whatever the request, he finds it essential to gain inspiration accordingly: he does research and trains himself to adjust to the genre in question.
The Flow
Geri also creates music freely, solely for art’s sake. He starts the creation process by setting a cozy ambiance with subdued lights, in privacy. Then he begins improvising and fully immersing himself in the act of creation. The song titled Inside (see above) was born out of such a process – in fact, it wasn’t even intended as a composition. The solemn piano solo organically grew into a work of art. For Geri, this is a unique piece which he has not been able to play the same way ever since he created and recorded it.
Silver Suites Offices at 7 World Trade Center, created in 2013
Compositions for Brick
Perhaps it is unsurprising that with such extensive knowledge of music, Geri became the composer of Brick Visual. The first musical piece he created for the company was for an animation project introducing the new offices of the World Trade Center. He had experienced the creative block for 2 days before he stepped back from the task. By doing so, he unburdened himself and inspiration suddenly struck him and he completed the scores (see video above). Not only did this case teach him a valuable lesson – liberating yourself can give you the extra creative push -, but it also paved the way for him to create compositions for Brick on an ongoing basis.
The music of Showreel 2017 was a huge success – some clients of ours even wanted to buy it
Quintessence – Geri’s latest work
Since then, he has created compositions for 2 showreels (see above) and numerous projects. With the support of Brick, a vinyl titled Liquid was published in 2018 which contains a selection of his works created for the company.
‘I can’t dream about greater acclaim. Imagine what it’s like to be an architect and produce music for the best architecture studios of the world. Take Kengo Kuma & Associates for example, who were part of my university syllabus 10-15 years ago – I can’t explain how honored I feel to have composed for their animation. Brick made these experiences possible, and for that I’m thankful.’
Gergely Kis
He delivered the music for Kengo Kuma’s animation by an exceptionally tight deadline
Collaborations
It is not typical for Geri to work with someone when music is considered. For him, composing is a solitary activity. The exception to this is a collaboration between him and our Workgroup Leader, András Vida and Production Manager, Giulia Adami. He provided the melodies for their video titled Lego Ideas Project, a private project which represents the Lego version of the Milwaukee Art Museum. The striking visuals created by András and Giulia, paired with the heroic tunes of Geri were well received by the designer of the building, Santiago Calatrava, and the public alike.
An exciting project with Brick artists, who will soon be featured in Art of Brick as well
Music to our ears
Brick procured a piano within one year of Geri’s arrival and has owned an office piano ever since. This allows him to play freely and surprise our team with ad hoc piano performances. In giving jazzy musical performances at the office, he is also very attentive not to disturb anyone who is in deep work. Our team enjoys listening to his performances, we feel it also contributes to our company culture as it builds a sense of belonging.
On a final (musical) note, we would like to set the tone for the weekend with the following song:
Thoughts of a Weekend
