JUST THE FACTS: Age - 25; Hometown - Denver, CO; Education - Brigham Young University, linguistics; Employ - joined Robot Repair officially in August 2005.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE: While studying linguistics he was drafted by his brother Aaron to do session work for his newly formed company Robot Repair in 2004. "I've played guitar my whole life but I wasn't planning to become a professional musician. In the end I didn't even finish school; I saw the opportunity and took it!"

BEST WORK: Sparse tinkling notes complement the icy landscape in Alden's work for Cadillac "CTS", layered over surging bass and warm piano riffs. "I tend to write stuff that, although it's electronic, still has a very natural organic feel to it," he says. That contrasts with the simple plucked strains of an acoustic guitar (Cadillac "Crest"), to accentuate the artisanal qualities of the brand.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD COMPOSER: Keeping your ear to the ground to keep abreast of what's the musical flavor of the month is key, as is the ability to compromise. "You have to be flexible and open minded and not necessarily too attached to your work, but also absolutely passionate about it as well."

First memory of ad music: "A Levi's commercial when I was 12. It had this incredibly simple piano melody. I could probably still hum it to you to this day."

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