Hispanic/Asian Composer, Daniel Rojas, Bringing Diverse Sound to Netflix's “Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts”

Daniel Rojas has become the first half Hispanic, half Asian composer to score a series for an American media service provider. The show is DreamWorks Animation’s latest project for Netflix, titled Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts. Some of Daniel’s other titles include the Oscar-winning movie Room with Brie Larson, Jodie Foster's thriller Money Monster starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts; and Alexander Payne's Downsizing starring Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig. The soundtrack for the show is available now from Back Lot Music.

When discussing working on the project, Daniel says “The music for the show is an eclectic mix of genres and styles… from hip-hop to rock, folk and even classical music. Growing up in an Asian family in Latin America, I was introduced to many different styles of music early on that I have been able to build upon since moving to the United States. What has been great about this show is it has allowed me to draw from all of that to create a sound that is not traditional to animation.”

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts follows a young girl named Kipo who emerges from her life underground only to be thrust into an adventure on the surface of a fantastical post-apocalyptic Earth. She joins a ragtag group of survivors as they embark on a journey through a vibrant wonderland where everything that’s trying to kill them also happens to be downright adorable.

The show was created and executive produced by Radford Sechrist (How to Train Your Dragon 2) and executive produced and developed for television by Bill Wolkoff (The Man Who Fell to Earth). The series stars Karen Fukuhara (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) as the enthusiastic and curious “Kipo;” Sydney Mikayla (General Hospital) as “Wolf,” a weapon-wielding survivor who knows the ins and outs of the surface; Coy Stewart (The Blacklist) as the happy-go-lucky “Benson;” Deon Cole (black-ish) as “Dave,” a talking insect who has the jarring ability to suddenly age a full life cycle without warning; and Dee Bradley Baker (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) as the adorable mutant pig “Mandu”. Guest stars include Sterling K. Brown (Frozen 2) as Kipo’s father “Lio Oak;” Dan Stevens (Legion) as the power-hungry “Scarlemagne;” Lea Delaria (Orange Is the New Black) as Timbercat “Molly Yarnchopper;” Joan Jett as rocker snake “Camille;” and John Hodgman and GZA (Wu Tang Clan) as the cosmically-curious wolves “Billions and Billions.”

ABOUT DANIEL ROJAS:

Born and raised in the Costa Rican town of Heredia, music has been around Daniel since childhood. Daniel’s mother was a classical pianist and his father was a trumpet player & band director. Daniel began listening to film scores after his brother, whom also plays the trumpet, developed a passion for them, often times encouraging Daniel to learn parts of the scores on the piano and guitar. After playing in numerous bands, Daniel decided to pursue music professionally at 15 years old and later went on to study Jazz Guitar at the University of North Texas, where he received a scholarship. In 2009, he moved to LA and began working as an assistant and occasional guitarist at the studios of composers such as Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt. Eventually composing additional music under Klaus and later deciding to open his own studio in 2015.

Five years later, Daniel has written music for over 60 feature films, TV shows and video-games. His latest project being the DreamWorks Animation series for Netflix titled “Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts”. Other titles include the Oscar-winning movie “Room” (Brie Larson), Jodie Foster's thriller “Money Monster” starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts; and Alexander Payne's latest movie, "Downsizing" starring Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig. In addition to film scoring, he has produced and arranged a wide variety of songs for several labels under Sony Music and Universal Music Group.