Danny Cocke is an LA based composer, artist, sound designer and maker of all things music. You’ve heard his work on video games, movies and much more! His list of credits are impressive: Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Siege, Tencent’s ARK Survival Evolved, ALIEN Harvest, Shadow, The Prototype, and Ridley Scott’s Martian “Ares Startalk” short film.
Danny's life and career are both interesting and inspirational. He talks openly about his cancer diagnosis, beating the disease, helping other cancer patients and what it all meant to his music career. He also discusses the challenges of doing what he does during a global pandemic and what’s next for him as slowly get back to normal.
Here are nine questions we threw at Danny (from more than six feet away while wearing a mask)!
LEG: We could probably label what you do with many different titles: composer, sound designer, producer, maker of bad ass music, etc. If you met someone for the first time, what title would you give yourself? How would you explain what you do?
DC: Well now that I hear “maker of badass music” I may have to go with that one! When someone asks me just what it is that I do, I generally tell them “I compose.” It’s a nice umbrella term that covers the different nuances. Depending upon how I gauge a person’s interest though, I might tell them I compose for film, video games, trailers, and I release my own solo albums. I’ve also been known for some of my sound design work in the trailer world over the years.
LEG: Was making music for advertising, video games and movie trailers (among other things) always your goal growing up? At what point did you make the pivot and dedicate yourself to what you are doing today?
DC: It actually was never an intended goal for me until it started happening, almost as a surprise to me! I had a massive opportunity with my band 17 years ago that was abruptly halted when I was diagnosed with stage III cancer. That derailment shifted my focus into making music on the computer, as well as engineering, and mixing, all of which have been a part of my composing path. As my passions and tastes evolved over the years, I became really enamored with film scores. I found myself inspired to write these orchestral hybrid movements, which turned into an industry album release and kicked off my first film trailer placements. That all allowed me the time and resources to develop my composing career into what it’s become today.
Trailer Credits:
LEG: What’s the one piece of music you’ve created that you are the most proud of?
DC: I’m most proud of my recent artist album “World On Pause.” It was a surreal experience, the creation of the whole album. While the world had suddenly stopped, panic and confusion thick in the air, I had a strange dream/vision one night that was something I’ll never forget. The next morning I began writing that album and wrote 12 songs in 12 days. It took me another 12 days to polish it up and call if finished, an extraordinary feat for me, as something like that would normally take me 12 weeks at least. Strangely, I don’t remember writing much of it, I was in such a pure flow state, and had a sense of urgency like I was on some sort of cosmic mission to create it. It’s definitely my favorite bit of music I’ve ever created. Each track tells a story and has clear intention too which has become increasingly important to me.
LEG: With 2020 being the way it is (quarantine/pandemic), how has that impacted your career? Have you had to shift focus? What’s the impact been on your segment of the industry?
I’ve definitely been one of the fortunate ones during the lockdown. My video game work has continued, thankfully. I do think my focus shifted because of the shift in collective conciousness from the pandemic. I wasted no time writing and finishing “World On Pause” to really capture and express all the intense emotions and feelings that were brewing. It felt like I needed to help to turn the overload of psychic energy into music, sort of as songs of power. In hopes it might impact help or lift up others.
Overall, I expect I will really notice the impact on my sync later this year. It takes 9 months or so to see how those numbers are doing, so I’m bracing for that. The whole industry will collectively be shifting focus though, as productions are halted or budgets are cut. So I’m sure that means we will all be collectively shifting focus together to a degree. It can be a bit of a frightening time for us freelancers. I definitely feel for those creatives that had their work or projects all but annihilated by this ordeal. I am hopeful things will bounce back in time, the demand for content and entertainment is only increasing. We just need to get to the other side of this all.
Game Credits
LEG: You were diagnosed with testicular cancer in your early 20’s. As a survivor, what’s the one piece of advice you would give someone fighting the disease today?
