Segun Akinola | Composer

Segun Akinola | Composer

Having played piano and drums since the age of five, Segun initially thought he might be a musician-producer, following in the footsteps of the artists who inspired him. But, as a lover of books and movies, Segun felt pulled towards a career that would allow him to tell stories. Eventually it clicked that composing for the screen would allow him to combine his love of both music and stories, and after a stint of work experience with a features composer, Segun was convinced it was where his future lay.

After graduating with a BA in Composition from the prestigious Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Segun began building his credits as a composer for the screen. Before long, Segun would score BBC Two’s landmark series Black and British: A Forgotten History. His breakthrough in features came when he composed Shola Amoo’s A Moving Image. Segun remembers seeing a crowdfunding campaign for A Moving Image and reaching out to Shola on Twitter, utterly convinced that he had to score the music for his film. He admits that it isn’t something he does often, but when you’re truly passionate about a project, you have to do everything you can to get involved.

For anyone wanting to get into composing, Segun’s advice is to listen to as many different types of music as possible, and to analyse what you hear so that you can build an understanding of your medium.