What's Creative?: Don't Stop Now: Daniel Rojas and the Music of Kipo

Daniel Rojas (not to be confused with fellow musician Daniel Rojas) is a Costa Rican composer and producer. Born in 1988 in Heredia, he was raised in a family of many musical traditions: classical piano on his mom’s side, and big band trumpet on his dad’s. Upon graduating from the University of North Texas with a degree in jazz guitar, he immediately got to work as an apprentice composing and arranging music. Ever since, he has worked out of LA’s 506 Music studio taking contracts big and small.

Although Rojas has been working in the industry for over 10 years, composing for Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts was his first main credit role, and to great effect. The acclaim he has received has made it his big break in many ways, and he is now well on his way to becoming more than a simple professional. He has recently reached the point where he has had to begin turning down job offers, and taking on only the ones that he personally connects with. He doesn’t just do it for the love of the craft, though: he writes to share with others. He says, “I get gratification by seeing people enjoy the projects I’m working with…I’m doing this for other people too”. In a field built around building bridges, why wouldn’t he be?

He's having fun, I think.

At any rate, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts is a show in which Kipo, a girl from the underground, gets stranded on the surface deserted by humans for hundreds of years. Rojas has played an instrumental role in its development: not only has he composed the score (the instrumental portion, the topic of our discussion here today), he has also composed its original (lyrical) songs and worked with independent artists to work their own music into the show. All in all, a herculean effort. And that is not even to mention the sheer variety of hats he wears as composer alone! From hip-hip to Zydeco to dubstep to folk to metal, he draws upon his diverse background to do it all, and do it all well. No wonder Kipo has become his “calling card” project.

The duality of Kipo

In an aggressively visual medium like animation, visuals are everything. So when he was composing the Kipo score, Rojas took every chance he could get to view animatics, storyboards, and other key visuals. An old piece of advice from veteran composer Klaus Badelt seems to have stuck with him: “melody is visual, and the music should respond to that, taking visual cues as your lead and simply respond to it”. It is no surprise then that the music of Kipo is a masterclass in making the story soar. By letting the story come first, by composing in a largely subdued manner, the big musical moments hit few and far between, and hit hard.

My favorite example of this is in Season 1 Episode 6, where a track called “Scarlemagne’s Waltz” plays. The character of Scarlemagne, the crazy mandrill pictured below, is obsessed with everything French. Specifically, Romantic Era (19^th century).

See? French.

Drawing on his expertise with a variety of styles, Rojas fashions his triumphant entrance theme after French composer Hector Berlioz, with a modern twist: the screeching violins and crashing piano are matched with trap drums and booming bass synths. It is a truly electric piece. The first time I heard it, I almost threw my phone across the room. Such are the joys of synthesis. Since this track is but 50 seconds long, I highly encourage you to listen to it yourself.