Visual storytelling and music go hand in hand—this is what Daniel Suett believes. Both crafts left a profound effect on his youth that he pursued a career revolving around such creative endeavors. Daniel has produced well-crafted musical scores that aid in storytelling, working alongside filmmakers and producers worldwide.
Daniel is a composer and music producer. Originally from London, his career started when he was selected by composers Hans Zimmer, Junkie XL, and Lorne Balfe from an online music contest of over 6,000 entries. Following his success, he moved to Santa Monica and trained as a staff writer, composing music for documentary programs on National Geographic, Discovery, MTV, and many other major networks. After a brief hiatus to travel in Europe with his now wife, the artist recently returned to his love for music, but this time he wanted to focus on film and the art of storytelling.
Upon his return, Daniel was asked by British composer Benjamin Wallfisch to contribute to the soundtrack for Mortal Kombat (2021). He co-produced the song “Techno Syndrome” for the end credits, a renewed version of the flagship theme tune from the original Mortal Kombat video game. More recently, he contributed to the soundtrack for Ron Howard’s upcoming Thirteen Lives, which depicts the heroic 2018 cave-diving rescue operation in Thailand.
Having worked with many filmmakers, choreographers, and other artists throughout the span of his career, Daniel has diversified his experience and broadened his expertise: “Being trained to switch between very different genres quite rapidly, but at a small scale, led me to try lots of different approaches for kick-starting creativity, so now I tend to pull from a wide variety of inspirations—including some non-music interests like nature, psychology, and dance.” Leveraging his background in dance performances, Daniel is driven to create more movement-led musical content. “There is a symbiotic, flowing connection between music and movement that I aim to channel into my compositions,” he added further.
Continuing to explore film, he is about to start work on the soundtrack for Persona, to be released in 2023, his second collaboration with writer-director Wade Jackson. The film revolves around the story of a young impersonator who falls for a mysterious stranger and slowly gets lured into assuming the identity of a missing Ivy League student.
Furthermore, Daniel shared that he enjoys teaming up with other creators through his production company Magic Blade, a bespoke musical world-building and sound design service for storytellers, animators, and filmmakers. The company also offers production services for other composers, musicians, and artists.
Daniel believes that music has many mysterious capabilities. From authentic, intimate dramas to swapping, operatic mythic universes, he finds musical craftsmanship fascinating on all scales. “Writing for film and narrative worlds means I get to indulge in a broad musical appetite and explore a challenging thematic puzzle at the same time.”
