‘This Is Us’ Composer Siddhartha Khosla Signs With ASCAP
Siddhartha Khosla, one of the busiest composers in TV with ongoing assignments for “This Is Us,” “The Kids Are Alright” and “Marvel’s Runaways,” has made the move to ASCAP, the performing-rights organization announced Wednesday.
For all of his steady television gigs, “This is Us” remains by far the most prominent, partly because he provides prominent acoustic scoring for so many emotional moments— or, as NPR put it, “Siddhartha Khosla has tiptoed into the tear ducts of millions of Americans.”
Related stories
'Leaving Neverland,' 'Surviving R. Kelly' Composers on How They Scored Sexual Abuse Docs
How 'Us' Pulled Off Subtle Differences in Costumes, Design, Music for Parallel Characters
Tom Holkenborg to Keynote Inaugural Synthplex Music Conference (EXCLUSIVE)
But “This is Us” also stands out because Khosla is able to exercise his songwriting chops there, too, in addition to scoring. Mandy Moore sang “Invisible Ink” on the show this season. Another original song written for the series, “We Can Always Come Back to This,” topped the blues chart and recently picked up a nomination from the Guild of Music Supervisors for best song/recording for television.
“Siddhartha is one of the most promising talents in film and television composing today,” ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews said in a statement. “His work for ‘This Is Us’brought his music into the homes and hearts of millions of TV viewers and Hollywood is lining up projects that deserve his singular touch.”
Khosla is set to score the upcoming hip-hop-themed film “Beats” for Netflix and a miniseries adaptation of John Green’s novel “Looking for Alaska” for Hulu. Previous credits include songs for the movie musical “Basmati Blues” and a score for E!’s initial foray into scripted drama, “The Royals.”
The composer recently acknowledged his “insane schedule” in an interview with the North Jersey Record, saying, “Between the various projects, my team and I are delivering three to four hours of television a week.”
In an interview with Variety’s Jon Burlingame in 2017, Khosla recalled being sent the pilot script for “This is Us” by his former University of Pennsylvania classmate, producer Dan Fogelman. ““It moved me,” he said. “I could hear music in my head. I recorded this five- or six-minute piece of music — acoustic guitar, cello, some darker atmospheric sounds. He loved it. … “The music had to be organic, something that felt homegrown. Just like Dan’s script, it could have a simplicity that was also complex, memorable, melodic, emotive.”
Khosla also sang several of his own songs at Michelle Obama’s Diwali celebration in 2013, which he described as the highlight of his career. He grew up in a family based in both India and the United States and, after permanently settling in America, co-founded a band. Goldspot, that earned synchs in a number of prominent ad campaigns as well as having songs featured in “The O.C.” and “How I Met Your Mother.”
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
