What They Don't Tell You About Your Music Career

From sharing the stage with high-profile artists in front of tens of thousands of people, to helping relatively unknown rock artists become amazing, music is a driving force in Draven’s life. He has opened for many Major Label acts, written music for film and television, and entertained concert crowds in the tens of thousands. He believes that music holds the power to bare one’s soul, comfort the broken, connect divided worlds, and bring a voice to the voiceless. Music is his passion, and using its power to change lives is his craft.

Draven was a music director for several organizations throughout the 90’s, and played keyboards for Organic Recording Artist, Human, in the mid 90’s. He has written music for Games, Film and Television, Wayfarer Infinity, as well as produced, recorded, mixed, mastered, and played for, artist releases across the world. He has a long history in the music profession and in helping other artists realize their dreams.

For many years, he worked an Artist Development Specialist and Rock Band Success Coach for Rockstar Mindset, through MindRock Records, both coaching bands in their career and developing self-study courses that do the same. In 2009, Draven joined with Alex Staropoli of the band, Rhapsody of Fire, to create powerful resources and online coaching programs covering all aspects of creating a successful and long-lasting music career for rock bands.

In 2013, he was named “The Voice of Old Colorado City” for his voice-over work. During each of his years with Thumbtack's services database, he was honored with “The Best of Thumbtack” for the feedback he was getting online for his singing lessons through Rock Singing Lessons. And in 2018, Draven completed training to officially become a TVS-Certified Vocal Instructor.

Draven has also worked as a freelance recording, mixing, and mastering engineer, a film and television composer, and a studio musician. He also has training in Business Management, Music Business, Marketing, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Neuro-Associative Conditioning, Relational-Counseling, Leadership Principles, Nonviolent Communication, Life-Coaching, and Creativity Coaching.

Draven’s work has been described as passionate and sometimes brutally honest, but most of all, he is a trusted guide. He helps you define your dreams, and then makes your dreams his own.  With his help, you examine yourself deeply, articulate your goals, and lay out a clear path to get there. With hard work and a high sense of integrity, Draven has placed himself as a friend, guide, and encouraging voice in an often cruel industry. 

His current personal passion is the production company and Lovecraftian world of The Silent Still, producing music, stories, art, film, immersive events, and more.

Born in 1980 in Denver, Colorado, Michael Amidei's life found meaning early, laying on the floor, listening to his mother and father (both professional musicians) play music together.

It was there that he first fell in love with not only music, but in the expression of emotions and ideas; the conversation between the artist and world. Ever since, expressing the rich and beautiful tapestry of life has been the longing at the center of his life.

Childhood Disease

After an epic playground battle with the school bully, Michael discovered that he had a cancer called osteosarcoma in his left arm, which led to him being given a 4% or less chance of survival with amputation of the limb.

However, the only surgeon in the world that had developed a method to save limbs in such a predicament decided to work with Michael and saved him arm, albeit without many of the muscles that it used to have. Although Michael shouldn't be able to play music, he somehow does, a philosophy he believes that each person within in them:

"If you truly want to do something, get to work. Let no one tell you no."

Michael was also the first person to receive biodegradable chemo therapy implant sponges, an honor which earned him appearances on NBC, CBS, ABC, & a special interview on 20/20.

In remission now for more than twenty years, Michael spends time talking with cancer patients and survivors as well as assisting in fundraising for multiple cancer related charities.

Music

Taught the art and business of music as a right of passage in his family, Michael paid his dues with a multitude of bands and musical roles, ranging from media composition to rock bands to opera performances to western music with the famous Flying W Wranglers, who were inducted into the Western Music Hall Of Fame in 2009.

Michael has performed to nearly two million people over the course of his career, selling somewhere around half a million records of his work.

He has appeared over twenty albums and compilations as songwriter, vocalist, musician, and producer and released two solo albums "Devil" (2013) and "Sea" (2014). Michael is now in the studio working on several albums, due for release in 2019.

Radio & Podcasts

In 2012, Michael began "World Poetry Open Mic", a weekly radio program that features poets and lyricists from around the world. Since then, WPOM has hosted four live events, published three anthologies, and broadcast nearly one thousand hours of on air content.

Since 2013, Michael has produced and appeared on a number of podcasts, culminating on the creation of "The Michael Amidei Show", a daily podcast focused on the most effective philosophies and tactics of living a creative life.

Writing & Poetry

Writing from an early age, Michael eventually found work as a ghostwriter and marketing strategist to would be authors, a position which saw him write nineteen books with eighteen months, several of which became bestsellers in their respective countries.

Michael has published two nonfiction books "Do Something" (2016) and "The Adventure Chooses You" (2018), as well as a poetry compilation "The Fall" (2015)

The 100 Challenge

In July of 2018, Michael publicly made the commitment to write four books per calendar year (four each quarter) for the next twenty five years; an accepted challenge that fits in line with Michael's view that "Professional artists keep creating, whether they feel like it or not."