Meet Michael Drew

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michael Drew a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
My resilience comes largely from my years in sport as a teenager, and a very special few people around me, like my parents. Growing up I watched my parents give their all in everything they did, and even when it looked like failure or a “wrong choice”, they never gave up or stopped being great people. They have always encouraged me to keep going, to be kind to myself, and that resilience and perseverance are key to success.

With sport, it was all about mental and physical fortitude. Every challenge you faced, you had two choices, complain and quit, or find a way and get through. Growing up with these challenges over and over helped me see that pushing through tough times is all a part of the journey. It won’t always be smooth sailing, especially in the entertainment industry, so during the tougher times, you have to stay strong and get through them to reach the better times ahead.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’ve been a composer for film and games for 9 years now, and it’s been one crazy journey! I’m originally from Brisbane, Australia and my career has taken me to living in a couple of quite different countries. I spent 2 years in Bulgaria in eastern Europe and now I’m living in sunny Los Angeles, birthplace of film music.

I always wanted to be a storyteller. Growing up I was obsessed with movies and games and the adventures, frights, terrors, laughs and deep emotional rides they would take me on. I also felt they all taught me a lot of life lessons on empathy, growth and trying to be a good person.

Musically, I had always played in bands and just never quite connected the dots until one of my university professors connected them for me. Once I figured out I could tell stories with music and be a part of telling stories as a composer, I was hooked and have never looked back. I had a whole catalogue of film and game music living in my head, I just hadn’t been paying attention.

After scoring projects in Australia, I realised it was time for me to chase my dream to the fullest and get to the land of entertainment, Los Angeles. My journey however was slightly detoured as I found myself being accepted into a Masters program at the Film Scoring Academy of Europe in Sofia, Bulgaria. After spending 2 years studying and working there, I was finally ready and took off to America.

Since being here I have had to find my resilience with the different trials of not only moving to a new country, but with the entertainment industry going through turmoil.

Recently, I had the pleasure of scoring the horror feature film ‘The Matriarch’ form Director Jayden Creighton. This score allowed me to dive deep into the orchestral themes I’ve always dreamed of writing, while combining new sound design techniques to bring something new and creative to the mix. In this score I was able to take the sounds of some Australian animals and process them through different synths and guitar amps, crafting truly terrifying sounds to capture the insane thoughts of the main antagonist in the film. By taking this approach I was able to continually create themes that would help guide the narrative along. ‘The Matriarch’ has already started on the film festival circuit and has been nominated for several awards.

I’ve got new projects coming up which I can’t wait to be released and see what journeys they take the audience on.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three pieces of life advice I’ve always held with me are:

  1. “Hard work always warrants success”. Instant gratification is one of the most harmful trends in our industry today. The rise of social media and the idea that ‘everything needs to happen right now or it’ll never happen’, has done so much harm. I’ve seen many creatives get passionate, work really hard for a few weeks, not get the results they want and then start over in something else. This is doing the hardest part over and over again in one’s journey. You have to stick with the things you’re passionate about, but also be open to the opportunities it might bring. They may surprise you and lead to you paths you didn’t expect. For example, I was passionate about music, and thought playing in bands was my calling. But thanks to those transferrable skills I was able to find that music in film and games was my calling and it’s been more enjoyable than I could’ve ever imagined.
  2. “People work with people”. With the rise in technology, it is easy to forget that at the end of the day, we do business with people, we work with people, and we try to tell stories for people. Bringing back the human element of it all is a healthy reminder of why we do what we do, but also why at all times we should approach it with kindness and generosity. After all, the better we treat each other, the better we all do.
  3. “Know your why”. Understanding deep down why you want to chase after what it is you do, is the greatest motivator out there. Through any and all trails and challenges, if you consciously remember why you started, why you want to do this, you’ll find yourself being able to overcome almost any challenge. Our why is what gets us up out of bed each morning and helps us feel fulfilled at the end of the day.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
There have been so many times I’ve felt overwhelmed and like I was going to fail. Each time I’ve found the same approach has worked for me and that’s taking breaks. It seems counter intuitive in the moment, but by stepping back and giving your mind a second to think, most of the issues overwhelming you become clearer. Getting outside into nature is also a huge help. The hustle and bustle of city life and staring at screens can easily make one feel overwhelmed, so disconnecting and reconnecting with nature has always had wonderful outcomes for me throughout my career. I’ve never once gone out into nature and come back feeling worse. The world is a big beautiful place filled with so many incredible things and people. Getting out and learning about them is inspiring and can often help put things back in perspective.

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Image Credits
DONTEVA Fernando Guerra Jr. APRAAMCOS

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