Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Drew.
Hi Michael, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Growing up in Australia, I began playing music quite early, and was obsessed with how many different instruments and genres there were. I could never stick to one, so I learnt as many as I could. I was also a huge movie nerd, constantly watching and re-watching every movie I could get my hands on. Without realizing it at the time, my love for film music was growing right in front of me. As a teen and young adult, I started playing in bands and trying to make a career that way, but at university my music teacher guided me to pursue film scoring. It all suddenly clicked that my two greatest loves, music and film, could be a career.
Diving in head first, I realized just how much the music from the films I had been watching all my life was living in my head. The brilliant works of Williams and Spielberg, Zimmer and Verbinski, Newman and Mendes, Powell and DeBlois, Goldsmith and Schaffner – I couldn’t believe this was a goldmine I could draw inspiration from while trying to pursue my own sound. It was also at this time I developed the dream of becoming a composer in LA.
The first film I ever scored won best score, and the film went on to show at the Cannes Film Festival. From there, I proceeded to work my butt off and learn as much as I could about the craft and its beautiful history, while scoring as many projects I could get my hands on from films to games and even a runway piece for the Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival.
After a few years of successful projects, several rejections, and the rollercoaster that is any creative career, I decided to take myself to school to fill in the gaps in my skillset so I could be competitive in LA. This surprisingly led me to attend The Film Scoring Academy of Europe in Sofia, Bulgaria. Although not exactly what I had planned, I was able to learn hands-on with real orchestras, from huge names in the LA scoring scene, and level up my abilities. This was a pivotal shift in my career as not only did I learn skills of the craft, but I met many kind and generous professional composers who helped champion my move to the birthplace of film scoring, Los Angeles. I was also awarded the Professional Development Award 2022 from Australian PRO company APRAAMCOS. This award was a huge help for me to finally take the leap and move into the United States.
Since I’ve been here, I’ve been networking and scoring new and exciting projects and soaking up as much of the history this incredible city has to offer. It was an insane 7 year journey to get here, but I don’t regret a single second because now I’m doing exactly what I dreamed of and it is only the beginning.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As much as it may look like a smooth road from an outside perspective, there have been many trials and challenges along the way.
Moving overseas to Bulgaria for study was a totally different environment to what I was used to. I still remember having to carry my gas bottle through the snow just so I could have hot water for my showers. There was also the constant doubt about whether I was making the right choices to end up where I wanted to be, or if I was straying too far from the path.
Getting into the United States brought challenges, with complex visa requirements as well as not knowing if I’d even be good enough or competitive in an already thriving industry filled with so many talented people.
I think the internal debate is never-ending, but it’s also a chance to keep us humble and persistent in forever learning our craft and striving to be our best selves as much as possible.
Luckily, I had wonderful support from my parents and mentors to help keep me focused and help me see the bigger picture, which was everyone’s journey and struggles are different, but hard work will always pay off in one way or another.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Being a composer means being a part of a large storytelling team, and your department is music. You can be brought onto any type of project, Film/Game/TV series, each presenting its own unique challenges and it’s your job to solve them and help drive the director’s vision. A well-written score should help guide the narrative, emotions, characters, and true heart of the story being told.
I have been extremely fortunate to work with incredible storytellers and creatives over my career. This has led me to learn about writing in many different styles, from orchestras to synths and sound design. It even led me to craft some scores within 3D spatial audio formats. I am currently working on several feature films in differing genres and was recently awarded SF3 Film Festivals ‘Best Original Score’ for my work on “Arlo and The Sea’ a film by Damian Overton. I have also begun working in the video game world as well.
With each project I’ve been on, I continue to grow my knowledge and skillset so that each time I can bring more and more to the project and the craft. I have a deep love for scores that have come before me, and believe the more we know about our history makes us better composers in the present. Storytelling is everything to me and with the rise of technology, there are new and exciting ways to help tell stories to entertain, teach, and move audiences. I love being a part of the industry and the chance to work with incredible people, telling wondrous and impactful stories.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Taking risks is a must in my opinion. If you always try to play it safe, then you’re also stopping yourself from the potential of something great happening. It’s scary, it’s uncomfortable, but everything worth having is on the other side of that.
I’ve taken many risks, like moving overseas, not knowing if this would send me forward or backward. What I found however, is when I just went for something, and if I failed, I actually felt better about it regardless because I was authentic about it and I tried. Failure is a part of growth; it’s always a part of anything truly special. At the end of the day, that’s all we can be, our most authentic selves because no matter what we do, we won’t please everyone. It’s just not possible to make everyone happy, but instead we can focus on being open-minded and empathetic to those who may not see things the way we do. We need to put ourselves out there but also respect others doing the same thing as we hope they would respect us in turn.
Without taking any risks, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Risk taking moved me from Australia to Bulgaria and now LA. I think risk taking will always be part of pursuing my hopes and dreams.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://musicbymichaeldrew.com
- Instagram: @musicbymichaeldrew
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelDrewNH
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-drew-5ab16213b/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiRZkkldp0fisi-WJGQSKdg
Image Credits
– APRAAMCOS – DONTEVA – Fernando Guerra Jr.
