Meet Daniele Truocchio | Film-TV Composer | Music Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Daniele Truocchio and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Daniele, how do you think about risk?
When you decide to dedicate your life to the music and entertainment industry I believe that you are also deciding to be an everyday risk-taker. When thinking back I can clearly recognize at least five to ten life choices I made throughout my career that are considered very risky. I do believe though that everything happens for a reason in our lives. For example, I wouldn’t have ever thought that I was going to live and work as a composer in Los Angeles, but a series of events happened, and the ones that now feel like big risks, and that to me only felt like “the right choice”, were necessary decisions to be made. If I think about when years ago I made the decision to leave Italy, my family, and my (now) wife to go study music in Boston for almost 4 years it feels unbelievably risky and crazy, but, thankfully at the time the feeling was different, of course, it felt like a big tough choice to make, but also an opportunity to embrace, which in fact has changed the course of my life and career.

Having said that, I don’t necessarily think a lot about risks, I instead believe that in my journey I will be presented with opportunities that I can decide to take or not, if something feels too risky, it might simply mean that the time is not right or that I’m not ready yet. Forcing things has never worked for me, moving slowly but steadily instead has always proven to be the best strategy. I’m definitely very fascinated by the different risk tolerance levels every individual has, what I learned is that the higher your ambition and passion are, the more you’ll need to co-exist with taking big risks and making sacrifices.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m genuinely very happy to be living the dream of writing music for a living, in the biggest film hub in the world. It might seem like a simple answer, but to me is not. Any artistic or creative job is a complete gamble, the talent and chops are a must, then finding a way to actually doing it is where it gets interesting. It wasn’t and it isn’t easy, of course, following your passion and calling comes with sacrifices, like being away from family and friends, missing important life events, etc…

I would say that what sets me apart from others in this insanely competitive industry is that I truly believe in the concept of one’s personal journey, which saves me from being afraid of someone else’s success, I enjoy my personal journey and know that every opportunity brings me to the next level, that makes me happy.

I’m proud of my origins and that the many life experiences I’ve had helped me gain a rich and diverse musical background that goes from classical to African music, jazz, rock, orchestral music, hip-hop, etc… and this allows me to take in a large range of diversified projects where a background in many musical genres is required.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would start with a walk-in Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, then a day at the “Universal Studios” is a must, and a little trip to Vegas can be very fun for a foreigner or someone that lives in the East Coast.

After that, the Santa Monica Pier is probably what most people would want to see, and then I’d suggest a walk in a nice LA neighborhood to have fun dreaming about big house mansions!

I’m sure they’d want to see the beaches in Malibu and also visit some of California’s natural parks.

If they are not from the US, I’d definitely want to have them try the Cheesecake Factory, a nice traditional American breakfast, and some fun things like bubble tea, or “Matcha Latte”, which might not be that popular outside of the US.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I wouldn’t have even started my musical journey if it wasn’t for the open mind my parents always had in regards to following your passion, whatever it might be. I cannot even count the number of times my mom and dad traveled and waited hours in the car while I was attending classes at the conservatory back in Italy, or that drove my brothers and me to play concerts all around Italy. The more we showed our passion for music the more they’d try to help as much as they could.

My wife has been there since the very beginning as well (since we were 17 she has attended every single concert I played, every audition, graduation, screenings of my movies, etc. she never missed a single thing). Imagine telling your 20 years old boyfriend “if you need to go study in the US for 4 years, go, it’s the right choice”, I still can’t wrap my head around the support she gives me.

I spontaneously received genuine help many times from people that sometimes weren’t even on the same Continent as I was, and this is why I said earlier that I believe in the journey and that if something is meant to happen it will.

I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my Senegalese musical mentor Peace Diouf that during my teenage years took me under his wing and literally showed me that there wasn’t a thing I couldn’t do if I wanted to. He was the one that months before I even tried told me “YOU WILL win that scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music”.

I wouldn’t have attended Berklee if it wasn’t for the Theberge family that hosted me for my entire college journey in Boston. I literally wouldn’t have even accepted my scholarships if they didn’t blindly decide to host me, the “Boy Scout musician kid” that “looked polite” ahah… Imagine a ZOOM chat where you speak close to 0 English, and a guy from Quincy, Massachusetts tells you “we are both Boy Scouts, and we’d love to help you!” It is as unbelievable as it sounds, especially when you think that no one in my family or friends knew them. I do need to thank my friend Raffaele Ingenito for translating that famous Zoom chat!

It would take an entire magazine edition to thank everyone who has helped my musical journey, but they all know how thankful I am.

Website: http://www.danieletruocchio.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danieletruocchio_music/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniele-truocchio-4610258b/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanieleTruEye/?ref=pages_you_manage

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Danifender93

Image Credits
– K.Greene Productions LLC – Taiga Kunii – Eugenio Forconi – Canon U.S.A., Inc.