Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Cabigao.
Hi Andrew, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born into a family that loved music. My dad has been playing piano and keys for over 50 years. My mom loved singing, and my little sister was operatically trained and directed the St. Louis University a cappella group. My two older brothers dabbled with drums and guitar when they were young. I played piano from 8-16, and then I picked up a guitar, and that was the catalyst to creating music. I started writing songs and was playing shows by 19.
When I was in college, I was pre-med, and I even got into a couple of medical schools, but that was a passion I had through my parents who are both doctors and took me and my family to the Philippines every year for a medical mission where I would assist in minor surgeries and help with the pharmacy areas. It was a path that was paved a long time ago, and by the time I had to make a decision on whether I was going to pursue medicine or music, I ultimately decided on music. It was and still is the only thing that I want to always learn about without being accountable to anyone.
I woke up every day and wanted to learn every aspect of it from songwriting and playing guitar to booking and marketing to developing careers and managing. I was a full-time musician playing cover gigs and making EPs and albums from 20-26. I moved to Nashville for a couple of those years to be mentored by the President of NSAI at the time and eventually moved back home because Memphis is my home. I ended up playing for a couple of country bands that toured around the area for a few years there. When I turned 26, I met my second mentor Mark Goodman.
He was a recording engineer and drummer by trade who had won 2 Grammys with the Blackwood Brothers. He taught me how to record, and we started a record label together where I developed artists and recorded and released their music. After working with and developing 7 artists, I wanted to focus on recording, and I ended up buying my mentor’s equipment and started a small recording studio for singer/songwriters called Dynamic Score Studios.
I started it because at this point I had become President of the Memphis Songwriters Association and saw a need for the members, so I recorded for cheap as long as they came regularly to record and write at the studio. Recently, my mentor has passed away, and I am in the process of changing my studio space into a coaching center for artists. I also still currently release music under the artist name “Cabigao”. If you would like to check out, my older music, it is under “Andrew Cabigao”
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions. As a musician, you get a lot of no’s. But between those, no’s are moments of pride and accomplishment. Honestly, the quantity of rough roads is more than the number of good roads, but the quality of good roads has been more than I could have imagined.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
From its beginning 6 years ago until now, it has formed from a record label to a recording studio. But right now, I am in the process of changing the scope of the business.
I don’t want to give away too much, but what I’m calling it is “Artist Coaching”, and what that is is that I will provide services that a today’s music artist would need to begin and build a career. I’m a mix between an artist manager and an artist developer.
I will create a plan with an artist based on their talents and their own goals, develop the talents needed to get to those goals, and also keep that artist accountable every week to make sure progress is being made.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts, or blogs that help you do your best?
I read a good bit. A book that changed my whole life though, and I still re-read it till this day is “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield. For any gifts for artists, I buy a copy of this book and give it to them. I recommend any artist go and get this book.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Instagram.com/beardlesspanda
- SoundCloud: SoundCloud.com/CabigaoMusic
- Other: Linktr.ee/cabigaopanda/
Image Credits
Laramie Ranae
