About this artist

Johan Van Barel is a Belgian composer, producer and digital artist. He wrote and produced music for movies and games, drawing inspiration from romantic classics and film noir themes. With a background in engineering, he seamlessly blends technical skills into artistic creations in music and digital art. Over the years, he has collaborated with emerging directors and game creators and recently began releasing his music on major streaming platforms.

From childhood, Johan Van Barel has been fascinated by all things related to images and sound. He later developed a passionate interest in the artistic and technical aspects of music, photography, art, and multimedia. During his engineering education, he studied applied arts and photography at the art schools in Temse and Sint-Niklaas.

He began his career as an ICT engineer but gradually shifted his focus to his true passions: music, photography, and digital art. Despite this shift, he continued to combine his professional engineering career with his artistic pursuits.

This multidisciplinary approach fueled his interest in both the compositional and audio-technical aspects of music creation and production. In his work, he merges contemporary elements, such as loops and samples, with classical note-for-note musical composition. Engaging with images and sound is his driving force as a multimedia artist.

Van Barel wrote and produced music for movie and game projects. His compositions and arrangements draw inspiration from the grandeur of romantic, often bombastic, movie classics, as well as the bold and dark atmospheric themes of film noir. As a photographer, he strives to balance and simplify compositions aesthetically. His digital artwork is characterized by vibrant colors and abstract forms.

For several decades, he collaborated primarily with emerging directors and game developers who licensed his music. In recent years, he has started releasing his musical legacy on major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.

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