Don't Miss A Thing - Brady Cohan
Two years ago, out of sheer frustration with the quality of music I heard in Los Angeles lounges, bars, hotels, clubs, etc., we launched a weekly residency on Sunset Blvd. with the hopes of bringing good music to true heads on the regular. Forget the challenge of packing a bar on Monday nights, that was 2nd to the amount of time it took us to form a band that would command the respect of players in this town. What it evolved into, is something I could’ve never predicted. What it’s done for me personally, is put me in the presence of musical genius every FUNKin’ week. One of those geniuses is Brady Cohan, our resident guitar beast and rising star. I like to say “ours”, but the truth is, this kid is all on his own and he’s about to drop his debut solo EP “Don’t Miss A Thing“…
Son of a retired Tennis pro, Brady moved to Los Angeles from the Bay Area to study music at USC, during which time he founded a jazz chamber group, New West, which performed with the likes of Pat Metheny, Diana Krall, William Kanengiser (of the GRAMMY-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet) and GRAMMY-winning vocalist Gretchen Parlato (this was all while he was still in school!). After graduation, he went to work for Trevor Morris, an EMMY-winning composer housed at Hans Zimmer’s production facility, Remote Control Productions. He learned the ropes and started to compose for film & tv, providing the score & writing songs on several independent projects, including K-Citizen, an official selection at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. Oh, by the way, did I mention that he’s Natalie Cole’s guitar player? Yes, THE Natalie Cole. I probably should, he’s about to hit the road with her…AGAIN (check her tour dates, looks like our boy is going to be in The Netherlands, Swizterland & Turkey next month – bastardo!). Outside of the fact that Brady’s about to drop his debut solo EP, his rock band Knee High, is in production on their EP scheduled to be released in Q4 of 2011.
You see, what’s interesting to me is, in this town, you come across a lot of “players”. Their next move is the next tour/show/session they book. That’s how far they look into the future. Brady is much different. He wants to be much more than a player. Excuse me, he already IS much more than a player. He writes, he composes, he produces…he even sings on his EP. He’s one step ahead of his cohorts, because he’s smart enough to anticipate his own success. He’s driven, confident, calculating and expects more from himself than most artists I know.
So, naturally, I felt honored when Brady approached me to photograph him for his upcoming debut solo EP “Don’t Miss A Thing“ and jumped at the opportunity. This project was particularly special for me, because I got to serve double-duty on this assignment by providing graphic design for his album artwork as well (see below). In case you don’t know, let me be clear: I’m a photographer. I’m a DJ/Producer. I’m a graphic designer. And you’re about to see me as a cinematographer too (yup, I got new gear!). I love working with musicians, helping develop their overall aesthetic to match their music and design a mood that mirrors them as individuals. I can do this because of my skill set, so when I’m asked to do more than one trade for a client, its beyond fulfilling professionally. I went out on a limb this time and asked Brady if he can provide a free download of one of the tracks from his debut solo EP. He was more than happy to oblige! So, my lovely readers, enjoy this FREE DOWNLOAD of “Lose My Mind” and keep an eye on this kid…you will most certainly be seeing much more of him very soon…