One on One with Drew Ochoa.

I first met Drew in 2017 at Epcot as part of The Voices of Liberty. He's quite the talented man and is involved with more projects than I can count so I had a tough time deciding what questions to ask. Without further ado here's my interview with Drew Ochoa.

Take me through your childhood and college days. Were you in musicals? Did you take voice lessons? Did you take music lessons in college? Etc. 

I didn’t take voice lessons growing up, but I did take a few acting classes in elementary. I had an interest in theater because I loved being a class clown and entertaining people. From 5th grade to my freshman year in high school, I basically dropped all theater and picked up sports. I was in band for 3 years playing trumpet and had a semester of choir in 7th grade, but that was it. In my sophomore year, a friend had pushed me to audition for West Side Story. I had no idea was a musical was, but I knew I enjoyed theater so I decided to give it a shot. Ended up landing the role of Bernardo haha. My first voice lesson was after this production when my musical director suggested I start taking lessons. 

I went to Bowling Green State University focusing on Voice Performance. I thought I was going to focus on voice with an emphasis on musical theater, but it ended up being a track focused on classical technique and repertoire. I ended up switching my major to Choral Music Education. However, my college voice teacher insisted I attend a Masters program in voice and give classical music another try. So I went on to attend Roosevelt University where I earned a Master’s degree in Voice Performance. 

Tell me how Disney came to be. Also let me know what your favorite things about both shows (The Voices of Liberty and The Dapper Dans.) 

In February of 2015, I decided to audition for Voices of Liberty and the Dapper Dans. I was in Chicago singing with a few choruses in town and wanted to try for something different. In late May, I got the offer for a full time position with the Dappers. 

I was a full time Dapper for my first two years with Disney. The best parts about being a Dapper are singing barbershop music and having the freedom to be a clown with three other people. As a barbershopper, it’s many a dream to be a Dapper Dan. I will say it is the hardest show I’ve ever learned. Between the singing, dancing, chiming, and acting, it’s a lot to juggle around.  I joined the sub roster for Voices of Liberty during my second year and the following year was offered a full time spot with Voices. My favorite thing about Voices is singing these amazing arrangements with some of the most talented people I know and watching our audience be moved from our performances. Through college, I became a sucker for lush choral music and how certain chords can make you feel a certain way. VOL has many of these moments in the arrangements we sing. The most rewarding feeling is being able to talk to our guests and hear their comments on how it moved them or brought back old memories they once cherished. That is the ultimate goal and I love how the group can create that kind of environment. 

In 2018, your quartet won the international barbershop competition tell me what was going through your mind when your group won?!

That memory is very clear in my mind. I remember being backstage waiting for the results. We had come in 3rd Place the year before and the hopes were to continue up the ladder or at least not fall short of 3rd Place. When we heard 3rd called and it wasn’t us, the nerves really start to kick in. At this point, you’re either 1st, 2nd or you didn’t medal at all lol.  It came down to us and a quartet called Signature. They were the current 2nd Place medalist quartet and was assumed they would continue on to win in 2018. In my mind, I was ready for a silver medal. But, when they announced Signature for 2nd Place, my stomach dropped. I couldn’t fathom what was potentially going to happen. Everything starts rushing through your mind. Is this real? Did we actually make this happen? Hearing “Your 2018 International Quartet Champion....AFTER HOURS!” was one of the greatest feelings in the world. With the pandemic, we haven’t had the chance to gig around the nation like we’ve done in the past. We were scheduled to go to England and Australia this coming fall, but plans have been postponed for the following year. We do have a special video coming out that will feature a dear friend of ours, Ashley Espinoza. You may know her from Voctave :)

You are one busy man how do you keep up with so many commitments? 

(The Voices of Liberty, Dapper Dans, Voctave and After Hours) 

That’s a great question. I’m not exactly sure lol. I stress often with the fear of overbooking. Even though I’m a part of two groups at Disney, Voices of Liberty is my full time gig and that comes first. Dapper Dans is a sub gig, so I only go when I’m available or covered at Voices. As for the quartet and Voctave, I try to stay on top of my days off and schedule with them without running into each other. 

You recently taught music overseas can you tell me about that. 

In January 2020, I was invited to The Netherlands to be a part of a coaching faculty for barbershop quartets. It was a weekend involving over 20 quartets where they were able to get coaching from an amazing team of coaches and performers.

It seems like you've conquered the music world, what's next?

My small feats are far from conquering the music world . There is always room for growth. I’m not exactly sure what I’ll get in to next. I’m definitely looking forward to what Voctave will do over the next year and of course After Hours will be hoping to provide live entertainment in some capacity.

Last question, what type of hobbies do you have apart from music? 

I’d consider myself a tech nerd. I love gizmo’s n gadget’s. My current hobby is somewhat unique. I’ve taken interest in custom-built mechanical keyboards for PC. I purchased parts to build my own back in the summer of 2020 and they should be all be arriving sometime in February 2021. I’m looking forward to the end result as long as I don’t mess anything up in the building process lol. 

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