Meet Barry J Neely

We recently connected with Barry J Neely and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Barry J, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?

Confidence is all about trusting in yourself. And it’s about trusting your skills. If you’ve worked hard on those skills, chances are you’re going to be at least somewhat good at your craft.


After all the years of work I’ve put into music, I will fully admit that my confidence gets shaken, probably more than I’d like. I’m extremely passionate about what I do, and that passion comes with its share of sensitivity. If there’s an issue with a piece of music I’ve written for a film, I have to constantly remind myself what I’ve learned in my time working with filmmakers: it is usually a communication issue. It’s usually not my, you know, artistic integrity – nor skills – being called into question.

There was this one short film I worked on, with a director I’ve worked with before, where this communication issue came into play. I was coming up with themes that would eventually be transformed into the score for the whole film. I submitted theme after theme, but the director and producer just weren’t liking what I was sending. The themes felt right to me, but clearly weren’t working for them. After questioning everything I’d ever done musically in my life up to that point, it turned out that one of the producers just didn’t like piano, they didn’t think it fit the main character. But this wasn’t something that was explicitly told to me. And piano was in all of the versions! To finally figure out the issue, I sent them 4-5 tracks of various instruments playing the same melody that I had written. When I switched the simple piano to a flute, accompanied by viola, they loved it. And to this day that producer still compliments that music.

I always know that translating the desires of the filmmakers (and the story they want to tell) into music is my main job, but you always run into situations where you’re forced to re-learn lessons. And RE-learning can also help build your skill set even further.


So, my confidence comes not only from trust in my skills – built over a long time – but also from the lessons I’ve learned whenever a challenge is presented. But remembering those lessons is easier said than done.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am a film music composer. I love writing music in general, but I REALLY like writing music for picture.

I work in indie film. For me, this is a realm that allows for a lot of creativity and collaboration. Though it might not reach as wide an audience as studio-driven work, it somehow feels more satisfying.

I consider my brand to be intimate, grounded music. Not necessarily in style (as I tend to write pretty “out there” stuff), but in instrumentation. Small ensembles are where I really enjoy writing, and I feel like these ensembles reflect the characters on screen more closely. Like my prior story, one instrument can really reflect a character’s emotions. In that case, the flute part that I had written, as the producer of the film told me, “really captured the sound of longing.”


Right now, I’m enjoying the rewards of past projects. Films I scored 1-2 years ago are now starting to play on the festival circuit. I even went to two film festivals in the same weekend for the same film, so it was exciting to celebrate that work.

As for my most recent “project,” I should mention my new son, who was born only a few months ago. Right now, I’m diving into writing music while also having such a huge responsibility to another human being. But I’m looking forward to channeling these new emotions into the next film score.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I see three things as the way to succeed: be nice, be relatively good at your job, and stay in the game as long as possible.

“Be nice” is easy. There’s no reason to disparage anyone else, especially people you work with. Overall, most people in this industry just love filmmaking. 99% of the folks you work with have something valuable to contribute, so honor that and just be nice.

I know this seems a bit odd, but when I say “be relatively good at your job,” I mean that being nice and easy to work with is far more valuable – at least from a hiring standpoint – than being perfect at the job you’re doing. Always strive to do the absolute best you can, but stressing over being perfect is far outshined by working well with others.


Staying in the game as long as possible is exactly what it sounds like: a career in film is a marathon. And I’ve seen people burn out far too early. I have been almost jealous of some folks’ drive and ambition, only to never hear from them again. Passion is essential, but be conscious about pacing yourself.

If you truly love what you do, do what you can to survive to stay in the game. Work odd jobs, freelance wherever you can, just stay with it. There are no jobs that are beneath you, especially if they support your passion.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

I just had a kid. So, the work I do now needs to include him: directly or indirectly. I do not see a reason to give up anything musically. And in fact, I think it’s MORE important that I pursue my career even further. 


This means that I will have to work more efficiently, more diligently. But most importantly, I have to be more patient with myself. I’ve always been hard on my own work ethic as I know I get distracted easily. I have a feeling my new responsibilities are going to help me with all of that.

I may be early in the parenting game, but I’m not naive: I know it will be difficult. But if there’s one thing I want to pass on to my son, it’s that passion is a must. And exploring that passion is crucial to feeling fulfilled.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Main photo: Eric Toms

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Where does your optimism come from?

Optimism is the invisible ingredient that powers so much of the incredible progress in society

Confidence
Stories of Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

Learning from one another is what BoldJourney is all about. Below, we’ve shared stories and

Resilience
The Power of Persistence: Overcoming Haters and Doubters

Having hates is an inevitable part of any bold journey – everyone who has made