Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cody Gill. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Cody, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I first knew I wanted to be an artist when I was 18 years old. I had a pretty unconventional childhood where I was thrust into the stunt industry at the age of 5 and pursued that until I graduated high school, I never really had a choice as to what my future would be.

I was raised with athletics like baseball and extreme sports like motocross so I definitely had an exciting childhood, but as I grew older, I realized I didn’t want to pursue stunts as my career and I also felt I needed to form my own path. I’m very thankful for my father teaching me important lessons and making me tough, but I’ve always identified more with the sensitivity and creativity of the artistic world.

When I was around 16 years old, I started actually listening to music rather than just hearing it and I became obsessed. The only problem was that I had no idea what it meant to be a musician. I just admired it from afar, never believing I could realistically pursue it. Then one night I saw my friend Troy, perform his own original music at a party/hangout and from that moment a spark ignited in my soul and I decided I was going to be a musician.

Cody, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

At first I had no clue what I was doing. I listened to and analyzed music obsessively, but I had to teach myself how music was built by watching my friends perform in bands and trying my best to imitate it. My cousin, Carl first introduced me to alternative rock and more complex music compared to what I had been listening to throughout my childhood. He introduced me bands like The Doors, Pink Floyd, 311, Nirvana, and Tool to name a few, and they all blew my mind. I started trying to understand what they were doing the best I could and from the ages of 16-18 all I could do was beat my hands on my knees and play air guitar.

It wasn’t until I turned 18 that I decided I needed to actually learn to play an instrument, and it just so happened that my friends had a band that needed a drummer. I wanted to be a part of the band so badly I bought some congas and bongos and began learning how to keep time the best I could. It wasn’t long after that until I moved up to a full rock kit and officially joined the band. Soon enough drums weren’t fulfilling me, so I started learning piano, guitar, singing and eventually composed my own songs.

I spent the next few years practicing every day, literally until my fingers bled and at the age of 21 I officially retired from my career in stunts and began pursuing music full time.

I think what sets me apart from others is my blending of musical genres and passion for classical music. I have always been drawn to classical music and orchestration, but this was a whole different beast that I needed to work my way up to. Artists like Muse, Radiohead and Pink Floyd inspired me to first start composing with rock instruments as well as orchestral, but over the years I became more enamored with the classical world. As of today it is my dream to combine both genres and eventually lead my own orchestra.

I am most proud of the moment when I got the opportunity to perform with a symphony orchestra when I was 27. I had been composing and performing my own original music from the age of 25 and after I released a music video on YouTube, The La Mirada Symphony Orchestra found my video and asked me if I wanted to be a part of their young composers showcase. I had no idea how to arrange music for an orchestra, but I told them that I could handle it and learned as I went. I definitely had help with the arrangements, but composing for a full 50 piece orchestra (minus the brass section) was a challenging feat to say the least.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

The thing that drives my creative journey is probably my obsessive nature. Once I set my mind to something, I must see it to fruition if it’s something important to me. I also think the fact that I had already had a career as a child, made me not want to continue in that career. I wanted to prove to the world that I could break away from a legacy that was ingrained in me in order to forge my own path.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the freedom it allows. My first career as a stuntman was ruled by not having my own identity for I had to always look exactly like the actor I was doubling and I had to answer to stunt coordinators, directors, producers and most of the time, my father.

I am very grateful for my father’s teaching and guidance, but I feel so much more freedom now that I have created my own dream and I don’t have the pressure of carrying on his legacy, when I never chose it to begin with.

Being an artist, especially a musician, means I can wake up when I want, work when I want and be able to do my job from anywhere in the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: Veil-Online.com
• Instagram: veilmedia
• Youtube: VEIL Media
• Other: IMDB – Cody Gill

Image Credits
Black and White photos: Leonardo Rigano Color guitar photo and photo with cellist: Ohad Grodzenski Piano photo: Austin Gill