Rajakovic Electric Spills Secrets of 3 Years of Award-Winning Audio

Now reflecting on their whirlwind journey as they celebrate the company's three year anniversary, Nicole and Mark Rajakovic speak to LBB about building a business in the rockiest of times, letting creativity flourish wherever it so pleases, and wanting to be founders who remain close to the details - and are still there to pick up the kids.

LBB> Tell us about your origin story.

Nicole Rajakovic> In the summer of 2020, the world was in a precarious place due to a deadly pandemic. The majority of businesses had gone remote, many had their doors shut due to government restrictions and people were losing their jobs as overall spending was drastically reduced. With schools closed and two young kids, I was forced to give up my projects as a consultant, and Mark was laid off as a music composer and audio director. Here we were, having recently moved, with two young kids, both out of work in the middle of a pandemic... 

Starting our own business had always been a dream of ours but it often felt like an overwhelming undertaking; that summer, however, we were faced with no other choice. A blessing in disguise, these new conditions of remote sessions allowed us to launch Rajakovic Electric and create the type of experience we’d always wanted to see in audio post-production. 

Above: Google Pixel ‘What’s Good’, with original music, voice direction, sound design and mix from Rajakovic Electric

LBB> How far have you come since?

Nicole> At first, we only did original music composition, since that was what Mark was known for, but given his expertise in sound design, track direction and voice direction, we knew we wanted to offer clients the full package. One of our earliest projects was recording and mix for radio and, three years later, we are still managing that client's recording and mixes. We're now a full service audio company providing everything from original music and music licensing, to voice casting and direction and full audio mixes for all formats. 

LBB> What experience do you bring to the table?

Nicole> I’ve been working in advertising for over 20 years, beginning as a copywriter. My career eventually pivoted towards the business side of things, taking me all the way to VP at Dentsu’s former healthcare division (ANTIBODY Healthcare), so I’ve seen all aspects of the ad world. I think with my roots being on the creative side of things, I approach projects from a different perspective than most. Having been the lead of multiple national product launches, I bring a wealth of experience on planning complex projects, needing to be cost effective and efficient, and most importantly, a quick problem solver. 

Mark Rajakovic> I’ve been working in music and audio post for most of my life. I’m a music composer and producer and multi-instrumentalist that also specialises in sound design, voice direction and music supervision. I do rely on my experience quite a bit, but I’m still listening and learning and in a constant state of reinvention and experimentation. These days I’m mainly collaborating with agency creatives and filmmakers on creating soundtracks for ads and film projects, so utilising my skills to enhance a story is my main focus at the moment.


LBB> What do you consider your best work over the past three years?

Nicole> Starting up in the fall of 2020, we certainly did not have any expectations to be in the running come award season, so we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves amidst many talented teams and the recipients of a number of industry awards. Two particular highlights are winning an Immortal Awards Commendation for Royal Ontario Museum ‘Immortal’, and a Bronze Clio for our work on SickKids VS TheUnknown ‘Be a Light’ 

Above: Royal Ontario Museum ‘Immortal’ with original music, voice casting and direction, sound design and mix from Rajakovic Electric

Above: SickKids VS TheUnknown ‘Be a Light’, with music adaptation, music licensing, sound design and mix from Rajakovic Electric

LBB> How are you different from your competitors?

Mark> We are one of the smallest audio companies out there and are taking the opposite approach from most of the larger organisations by inviting our talent into the creative process. We focus on creating the best environment for everyone to thrive. Decisions on music, sound design and voiceover should not be treated as separate entities, after all, it’s our job to make sure all these elements are working together to tell a story.  

We’re very fortunate to be connected to an extremely talented network of mix engineers, composers, musicians, recording artists, voice actors, music labels and publishers. This has been the key to making a lot of the more challenging projects come to life. Our approach from day one was to work as creative partners - not post production suppliers. 

As companies get larger, the original creators find themselves further and further away from the details. We live and breathe the details and are not distracted by trying to maintain a large front of house machine. 

Above: Stella Artois ‘Table Drop’, with music supervision, music licensing, sound design and mix from Rajakovic Electric

LBB> Can you share your key learnings over the last three years?

Mark> Creativity can and should happen anywhere you’re comfortable. When I was working with artists producing records, the best ideas rarely came from sitting in the studio. A stroke of brilliance may happen when you’re in your hotel room, apartment, or sitting on the subway.

Starting our new company during the pandemic brought back that feeling of making sure we’re all creating where we are most comfortable. The same goes for picking a studio to record in. We’ll utilise different studio spaces according to what we’re working on to make sure we have the right environment for that particular project. The end result is all that matters to us. 

LBB> Any specific ambitions for the next three?

Mark> I’d like to see us branching out into other types of content, doing more radio, as well as collaborating with other multimedia artists for art installations and taking on more film projects. We also want to continue producing award-winning music and still be there to pick up our kids from school. 

LBB> Any final words?

Mark> Just because I’m a music composer doesn’t mean every project needs to be driven by music. Sometimes, brilliantly funny dialog needs to shine on its own and only requires a little bit of foley and playing around with ambiences to enhance the space. 

We love what we do and we’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished in such a short time as a company. We’ve been honoured to work on many special interest and charity-based projects and feel they are a good reflection of who we are as people. 

Above: CAA ‘Road to Recovery’, with original music, sound design and mix from Rajakovic Electric