Today we’d like to introduce you to Zoltan Monori.
Hi Zoltan, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I have always looked up to my parents as my idols. They are both hard-working, humble, kind people who dedicated their life to be doctors and help people. Their mentality left a huge impact on my life early on. They also showed me the beauty in sports and started my long journey of professional swimming career at the age of 4. Along my academic years in Hungary, I fell in love with music production and sound design, which led me to my goal of pursuing my career in the United States. With parental support and my professional athletic career, I was able to be granted for a scholarship in the United States and pursue my dream career while swimming for the bees. Shortly after graduation, after four years of amazing memories, hard work and learning, I got a job offer in New York City. And here we are, it’s been six months working for Heard City as an assistant mixer working for companies like Apple, Facebook, Google, Mercedes. I feel extremely grateful, blessed and thankful for so many people in my life.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The past five years was incredibly challenging. Luckily, swimming taught me to master my time management skills, besides school and social life. 15 years of competitive swimming career was extremely challenging practicing twelve times a week and waking up at 5 am every single morning. As an international creative, I had challenges in regards to my English proficiency. There were many times in my life during my academic years in the United States when I felt overwhelmed with all my responsibilities, but I was surrounded by motivating and inspiring people around me who helped me along the way. At the end, it was all worth it for the trials and tribulations. Career-wise, I spent long hours in finding my sound collaborating with people all over the globe, which led me to earn a Red-Dot award in 2021. As far as swimming is concerned, I won the National Championship n the NAIA league in 200 yards individual medley and became a 21-time All-American. Challenges in life are shaping us and makes us grow.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
The general role of the assistant-mixer is to aid mixers and producers to ensure that jobs run smoothly and efficiently. One of the most important aspects of this job is effective and timely communication. As an assistant-mixer, we are expected to have proficiency in using a Digital Audio Workstation such as Pro Tools and be knowledgeable in sound equipments and troubleshooting any issues that may occur at any point. To be successful in this job, you have to be a great communicator and team-player. Although I am working full-time as an assistant, I do a lot of freelance work not only in music production but also graphic design and motion media design, which makes me a more versatile individual
What makes you happy?
This is a really tough question, which makes me deeply look into myself. From one perspective, happy clients always make me feel happy. To be able to help someone is a great feeling. A famous Hungarian scientist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi did a lot of research on his Flow-Theory, which is a state of mind in which a person becomes fully immersed in an activity. In this state of mind, you are not thinking about time or anything else. This is an ecstatic feeling that I am always seeking for when I am creating art.
Contact Info:
- Email: monorzo.sound@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.monorzo.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoltan_monori/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zoltan.monori.9
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCYRpvZN_VnFY53IUw2uY1g
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/album/68FKoUx1QcSF3kVwbv8m6T?si=FjsDYMI1SEmwO8XZ7KJZ-Q&nd=1
Image Credits
Briana Avalos, Juan Velasco
