Elijah B. Torn, MassiveMusic

Just the Facts: Age – 30; Hometown – Bearsville, New York; Education – studied photography and editing at NYU, earned a BFA; Employ – started working in MassiveMusic’s New York office two years ago as an assistant; composed his first spot in 2008.

Previous Experience: The son of film composer David Torn (Lars and the Real Girl), Elijah took piano lessons as a kid and wound up developing “a love of synthesizers and tweaking knobs that continues to this day.” In addition to assisting at several music companies over the past 10 years, he’s worked steadily on a self-titled live electronic music project, which involves a laptop bass and live looping. He describes the end result as “technology-based but with some heart and grit in it”.

Best Work: “Arrival” for international food producer Cargill and agency Martin Williams marked a complete departure from his gritty electronic vibe. The spot, about a fishing town in Alaska awaiting the arrival of a cargo ship, needed a breezy, seafaring soundtrack. Torn wrote the piece on piano, recording with accordion, violin, mandolin, French horn and guitar. “That spot clicked even though it wasn’t my area of expertise,” he says. “They were such strong visuals that it was easy to relate to the characters and get a feel for that town. I’d been in British Columbia for a while, grew my beard out and had a sore throat so I was taking Fisherman’s Friend so I really embodied the spot.”

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