Amin Bhatia Interview
Amin Bhatia is an award-winning film and television composer, producer, and recording artist. Raised in Calgary, Alberta, Bhatia got his start working as a DJ and producer on Calgary’s CFCN radio station after graduating from SAIT’s Television, Stage and Radio program. He first caught the attention of legendary composers Ralph Dyck, Isao Tomita, and Oscar Peterson in 1981 and 1982, when he won the World Grand Prize at the Roland International Synthesizer Competition two years in a row. Peterson remarked at the time that “Amin’s music is a breath of fresh air in the world of not just synthesized music, but music as a whole”. As an electronic music composer and synthesist, Bhatia is known for layering analogue recordings to achieve a warm orchestral sound. Over the years, he has moved into orchestral work with film and television, and has nearly 50 scores to his credit.
Career Highlights
Bhatia has worked as a synthesist on Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1982), David Foster’s The Best of Me (1983) and Toto’s Fahrenheit (1986).
He has released two solo albums, Interstellar Suite in 1987, and Virtuality in 2008.
Bhatia’s television projects include Anne with an E, Flashpoint, X Company, Blood and Fury: America’s Civil War, and guest compositions on The Handmaid’s Tale.
He has worked on the feature films Storm, Iron Eagle II, Rescue Heroes: The Movie, John Woo’s Once a Thief, and many IMAX documentaries for filmmaker David Lickley.
Bhatia has won several Gemini Awards for his work on various television shows, a Canadian Screen Award for Flashpoint, and an Emmy nomination for the Disney animated television series Get Ed.