Isaiah – Koscho Family

(Song-writer, Composer, Guitarist, Keyboardist, Bassist, Drummer, Producer) (He/Him/His Pronouns)

Jamming in a new age. (Photo creds to SCC Jazz band leader, Jeff Kashiwa)

A composer at work (despite what it looks like, I’m not conducting a symphony of insects). (Photo creds to my sister and fashion designer, Katie)

Bio:

The earliest musical moment I’ve witnessed was a video of three-year old me jamming to She’s Not There By Santana. I was also told stories from my father about being carried in a stroller to his guitar lessons. Around the age of 6, I picked up my Father’s guitar and learned basic guitar fundamentals. Starting in the second half of middle school, I was put into the Suzuki Institute of music’s piano program out of obligation from my parents. Despite my classical training, my heart still yearned for sounds of classic rock (such as The Beatles, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin). I would later gain a knack both as a performer and composer. This gave me clear direction to pursue a career in music. Who interested me the most about being a serious musician was Pat Metheny. Hearing Offramp for the first time left an impact on me.

Parallel to my years in high school, I went to the Seattle Drum School to take drum lessons and guitar lessons with a professional guitar teacher. My relationship with SDS would last all throughout the entirety of my high school and community college years. During my Senior year, I put out my first three albums on Bandcamp and use the platform as my main source for content. Ever since, there has been three album releases per year for the following three years (it has now shown down to only one album per year starting with the release of Return To The Nexus). After high school, I attended Shoreline Community College and learned the fundamentals of Audio engineering, production, and audio tech. Additionally at SCC, I’ve developed strong musicianship and connections with Steve Kim and Jeff Kashiwa through their respective ensemble classes.

Outside of my academics, I’ve became a regular member of Radical Honesty, Sonido, Devasura, and the leader of the self-founded band Fully Realized. Each of these I continue to give crucial input for. To try grow my network of performing musicians, I go to as many open mics as I can to grow my network of performers. I’ve developed many strong friendships through this method. Some of My biggest influences include Pat Metheny, The Beatles, Frank Zappa, Stevie Wonder, Rush, Genesis, Metallica, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Fleet Foxes, Tyler the Creator, Frank Ocean, and Brockhampton. Some of my favorite composers include Johan Sebastian Bach, Hector Berlioz, Johannes Brahms, Maurice Ravel, Bela Bartok, Alban Berg, Igor Stravinsky, Dimitri Shostakovich, Paul Hindemith, Arron Copland, Arvo Part, John Williams, Danny Elfman, and Tom Baker.

I’m currently enrolled in the music composition program. There, I’ve gained a better appreciation for the chamber and orchestral idiom. Some notable subjects that I’ve added to my knowledge archives include post-tonal music history, early electronic music, music history, Gamelan (Indonesian folk music that has a culture that uses a different intonation system) and orchestration. I currently plan on graduating and wish to make my living as a commissioned composer.