About Me

Markus Lappalainen is a Finnish composer for narrative media, with experience across film, television, games, and performing arts. With over 40 productions to his name, he has worked as both composer and assistant composer on projects ranging from independent shorts to major Netflix releases and feature films.

His credits include assistant work with Johannes Ringen on La Palma (Netflix), Troll, the upcoming Troll 2, and Blücher (2025), as well as collaborations with Marcus Paus. Markus has also composed original music for short films such as Vennligst vent (2020) and Trauma (2017), along with documentaries, student films, and smaller independent projects. This balance of large-scale collaborations and original scoring reflects his ability to support ambitious productions while nurturing his own artistic voice.

Markus’s musical roots are deeply shaped by a handful of composers who defined his creative path: Sumio Shiratori (The Moomins, 1990–1992), Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy series), Yoko Shimomura (Kingdom Hearts), John Williams (Star Wars, Indiana Jones), and Jean Sibelius. Their influence formed the foundation on which he has built his own style — a voice that blends orchestral and chamber traditions with electronic, ambient, jazz-adjacent, metal, and experimental sound worlds.

For Markus, music is more than accompaniment; it is memory, meaning, and time travel. A single theme can transport us back to our first encounter with a film, game, or story — connecting past and present through sound. That is the essence of his mission: to compose scores that not only support a production in the moment but also stay with the audience long after the final scene.

Beyond screen music, Markus is the bandleader of Soulcrux, where he explores another dimension of his artistic voice. In his free time, he is also an avid Dungeon Master for Dungeons & Dragons, channeling his love of storytelling in yet another form.

Every piece Markus writes is crafted to linger — the kind of music that echoes long after the final frame.