Michael Sempert(I)

Michael Sempert's music is equal parts heart and craft. He has composed original scores for award-winning feature films Sex Weather, A Room Full of Nothing and Homestate as well as the Nickelodeon TV movie Bixler High Private Eye. His original songs have been licensed for television by ABC's Grey's Anatomy, Netflix' Bloodline and many more. In 2015, Sempert and fellow composer Peter Bayne co-founded West Channel, a commercial music house whose clients include Electrolux, Disney Jr, and Visa as well as the non-profits Change Heroes and the UN Foundation. Sempert graduated from the double-degree program at Tufts and New England Conservatory of Music ('04) in his home town of Boston, MA with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Composition. While living in the Bay Area of California, Sempert was lead singer and music director for the band Birds & Batteries, writing and producing five critically acclaimed albums and performing hundreds of shows around the US. Pitchfork described their 2009 EP Up To No Good as "a high-concept mashup of two of the slickest eras of pop production." Mike's first solo album, Mid Dream was released on Velvet Blue Music in 2014 and included the song "Finest Line", which was licensed for television as well as viral videos accruing over 22 million views on YouTube. In 2015, Sempert released an album of instrumental jazz-fusion electronic music under the moniker Volcanic Legacy, with companion video-remixes of BBC's Planet Earth. His second solo album, Tend the Flame was released on his label Eightmaps Records in 2017 and features the single "Distance", which has been licensed by multiple TV shows and accrued over half a million plays on Spotify. Sempert's third solo album, Reunion of Sparks was released on Infinity Maps, July 9th, 2019. Sempert's latest feature film A Room Full of Nothing premiered at Method Fest in Los Angeles in 2019 and won the Maverick Award for Quality in Low-Budget Filmmaking. Sempert's score features a hybrid of atmospheric synth and organic original songs. Sempert's short film Dynamite, directed by Leila Jarman and featuring Maceo Paisley premiered at Outfest LA 2019 and will go on to BAFTA-affiliated Aesthetica Short Film Festival in London.