Meet David Conley of Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to David Conley.

Hi David, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Hi!

My name is David Conley, I am a singer-songwriter, conductor, composer, and educator. I started by playing guitar after watching “Walk the Line”, and fell in love with music theatre. I starred in shows like “Little Shop of Horrors” , “Charlie Brown” and many more.

Much of my story has to do with addiction and depression, and my upcoming song “For Always” releasing on January 23rd 2026.

I went to school at the University of Georgia to sing opera. I fell in love with classical music and choral singing. I was also an athlete, and played Rugby at UGA. While playing, I injured myself and was prescribed painkillers, to which I became extremely addicted. This made me spiral into a dark place that I barely survived.

Instead of pursuing my degree, I quit classical music and began partying and writing EDM. This lifestyle, though it works for many, did not work for me. Without too many details, I almost lost my life and decided to get sober.

I fell in love with choir again, and decided to go to graduate school at Westminster Choir College studying Choral Conducting. I also got my first film score, “Forgotten Plague” which can be seen on Amazon Prime.
https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Plague-Ron-Davis/dp/B01AT28FS2

This got me into writing much, and I wrote many other short films and commercials in the years to come.

While in graduate school, I suffered a vocal hemorrhage, a singer’s worst nightmare, and couldn’t sing or speak for nearly a year. This was the foundation for a lot of my future teaching. Once recovered, I got the opportunity to sing with renowned ensembles such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, and the Julliard415.

Eventually, I found my love for teaching. I got a job at Marymount High School in Los Angeles and taught choir and music theory for 6 years. I now teach at Notre Dame High School where I teach those as well as guitar and music technology. I am also the youth chorus director at Pacific Opera Project.

While in LA, I have had the pleasure of singing with incredible ensembles, such as grammy-winning Tonality, Grammy-winning Philadelphia Symphonic Choir, Hex, Laude, Contemporary Choral Collective of Los Angeles and many, many other vocal ensembles.

I have had the pleasure of playing keys with the incredible band “The Gatsby Affair” which has tons of exciting news coming soon.

Recently, I have wanted to tell my story of addiction and sobriety, and am doing so starting with my first single releasing on January 23rd, 2026 called “For Always” from my first EP “Magic Medicine Misery”.
It tells the story of any vice, which always begins magically, it becomes an effective solution. The magic turns to medicine, where you need the vice just to feel normal, and eventually the medicine turns to misery.

This song takes place as the medicine is turning to misery, and i wrote it when I was in that very state years ago. it recounts the times where I saw myself in the mirror, not knowing how I became this way nor could I remember who I was before. It is framed as a love song that starts soft, intimate and even prayer-like, but explodes into a rage-induced pleading, begging for it to “just take the pain away, and I’ll be yours for always”.

It’s the moments right before I chose sobriety, which was easily the greatest decision of my life, and this song is for all those still in the fight.

I wouldn’t have had any of this if it wasn’t for sobriety. I thank god for my life and I thank the men and women in recovery for helping me, I couldn’t do it alone.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Addiction. It was such a challenge, one many of us artists face. Artists often feel intensely, and I was no different. I sought an escape from those feelings when they became painful, and it worked…. for a time. It was not easy. I tried many times and took me 13 years to finally get clean. I am 6 years sober from alcohol and 3 years sober from all mind-altering substances.

Choosing sobriety was the entire reason I am the artist I am today and is a huge motivating factor in my upcoming music. I am no longer afraid to share my story, as I know it is not just my story, but the story of so many men and women, and I hope it can help at least one of them feel less alone.

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Fear. Fear of not being good enough. Not being smart enough, funny enough, just not being enough. It plagued me, especially in addiction but also for many of my early years in recovery. I was terrified to play my music, and I had to break that fear by doing open mics where I would just improvise in front of others imperfectly. I build a support network of fellow musicians, and it led to this album eventually coming to fruition.

This is the first music I have ever released that is my story, and I am SO proud of it.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
(most credits are in the story section)

I am a Singer. Primary classical music (Opera, vocal ensemble, choir)

I am a conductor: I have conducted several choirs in the LA area, currently serving as choir director at Notre Dame High School and Youth Chorus Director at Pacific Opera Project.

I am an educator: I teach students of all ages how to sing, play guitar, piano, write music, improvise, record and produce.

I am a composer: I have written film scores and commissioned several works for choir.

I am a multi-instrumentalist: I play in several bands but primarily have been working recently with “The Gatsby Affair” and my solo project.

I am most proud of my time with the 2024 grammy winning Philadelphia Symphonic Choir of the Philadelphia Orchestra, of which I was a singer for the last several years. I got to perform Berstein’s Candide with Bradley Cooper as he prepared for his role in the new film “Maestro”.

I am also so proud of overcoming the fear and releasing a song that I sat on for the last several years. A friend said, “If that song even helps one person, hiding it from the world would be an act of selfishness” and he is absolutely right. I am so proud of how it turned out and am grateful to the musicians who made it with me.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I sang the jeopardy! theme song perfectly at 9 months old, beat that. haha

I love video game music and would love to pursue that someday.

I never had a single voice, guitar or piano lesson until my senior year of high school, which allowed me to play everything by ear.

I learned music theory via “The complete idiots guide to music theory”.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.davidconleyofficial.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidconleyofficial/#
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidconleymusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidConleyMusic
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/davidconleymusic
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@davidconleymusic

Image Credits
Ryan Ahlowesko