Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Drew
Hi Michael, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My composing journey has really been the rollercoaster ride that everyone said a creative career would be! It’s been filled with highs and lows and everything in between. The biggest thing I’m grateful for is that I keep getting to ride.
I started out a huge fan of music and also film. Growing up in Australia, I was always trying to figure music out by ear as I was too impatient to learn how to read the notes on the page, when I could already hear what I wanted in my head. This was something I had to fix further down the line of my career, but for the most part it got me involved in playing many different genres. I jumped from instrument to instrument, genre to genre because I just couldn’t stick to dedicating myself to only one. This made sense that I was meant to be a composer, I just hadn’t figured that part out yet. I was also completely obsessed with films! I would sit for hours and watch film after film because I just adored storytelling and all the different ways you could do that with cinema. There was definitely a time I thought maybe I’d grow up to be a director, but I never really put two and two together until my years at university.
After touring with different bands, I found myself frustrated with being limited to one style and one instrument and it wasn’t until one of my teachers at University really made me aware of what exactly a film composer does. Once he showed my class, everything clicked and I realised how much music I already knew from all the films I had seen! It didn’t take me long to recognise how many of the great’s music was burned into my brain and I started giving everything I had into learning not only the craft, but also the incredible history of film scoring. After a few years of scoring everything I could get my hands on, I could still hear the glaring difference between the greats, and my own work. So I decided to put myself through a Master’s program so that I could fill the gaps and stand somewhat of a chance in the great big town of LA.
This led to me to the Film Scoring Academy of Europe, and the mentors and heroes I befriended there. Without their help and support, I wouldn’t be on the path I am today! Once graduating and working for the school the next year, I finally got my working visa and headed to the dream town of LA.
Much had changed since covid, and the industry was going through a lot of growing pains. There were industry strikes, films shooting overseas and players in LA not getting hired as much as usual. I didn’t let this douse my drive and continued to network and grow my craft.
I was fortunate to still be collaborating with some of the same incredible people I’d grown up through the ranks with. I was able to score Jayden Creighton’s feature film ‘THE MATRIARCH’ which was a throwback to 90’s style orchestral horror music writing. The film recently went on to win BEST FEATURE FILM from AFIN International Film Festival as well as other accolades around the world. My score was also awarded an Honourable Mention form the Yucca Valley Film Festival.
I was also delighted to team up with Kieton Beilby for his film ‘A LITTLE STRANGE’. My score recently won BEST ORIGINAL SCORE from the SF3 Film Festival in 2024. I was also incredibly fortunate to team up with David Margolis at My World MGMT and have been represented by him ever since.
I am also part of an Australian wildlife YouTube series called ‘ENTER THE WILD’. We currently have a few episodes online with more on the way! It’s been such a great experience telling stories of our native wildlife and the impact that we have on their survival. As the industry continues to shift and grow, I keep working as hard as I can, meeting new and wonderful creative people, new companies and I keep getting to tell stories that I love. As hard as it can get at times, I hope to keep working with the incredible players here in LA at the historic recording studios all around town. The honour of standing in those studios, knowing the titans that have stood there before me, is one of the greatest gifts in my career. As I keep growing as a composer, I hope to one day join the ranks of those giants.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been many bumps along the road to getting to where I am today. When I arrived in LA, it was just as the covid restrictions were lifting. This had meant a huge slowdown in the production of media, so a lot of people were really just finding their feet again. I had also moved to an entirely new country, culture and had to overcome many hurdles just from adjusting to a new country. Although America is not too dissimilar to Australia, I still found myself not understanding many of the things that were simple to those that are from the US. Because of my time in Eastern Europe with the Film Scoring Academy of Music, I had already gained some skills in being able to adapt and change to the culture I was living in. While even today I still find myself struggling at times, I’ve really grown to see the wonderful parts of America and the great people that call it home.
I truly believe the way to tackle any struggles in life is to not let them burden you down so much that you forget why you started. We all have great hopes and dreams at various stages in life, and sometimes we let life take those away. If we tap back into that drive we started with, the hunger that drove us to go after our dreams in the first place, then I think that’s where we find the determination and grit required to do this job. Film, TV or game composing are not easy tasks, but the rewards and the stories you get to tell are always worth any struggles that one faces.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
The craft of composing for film, television or games can fall under many different roles/styles. Each kind of media requires different production requirements, deliverable files, shifting deadlines etc. Every day you have to take time to keep learning the new technologies and skills that are required for any of these jobs.
There is a humongous past of incredible composers and their ways of mastering the craft to create their own unique voices. I also try to take time each day to dive further and further back into past and present composers, to learn of their influences and what helped shape them into the giants they were or are today. Like anything we do in life, composing takes a huge amount of dedication and skill, so I am always trying to discover more, and new and better ways that I can effectively do my job on any production. I do believe it’s a vital part of the process often overlooked today with the ease of modern technology. But anything I’ve learned from heroes of my mine is that by studying the past, we can learn and really grow in our future.
Each time I am hired to score a project, I dive deep into the heart of the story they are trying to tell. That’s how all the greats seemed to approach their work, find the emotional beats and character arcs in whatever it is you’re scoring, and enhance those moments musically. Each film/tv/game maker has their own unique way they want to tell their story as well, so it’s about the beauty of collaboration and working together to craft unique and engaging scores. Without the story tellers, the scores wouldn’t sound the way they do, as a composer shapes their musical statements, instrument choices, stylistic choices on the story that is in front of them.
I recently was able to write and donate the score for a short documentary about the incredible people at The Superhero Project. This amazing non-profit team works with artists around the world to help sick and vulnerable children see themselves as the superheroes they are. Being able to help tell their story was one of the highlights of my career. My aim with each project is to not only match and enhance what the creators are looking for, but to also create an enjoyable collaborative process. The old saying goes, team work makes the dream work.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Networking is all about giving, not getting. If you walk out into the world, and go to events with the sole intention of getting work then and there, you will find more often than not the complete opposite effect. We often forget that we work with people. We need to start treating each other like people and not just ‘ways to get ahead’. I have taken this approach my whole career and found that the people I connect with, I stay connected with because it was never just about getting a job. I love the stories people have to tell, I really enjoy finding out what they are into and how they got to the stage they are in currently. Where they’d like to see themselves in 5 years, just all those questions. And it doesn’t always have to be about our jobs. I’ve been lucky to have many cool sporting experiences just because we talked about sports we liked instead of work. Next thing you know, we’re at a live game together. There is a real beauty with taking time to learn about one another so that if and when we do collaborate, it comes from a different place. A more authentic and genuine place and in my experience that has always led to the most successful products in the end.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://musicbymichaeldrew.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicbymichaeldrew/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelDrewNH
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@michaeldrewcomposer
