Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Cho.
Kevin, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I am a Canadian born Music Producer based in LA. I was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta. My parents are originally from South Korea but raised my brother and I in Canada. I haven’t always been involved in making music. I was actually a Civil Engineering Drafter back home in Canada and after just one short year of working for an engineering firm, I decided to quit, pack my things, and travel to LA. I was 25 at the time and had little to no experience in the music industry. All I knew was that I wanted to create a life I looked forward to living everyday. When I arrived, I attended open houses at different music schools and ended up winning a random raffle for the first semester of tuition at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California. This solidified it for me and I made the commitment to move to LA and chase my dream of pursuing music.
Upon graduating from the Keyboard, Audio Engineering and Post-Production programs at the Musicians Institute, I was blessed to embark on my career by working for Big Sean. Creating the tour music production for his live shows for the Dark Sky Paradise Tour. I had the amazing opportunity to control Playback during his performances and work closely on-stage with the band. Show after show, I found myself sharing the stage with Kanye West, J.Cole, Justin Bieber, Ty Dolla $ign, John Legend, Ne-yo and many more great artists. We also did shows on Jimmy Kimmel and Revolt TV. This entire experience taught me that in LA, anything can really happen at any time and I was determined to work even harder to create my own pathway to success.
During those first years in LA, I was honing my craft and my true passion which was music production. I did so by working with local clients and building my catalogue. I was introduced to the world of publishing and set my goals on obtaining commercial success. I decided to visit South Korea for the first time and ended up connecting with an old classmate of mine from the Musicians Institute. She had traveled back home from LA and now was working as a music publisher. She asked me to send her some of my music, and through this single connection I was able to place my first official K-Pop record for the boy group B.A.P. (TS Entertainment) song “Rewind”. After that, the placements kept rolling in, and I found larger success as time went by. In 2018, I made a record for a C-Pop boy group that sold over 2 million albums and charted #1 on the Billboard Weibo charts. I was also able to gain platinum status on Dimash Kudaibergen track “Lay Down” on his debut album “iD”. I have been working a lot internationally – in Korea, China, Japan, Peru, Kazakstan, etc. I feel very honored to have millions of people listen to my music all over the world. It’s a surreal feeling coming from such a small town in Canada and having known absolutely nothing about how to make music to living out my dream.
Lately, I have been focusing more on creating and developing artists from the ground up. I am in the process of working with several artists to launch their debut albums and careers. The purpose for my music has drastically evolved ever since I found myself wanting to carry more of a service-based mentality and to create art that truly speaks to my artists, myself and my listeners. It really feels special and I am excited to share these wonderful artists to the world!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Honestly, I am an avid believer that anything truly worth pursuing will take sacrifices. I think if you truly love something you will do what is needed to get to the destination. That being said, in the early stages of my career, I have been broke more times than I can count and had many falling outs due to greed/envy. That is all part of the process though but I wouldn’t change anything because it has made me who I am today. I have been blessed to have cultivated a life of abundance and surrounded myself with people who respect, love and admire me for what I do and who I am as a person. I owe it all to God and music! I wouldn’t have been in such a wonderful place in my life if it wasn’t for my faith and knowing that on the other side of my struggle, there would be blessings upon blessings!
Your Name Creative – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Our company “Your Name Creative” is a creative hub for artists and all types of industry professionals to come together and create content that shifts what is to be expected in media-based entertainment. We focus on family first and bringing our unique gifts together to enhance each other’s art, dreams and goals. We are developing this wonderful business entity that we hope will shift the entertainment culture in a positive direction. The core of our business revolves around music but we are developing a brand that videographers, video producers, choreographers, influences, managers, etc. can climb on board that believes in the vision!
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I think after obtaining commercial success, money and credits, I can confidently say that success is NOT about these things. In my present stage in life, I define success as how we impact the world. What service can we render to other people? This is how I would like to leave my mark on the world by contributing the gift I was given to impact the world in a positive way for future generations.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://yournamecreative.com/
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yournamecreative
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YourNameCreative
Image Credit:
Jose Rodriguez
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