After early stints in theatrical sound and lighting design, Kent Sparling spent three years at Sound Transform Systems, hand-building Serge Modular analog synthesizers for musicians such as John McEntire and Trent Reznor. He departed STS in 1995 to work in film sound in Vancouver, BC, and since 1997 has been employed as a sound designer and re-recording mixer at Skywalker Sound, with credits on Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette; Mike Mills’ Thumbsucker; Spike Jonze’s Adaptation and her; and We Own the Night and Two Lovers by James Gray. His deep ties to independent film are exemplified by his work on Lance Hammer’s Ballast, Miranda July’s The Future, Braden King’s Here, Bluebird from Lance Edmands, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints by David Lowery, Kelly Reichardt’s Night Moves and Ira Sachs’ Love is Strange.