Indian American composer Siddhartha Khosla nominated for an Emmy

- ADVERTISEMENT -

Indian American film and television composer, and singer/songwriter/producer of the critically acclaimed band, Goldspot, Siddhartha Khosla, has been nominated for an Emmy award for his score on NBC’s hit drama series, “This Is Us,” starring Mandy Moore, Milo Ventimiglia, and Sterling K. Brown.

Khosla composed the hit song, “We Can Always Come Back To This,” which ranked #12 on iTunes Top 100 songs and #1 in the Billboard Blues Charts for four consecutive weeks, according to IMDb.

The song earned Khosla an award nomination from the Guild of Music Supervisors for Best Song/Recording for Television. Following the show’s season two finale, the “This is Us (Music from the Series) Season 2” soundtrack was released and included the song “I Got You Babe” by Khosla’s band, Goldspot.

Khosla also scored award-winning independent film thriller/mystery drama “The Sounding,” from director Catherine Eaton starring Harris Yulin (Netflix’ Ozark, Training Day, Scarface), Frankie Faison (HBO’s The Wire), Erin Darke (AMC’s Dietland), and Teddy Sears (Masters of Sex). The film won 17 awards including four Festival Grand Prizes, Best Actor prizes, Best Cinematography Awards, multiple Best Narrative Awards, etc. from festivals like Woodstock, Bend, Istanbul, Napa, Cinequest.

Khosla is currently scoring ABC’s new Tim Doyle comedy series, “The Kids Are Alright,” starring Michael Cudlitz and Mary McCormack. He also scores Hulu’s original series, “Marvel’s Runaways,” and E!’s first scripted drama series, “The Royals,” starring Elizabeth Hurley. Additionally, he composed original songs for the musical film “Basmati Blues,” starring Academy Award-winner Brie Larson and Golden Globe Award-winner Donald Sutherland. Khosla recently scored CBS’ comedy series “Me, Myself and I,” starring John Larroquette and feature film comedy “Fat Camp,” starring Chris Redd and Vivica A. Fox.

Khosla began scoring for television and film while fronting his acclaimed band, Goldspot, which was first discovered on KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic.” NPR described Goldspot as “An inventive sound and independent vision.” The Sunday Times U.K. called it “the best band to come out of America in years.” In 2013, the band’s album “Aerogramme” captured #1 Album of the Year on the Los Angeles Times’ pop music best albums list. Goldspot released three studio albums, including one with Mercury U.K./Universal Records, with hit singles reaching #10 in the U.K. radio charts, and #11 in the Alternative Charts. Goldspot’s original songs have been featured on numerous TV shows, including “This Is Us,” How I Met Your Mother,” “The O.C.” and “The Neighbors,” as well as in major advertising campaigns for Google, Target and Apple.

Khosla’s Indian-born parents came to the U.S. in the mid-seventies to make the American dream their own, according to IMDb. With only eight dollars upon arrival, they were forced to take night jobs while they completed graduate school during the day. They had no choice but to send their toddler son back to India, where Khosla was raised by his grandparents. During this time, when international phone calls were prohibitively expensive, music became central to Khosla’s life as he listened to his mother sing to him on cassette tapes she mailed from America. Khosla’s song “Evergreen Cassette” is about this very experience, and was featured in the first season of “This is Us.”

Khosla’s love of music and connection to his Indian heritage were kept alive by his parents through the old Indian movie soundtracks they played in their home once he returned to the U.S. As a teenager, he embraced Western bands such as The Smiths, The Cure, The Beatles and Paul Simon. Today, his childhood experiences and musical roots inform his scores and songs to convey a sound that is engaging and unique. Khosla is a skilled multi-instrumentalist, and uses varied instrumentation on his scores from vintage electric and acoustic guitars, rare organs, orchestras, Eastern instruments like the harmonium and the Greek bouzouki, to Flemish harpsichords and vintage analog synthesizers.

In November 2013, Khosla was invited as the musical guest for First Lady Michelle Obama’s Diwali celebration at the White House, where he delivered an emotional performance of several of his original songs.

Khosla has a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, where he composed and sang for the university’s award-winning a cappella group, “Off the Beat.” He now resides in Los Angeles with his wife and children.

Variety reported in March of this year that Khosla moved to ASCAP, the performing-rights ofrganization.

“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,” Variety wrote, adding, “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.”

“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.”

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 told Deadline in an interview earlier this year, of his score for the NBC series: “I had to find a sound for the show that that was cohesive to all of it and also felt organic and timeless. And so for me, that timeless sound came by acoustic guitar. … All the drums you hear in the show, all the percussion is my playing everything with my fingers. I’m playing percussion on a wooden table. Everything is rooted in some organic thing.”