Drew Rodney

Born and raised in Portland, Maine with both his parents and a younger sister, Drew Rodney realized at an early age that his hometown could not provide him with the creative stimulus and opportunity he needed to thrive as an artist. As a young boy, he dreamed of being an actor and working on films, but Maine was not the ideal place to do that so he started taking piano lessons and gymnastics to fill his time. While playing music and performing gymnastics provided him with a creative outlet, Drew started to feel frustrated and boxed in with his daily life at home. Not being a fan of school and dealing with pressure from his parents to go to college, Drew fell into a depression. In October 1997, at the age of 17, Drew and a friend suddenly quit school, got in a car and drove to Los Angeles, California in order to pursue more artistic endeavors. The two landed in the city of Ventura for a few weeks before moving in with new friends in up-and-coming Orange County. In his new and exciting environment, Drew attempted to get work with modeling agencies but was turned away for being too young. In order to survive, Drew started working temp jobs. The day-to-day life of working one meaningless job after another started to take its toll on Drew, so he turned to writing poetry and songs while working to pass the time. Gaining inspiration from some of his favorite artists such as Jewel, Tori Amos, and Fiona Apple, it was during this time that Drew wrote Voiceless Cry, the depiction of a friend struggling with anorexia nervosa at that time, and one of his favorite songs in his repertoire today. In Orange County, he quickly finished high school and, after graduating in June 1998, was astounded when his family surprised him with the Roland keyboard he had been coveting as a graduation gift. His music career was officially started. Over the next few years, Drew continued to work different jobs while actively writing and expanding his song catalog. At the age of 20, Drew was working for a talent agency as an IT consultant and decided to take a web design class, among others, at local Orange Coast College (OCC). As a result, he developed his own web design business, which proved to be lucrative and allowed him more time and energy to focus on his music and school. Drew then began recording his material and built his own website to focus on and present his music. In 2003, Drew received his AA from OCC and transferred to the University of California, Irvine (UCI) as a voice major where he received insight into theories in music and performance. It was during this time that Drew began working with a close friend at UCI, Heba Saab, on an innovative piece of musical theatre called, "Take A Green Pill And Watch This Show: The Musical." A product of hours of musical improvisation, experimentation, and recording, the ongoing process of working on "Take A Green Pill..." has proven challenging and beneficial to Drew because it changes how he taps into his emotions and forces him to go with his intuition rather than being a slave to structure. In June 2005, Drew received his Bachelor of Music degree in Voice from UCI and today, he is consistently writing and expanding his song catalog while playing gigs throughout L.A. and Orange County.