The Music+Sound Awards Talk: Matej Oreskovic, EP at MACHINE

12/07/2024

Music+Sound Awards

Associations, Award Shows and Festivals

London, UK

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12/07/2024

In this interview MASA explore the distinct nuances of the US and UK advertising scenes, the collaborative spirit Matej fosters within his team and the exciting projects currently keeping them busy!

Matej Oreskovic is executive producer at Machine New York. Hailing from Croatia, Oreskovic joined Machine’s London team in 2018, having already worked at some of the industry’s leading audio facilities. His passion for creative sound design and composition has helped drive the company’s evolution from a boutique studio to an award-winning, transatlantic audio company. Working closely with Machine’s team of sound designers, composers and producers, Oreskovic has led audio production on commercial projects that have been recognised and celebrated at awards shows and advertising festivals around the world, including Cannes Lions, D&AD, the Clios and the British Arrows. Read on to hear more…

MASA> You’ve been an EP at Machine for nearly six years now - can you give us the scoop on how you got your first break into the industry and what your professional journey has been from then until now?

MATEJ> My first industry job was at a large film production company. After sending my CV to over 50 companies without much success, I walked into the one I wanted to work for the most and spoke to the office manager for a good hour. She thought I was there for an audition. After she realised that I wasn’t an actor, she kindly made me aware there were no open positions. I sat on the sofa and refused to leave until they gave me a gig. I was there for six hours with a promise that I’ll be back tomorrow. It worked.

Following that, my love for music and sound led me to post production. 10 years in London paved the way for a move West to set up Machine NY. We launched nine months ago, are currently a team of five and are expanding quickly.

MASA> Such exciting times. In your role as executive producer, how do you specifically contribute to moulding the overall creative process, and how does your role interact with the rest of the team’s?

MATEJ> I have always had a creative approach to the production process and encourage creative involvement across departments. We look at projects as a team with the engineers / composers and brainstorm the less-obvious. There is always one person leading the project but we tend to listen to things together. My role is to make sure we add value, don’t get lost in the fast-paced rhythm of the process, and end with the best creative possible...

MASA> What projects are you working on currently?

MATEJ> We’re working on a sound-driven campaign for Xfinity for the upcoming Olympics, just completed an original music composition piece for Rolls Royce, and are in the process of figuring out implementation of sounds for a series of video games. Never a dull moment.

MASA> Do you have a standout project that left a lasting impression or presented notable challenges in your career? What were the key lessons learned from that experience?

MATEJ> There were a few long-form projects I have had an opportunity to work on in my career. I wish I could do one of them over again, entirely from scratch. It was a serious project with an incredible and experienced team. The mistake I made is thinking we need to scale up with a 'more experienced' team of long-form audio folks to overcompensate for the lack of IMDB credits, rather than stick with a predominantly short-from crew we know worked well together.

What I learned is that short-form sound designers are just as (if not more) detailed in their approach, meticulous and fast! Hindsight is a beautiful thing.

MASA> Have you noticed any distinctions between working in the US and the UK?

MATEJ> Yes, I have. The US is a much larger market and things move at a faster pace. Besides the differences in terminology, day to day operations, and roles... the client’s approach to sound design is slightly different. In London there tends to be a larger emphasis placed on creative sound design whilst in the US commercial advertising space there is more focus on the “mix” as a whole package. Neither is better or worse, just different.

MASA> That’s so interesting. And what trends in ad music have you noticed of late? How do you manage to stay ahead of industry shifts?

MATEJ> It’s ones that I’m not seeing in ads but seeing in pop culture that are more interesting perhaps. I think re-emergence of certain genres in commercial music is interesting. We’re all familiar with the cyclical nature of music trends - '80s synth-pop is still holding on after coming through in a big way a few years back. The Weeknd, Dua Lipa, and other artists enjoyed seeing their tunes topping the charts by taking inspiration from the '80s. You could hear Vince Clarke in a lot of Jack Anthonoff’s stuff. Country / Americana is having a moment which hasn’t translated to the ad side yet. I try to listen as much as possible to things that I might not even like at first go.

MASA> How do you think a competition like The Music+Sound Awards impacts the industry?

MATEJ> It’s one of the rare competitions in which most of the judges are experts in the field they are judging, so I do think for us audiophiles it means a lot. I find it to be an incredible recruitment tool. I’m always on the lookout for new talent and I love to see new names popping up and being nominated.

MASA> And lastly, what will you be looking for when judging? What makes a piece of work worthy of a Music+Sound Award?

MATEJ> Might be obvious, but... detail. I will be listening out for interesting off-camera action, relevance to visuals and integration with the same. Why are certain sounds selected, and do they need to be there? Ultimately, what makes a piece worthy of a MASA is a combination of technical proficiency, innovation and the emotional impact it has on us.