Ross Wallace Chait is a composer and performer from Los Angeles. He has composed for television, theater, commercials, and film. After graduating from Oberlin College in 2013 with majors in Music and English, he moved back to Los Angeles and immediately took a position as personal assistant to songwriter and Oscar-winning composer Randy Newman from 2013-2015. Under Mr. Newman, Ross gained an incomparable knowledge of the writing and composing process, working with Randy one on one as he wrote and played from home, in the studio, and on the road. He left the position to pursue career opportunities as a performer, touring extensively throughout North America, South America, Asia, and Europe.
Chait continues to play, write, and record as a songwriter, singer, pianist, and drummer with multiple ensembles including his own group Total Heat, and as drummer and multi-instrumentalist for Girlpool. In addition to work as a musician, Ross is an A&R Representative for ORG Music, the Executive Assistant and Curator at The John & Alice Coltrane Foundation / Jowcol Music, Production Manager for the Ambient Church concert series, and runs his own experimental music label Steady Hand Records.
Clients include: Remodelista, Gardenista, Neubauer Collegium, Emile Mosseri, Zane Rubin, Jack Henry Robbins, Girlpool, Okkervil River, Claud.
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Scores for recent film, TV and advertisement work.
Music written and produced by Ross Wallace Chait aka Total Heat Music.
Featuring work by Zane Rubin, Philip Steiger, Alexandra Skye, Robert Salazar, Darcy Groves, Larissa Merriman and Will Kim.
All work made in Los Angeles. Peace & Love!
@totalheatmusic
Music for Neubauer Collegium “WORKS BY” Tony Lewis with Bethany Collins, Devin T. Mays & Ellen Rothenberg ad. Curated by Dieter Roelstraete. Summer 2024.
Score for Will Kim’s animated film The Saddest Tear.
Description: The short film “The Saddest Tears” deals with the dangerous yet fated encounter between Pink and Blue, each having their own children and spouses. Everyone lives with some form of secret, whether it be a trivial and subtle lie or a tremendous secret they must take to their grave. People also have things they hold most dear, and when these cherished things or people collide in the same moment, they sometimes make wise choices and other times irreversible ones.
Although the film tackles the heavy and avoidable subject of infidelity, I wanted to explore a theme that everyone might have felt at least once in their life, whether it remains a mere thought or progresses to a regretful action. The dilemma of being true to one’s real emotions versus making
a stable and moral choice is something that everyone might face at least once in their lives, even if not directly related to infidelity.
While a line like “When I was with you, I felt like I transcended time and space. I loved you. But we must stop here,” doesn’t appear in the short film, it poses the question of whether a couple who gave their all in the moment of their affair can return to their original lives. Will time heal it? Will time erase the lingering feelings, longing, and guilt as if with an eraser until almost nothing remains?
I wanted to poetically express these complex emotions using a somewhat abstract animation technique.
Directed and animated by Will Kim
Debuted at Seoul Indie AniFest
Score for the feature film The Moon and the Starr.
Description: A depressive 35 year old writer spends a day with an eccentric 17 year old girl, he finds that she just might be more than his inspiration.
Directed and written by Zane Rubin
Score for a one hour theater piece, which debuted in 2024 at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, the country’s largest arts festival. Written by Kyle Therral Wilson and directed by Gloria Iseli.
Description: “You’re cordially invited to a rare live performance by pioneering avant-garde legend, Norman Judd, undisputed master of aural ambience for over half a century. Norman is reuniting with his daughter, notable poet/performance artist Corinthia Latrice Judd-Whitaker, who will lend her voice to his autobiographical poetry. Join us for what is sure to be an eventful evening of music and memory. Expect auditory (and emotional) fireworks!”
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