Once a music student at Sachem, this alumnus used his opportunity and experiences to build a successful career in the industry
With a sound that is traditional in its inception and modern in execution, Boston based artist Munk Duane’s style is born of the late 60s, early 70s singer-songwriter inspired rock and soul of Bill Withers and The Rolling Stones, filtered through a 21st century aesthetic.
Known as Michael Duane Ciano when he attended Sachem, he graduated in 1986 and credits his formative years as shaping his successful life and career.
Duane’s music has been featured in hundreds of television and film placements from The 70th Annual Tony Awards, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Hawaii Five-O, 60 Minutes, NCIS and Blue Bloods, to HBO’s The Sopranos, the 2010 Super Bowl Half Time Show and NCAA March Madness. He composed the original score for the 2015 Indie Thriller “The House Across The Street” staring Eric Roberts and Ethan Embry.
We asked him some questions about how what Sachem means to him.
How did Sachem impact your life?
“I simply wouldn’t have had a career in music without the dedicated focus of Sachem’s music program. I was introduced to the Upright Bass in the Waverly Ave Elementary Orchestra when I was in fifth grade and continued to perform on the instrument throughout my high school career until graduation.
I later joined the Choir once I arrived at Sachem South in ninth grade and by 10th grade, I was also recruited into the theater program, winning the lead roles in Sachem productions of Grease in 1984, Charlie’s Aunt in 1985 and Carousel in 1986 . The experience I was afforded by participating in concerts, music clubs like the Sachem Rock Band, state competitions, theatrical stage performances, and countless hours of rehearsal and instruction during the duration of my formative years, helped to shape not only my love for music, but my work ethic.
In addition to the performance aspect, I took advantage of the classes offered in Music Theory starting in 11th grade. By the time I reached my senior year, I had five music classes in my curriculum, which was the best possible preparation to move on to Berklee College of Music after I graduated. Berklee is widely considered one of the best and most challenging music schools worldwide and I would never have survived it without all the previous years of preparation in Sachem.
Today, I am proud to say I am a professional working musician. I am a film and TV composer with hundreds of credits in CBS promos for The 70th Annual Tony Awards, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Hawaii Five-O, 60 Minutes, and Blue Bloods and shows such as CBS’s NCIS, HBO’s The Sopranos, CBS Sports (NFL, NCAA, PGA), 2010 Super Bowl Half Time Show to NCAA March Madness, to name a few.
I have released seven albums under the stage name Munk Duane and have been featured in major press including the The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard Magazine and the Boston Globe. I still play hundreds of shows annually as a singer and guitar player, and was recently nominated Male Performer of the Year in the New England Music Awards. None of this would be possible without Sachem’s indulgence in my love for music and the many opportunities I was given to explore my place within music while maturing.”
Who was influential from your Sachem days?
“So so many! Most notably, Joe Cavelea, Sharon Murray, Peter Lecesse and Raymond Sabatello. I spent the majority of my time in studies with these wise and patient educators, from Sagamore through Sachem North. They formed what would become the nucleus of my understanding of music, from both intellectual and emotional perspectives, and I still here the echoes of their voices in my head.”
Give us your career rundown and overview:
“After graduation from Sachem in 1986, I was accepted to Berklee College of Music in Boston as a professional music major, with voice as my primary instrument and Bass as my secondary, later moving on to include guitar, piano, synthesizers, drums. Post-Berklee I performed professionally as a singer, songwriter and guitar player until I was offered a recording contract with a record label in 1999. Having learned to read contracts while attending Berklee, I quickly saw that the contract was not going to offer me the best options for success and chose to strike out on my own independently, under the umbrella of my own record label. After the release of my first album, singles began to chart in the Top 30 on over 100 college radio stations around the country.
I was offered my first Music Publishing contract in 2001, which lead to my music being licensed for hundreds of major network television productions. In 2010, I leveraged my television resume and became a film composer. I wrote the original musical score for two feature films, several shorts and attended the first of several red carpet premiers for productions I was involved in as a composer.
Today, I own Bad Stella Studios, which houses my film composing business. I am an active performer in the New England region, playing hundreds of dates per year as a singer and guitar player and was recently nominated Male Performer of the Year in the 2018 New England Music Awards.
Over the course of my performance career, I have played venues small and large, from pubs to stadiums (such as Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts) and have shared bills with Corey Glover of Living Color, Bernie Worrell of Parliament-Funkadelic and the Talking Heads, and Chris Barron of the Spin Doctors, to name a few. I have released 7 albums on my label, also called Bad Stella, under the name Munk Duane, the most recent of which is the Soul/R&B tinged “Theory of History: Part 2″, released earlier this Summer. The last three albums were Mastered by an engineer with multiple Grammy awards, and features additional musicians who have performed and recorded with names such as David Bowie, Seven Mary Three, Denny Lane from Paul McCartney and Wings and Dave Navarro.”
Most notable career achievement?
“Being afforded the opportunity to make an income and help support my family as a musician is no small thing and something I take immense pride in achieving. My first Hollywood Red Carpet experience wasn’t bad either.”
One piece of advice you would give current Sachem students?
“When a kid proclaims to an adult ‘I want to be a doctor or a lawyer’ or ‘I want to get my MBA,’ there is no adult on the planet that responds, ‘yeah, but what is your Plan B?’ There are hundreds of legitimate careers in the music industry and for me, it all started with performance. When someone asks you what your Plan B is, ask the above question in response. The ‘have something to fall back on’ line of reasoning for people interested in music or the arts may come from a place of love, but in reality it is THE most destructive mindset you can introduce into a child. It saddles them with doubt right out of the gate and believe me, every creative person already lives with enough self-doubt. You can’t give a hundred percent to two careers. One day, you will eventually default to Plan B when Plan A gets hard and you will potentially miss some of the greatest achievements of your professional life. When Plan B sinks its hooks into you, it will be too late for Plan A. If you love it, do it. Find a way. There is no Plan B.”
-As told to Chris R. Vaccaro