Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michael Cochran. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Michael, thanks for joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
After graduating with a bachelors of music in music composition, I immediately became a music director for a pop and R&B record label. I got the job because of my VERY LOW financial requirements, and although the pay I was getting was not sufficient to support me fully, this job led me to networking with the right people in order to set me on a path that would fully support me financially. Through MANY twists and turns, ups and downs, I am now earning a full time living working as the music and audio production manager at FELD Entertainment.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Michael Cochran was born in Indiana and raised in Florida. He started off as a toddler banging on a two-octave organ surprisingly to his parents making melodies. The first piano came into his life at age three, and he began his journey through the world of music. His career started off with his Bachelor’s Degree in music composition from the University of Florida, which led his studies to Europe where he continued his music education at the Conservatory de Musica in Rome. Michael has studied and worked alongside composer John Williams, as well as other amazing composers and orchestrators, which solidly broadened his knowledge of composing musical scores for film and television as well as live show productions. After scoring and conducting for various orchestras such as The London Symphony Orchestra, The Athens Greece Symphony Orchestra, Macedonia Symphony Orchestra and recording at the world re-known Abbey Roads in London, he naturally launched his career as a Producer and Musical Director for live stage shows and music artists.
In the studio where he now spends most of his time, Michael works closely with his artists’ individuality while producing their tracks, performance, vocal style and sound – being ahead of the curve on the pulse of today’s music. As a Producer, his productions range from pop, rock, electronica, R&B, Latin all the way to world music since he is a master multi-instrumentalist. Michael has worked with Beyonce, Miley Cyrus, Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys, Disney Entertainment, Hong Kong Disney, Disney Cruise Lines, Euro Disney, Tokyo Disney, Disney on Ice, Disney Live, Tivoli Gardens, Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Baileys Circus, Marvel Super Heroes Live, Russell Simmons, Time Square television specials, Grammy Award winning Latin artist Olga Tanon, Anima 5, as well as musical director alongside the members of The Miami Sound Machine. In 2016, Michael garnered a nod on the Official Grammy Ballot, in the category, record of the year, for the song, “Without You” with his artist, Chaz Robinson. Michael visualizes the overall creative of each of his artists’ projects while driving the music from the center of all his productions. Michael is currently the music and audio production manager for FELD Entertainment.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Early in my career, I would network with industry “professionals” that turned out to be frauds. Being young and impressionable, I would hang on every word they would tell me. I was told I would be working on major projects with industry heavyweights. One after another, they all turned out to be fake. But looking back, I can directly trace the lineage of people that eventually led me to all the successes I’ve had in this industry. Starting with the very fake “professionals” to a little less fake “professionals” (although still fake), to eventually, the very real industry professionals. Going through this process, I would, very often, question my life’s choices and wonder why these people were being brought into my life. Many days I would contemplate quitting this industry and pursuing other professions. But now, looking back at the history, I can clearly see how I met one fake person, so that they could introduce me to another slightly less fake person, so that person could introduce me to yet another slightly less fake person, so that person could introduce me to a very real professional, which lead to career opportunities.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of my career is to sit in a sold out arena, and look upon the happy faces of people enjoying content that I helped create. Or, to sit outside a Cinnabon at Universal Studios City Walk, enjoying my cinnamon roll, and to all of a sudden realize that a song I had just finished producing was now playing over the loudspeakers for everyone to hear (true story).
Contact Info:
- Website: www.MaestroCochran.com
- Instagram: @Pyramids3