DC: When I volunteered in the cancer ward for a year after my own treatment, I met all types of people; young, old, some brightly positive and some extremely hopeless facing their certain death. It really taught me a lot about what to say to someone in a place where sometimes no words can be said. I always preferred to meet each person where they were and try and harmonize with them where I could. I always want to bring my own positive energy as proof that good things can come from these less than desirable experiences. I was also really fortunate that I had a form of cancer that was treatable, and I’m sensitive to that notion that many I’ve known were not so fortunate with their diagnoses. In those cases, I still don’t know what advice I could ever give. Only prayer that they know peace, and hopefully trust there is more, something unseen greater force out there, many lives many worlds, etc.
I know I would give myself a very different and specific set of advice if I could go back. It took me many years, but my experience with disease really set me on a path to learn how to just be in “ease” without the “dis.”.I delved deeply in to learning about nutrition, Chinese medicine, cellular function, and disciplines like yoga, qi gong, meditation, and reiki. I generally try and do everything in my power to make sure I don’t ever have to repeat this experience. Some of this could have been very helpful to know back then for sure.
LEG: How big of an impact did music have on your cancer fight? How big of an impact did cancer have on your music career?
DC: I always liken my cancer experience to that of a Marvel superhero going through their superhero transformation or realization. In some ways I swear it actually gave me superpowers. The experience let me find an extremely deep and powerful energy within myself that I draw from daily. It felt like I had one foot on the “other side” and it’s the feeling and place I channel my music from. I can’t imagine not having the gift of depth and deep gratitude my cancer experience gave me. I was also close to a sort of “career” in music just prior to my diagnoses, so having that massive opportunity disappear within a year of my treatment really left a fire burning in me to get through my disease and get back to making music, and that was my driving force for the next ten years it would take me to reach the beginnings of my composing career.
LEG: So here we are, slowly coming back to normal in 2020. What’s next for Danny Cocke as the world gets going again?
DC: This “World On Pause” album was a huge and unexpected burst of creation for me this year that I’m very excited to release to the world very soon. Up next I’m actually making some meditation music for a really cool app. I’m excited to finally be able to apply a lot of brainwave science I’ve been researching. Aside from whatever other commissioned work comes in (my life is built around surprises week to week!) I’m hoping for a solid chunk of time to harvest and design my own sounds for future writing, as well as collaborating with my good friend on his EP. Next week I’m just trying to tackle getting all of my pedals and synths MIDI locked and clocked to Pro-Tools and some other new gear implementations too. All things I love to do but can only mess around with in gaps between long running projects.
LEG: For someone who works as hard as yourself do you ever find time to relax and unwind? What does a day off look like for you?
DC: I’m actually not one to work myself to the bone day in and day out. I’m all about the long game, and that means balance. I love to be very diligent and relentless while on a project, to keep my head in the right space, but my work day is sprinkled with nice breaks. I love to run, bike, take walks through our really cool neighborhood, play in my garden, hang with our cats, and I take a lot of mini yoga or qigong moments to keep my body feeling aligned and my energy flowing. I find the best ideas and inspirations come in those moments of pause or exercise. I’ve written entire pieces in my head on a bike ride. I freeze it in my head until I get home to jot it down somehow in the studio. Often we say “I don’t have time,” but when I make the time, it rewards me with better work. A proper day off looks like my wife and I getting out of town to adventure or see family. That always feels like the best recharge and upgrade for the soul. Just the thing you need to do to stay a creative growing individual.
LEG: What’s one thing in the music industry that you haven’t done yet that you hope to accomplish?
DC: I’ve been working the slow brew approach over the years toward scoring a feature film or series, but have yet to have this fully manifest. I’ve been developing relationships and collaborations with a few directors over the years who are also heading to this same destiny. We’ve created some amazing short films and pitches, I know it’s just a matter of time that one of their projects gets realized on the proper level.
One other goal I have is to one day perform live again. As I continue to create my solo albums, I keep envisioning how powerful the music would be live, with a string quartet, a couple friends on synths/perc, all to amazing visuals, possibly in a dome venue. Another slow brew for me, but sometimes the best things take an almost unbearable amount of time to unfold. Hence the satisfaction and achievement that come from them!
For more Danny Cocke visit:
www.dannycocke.com
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