Meet Zoltan Monori | Sound Designer & Music Composer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Zoltan Monori and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Zoltan, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
To be able to sustain a harmonized lifestyle, you have to find the golden mean of nourishing your life goals, nurturing your social life, and having fun. Working in the audio industry as a Sound Designer & Music Producer the deadlines for films, animations, song collaborations could be very overwhelming and difficult. Handling such a great amount of workload requires heavy focus and calm. Prioritizing and managing these projects could be quite difficult, but fifteen years of competitive swimming had a significant impact on my life helping me cooperating with overwhelming workloads. Swimming taught me to harmonize my life and to have a strong work ethic, discipline, and consistency. Although I am not a professional athlete anymore, I am implementing physical activity in my everyday life to work with a fresh mindset, which I can highly recommend to anyone.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Music is a form of art and my form of self-expression. When people are listening to my songs, they are listening to a part of me. I consider myself as a versatile artist exploring genres from lush cinematic scores to heavy electronic dance music and everything in-between. Music is everywhere, you just have to listen for it. I mean, I have turned car indicator beeps, pure room tones, mobile ringtones, and many other objects to music. Everything has a beauty and a unique character that is yet to be explored. But who I am today is not who I always used to be. I used to be a rebel in third-grade elementary school who refused to sing in music classes and almost failed. My music teacher used to be so mad at me. Eventually, I was able to see the beauty of this invisible artform through Electronic Dance Music and my life turned 180 degrees when I pursued my career at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where I was majoring in Sound Design. The music & audio industry heavily relies on networking and collaboration, which I learned along the way. Throughout these academic years, I have met and collaborated with countless talented musicians, singers, directors, and animators. It is not easy to be a musician especially for someone who doesn’t play any instrument. Luckily, we live in the 21st century, where technology immensely helps us, and you don’t need to play any musical instrument to be a musician. I watched an infinite number of tutorials and music-related videos to teach myself something that I love. Nothing is impossible if you have a burning dedication and work ethic for something that you truly love from the bottom of your heart. As of now, I am the Supervising Sound Editor of an upcoming Star Wars fan Animation amongst many other projects that I cannot wait to share. If there’s something I’d like people to remember of me, is the love and dedication I put in this field and that you can pursue anything with the right attitude.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This tiny city in the heart of Georgia called Savannah stands really close to my heart. It is a picturesque, painterly beautiful artistic humble place. Savannah has a lot of historic buildings that make you feel as if you were in a movie – no wonder why there are so many film shoots here every year. There are countless amount of charming coffee places including Foxy Loxy or Gallery Coffee. If you’d like to chill in nature, Forsyth Park is the perfect place to go. Savannah is also the home for SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design), which offers a home for thousands of creatives. One of my favorite places in Savannah is River Street, which goes alongside River Savannah.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Throughout the past years, I have met many talented and inspiring people. I made friends with a lot of creatives and unique individuals, but people come and go easily. That’s how just life works in the 21st century. One of the few people in my life, who has been always there for me are my parents. They are cheering for my success, and they lift me up when I am down. We win and we cry together. I know that they are solid rocks in my life and that I can rely on them as much as they can rely on me. I am very thankful for them for accepting who I am and supporting my decision to be an artist. Without them, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. Their unconditional love is truly inspiring and heartwarming, and I wish everyone a person in their life as my parents are.

Website: https://www.monorzo.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoltan_monori/?hl=hu

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoltan-monori-a13501139/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCYRpvZN_VnFY53IUw2uY1g

Image Credits
Briana Avalos, Anna-Kate McGinty, Juan Velsua,