Drew DeCaro is difficult to capture on film without a guitar. He always seems to have one with him, so it’s hard to imagine him otherwise. In his final year at CSUN, the twenty-three-year-old Jazz Studies major commits himself to his role as musical director, lead guitarist, bartender, event promoter, entrepreneur, teacher and actor (the last talent could be debated, he says) with the same fervor which manages his upcoming 19 credit Spring semester. An East Coast native, DeCaro moved to Los Angeles in the fall of 2004, a transfer student from Maryland. He was born outside of Washington D.C., but experienced and honed the musical taste and touch responsible for his artistic upbringing in nearby Baltimore. That same musical sensibility is what finds Drew in Los Angeles today; finishing an undergraduate degree at CSUN; developing an entertainment business in Hollywood; and beginning a career writing and recording music and traveling the country to play.

“To see the world via music, be it rock or jazz or pop, whatever the case, would be the ultimate short-term goal. School doesn’t ever allow more than a few days and a short distance.” He says. In two years here, DeCaro’s musical projects (some of which are depicted in the accompanying photographs), there are six bands and three ensembles which have taken him to Florida, Boston, Reno, San Francisco, and back and forth to D.C.. There have also been numerous round trips to Las Vegas, everywhere notable in the L.A. area, and most recently to Phoenix, Arizona.

“A condensed music and art scene like those in Baltimore and D.C. can certainly be outshined by the brilliance of So Cal music and culture, and rightfully so, but I hit the city hard as a kid, played all the clubs, snuck in the backdoor as a 15-yr old with my 20-something band mates. It’s where I developed this taste for traveling and performing.” No surprise then that DeCaro’s first two months of a proposed four-month exchange trip to L.A. resulted in an internship at the infamous Hollywood nightclub the Viper Room, a coveted place in the ranks of CSUN’s renowned, award-winning jazz program. With all of this excitement and success, Drew has no plans of moving back east.

Drew plays every Sunday in a worship band at St. Anne’s church in Santa Monica, runs an online music retail store (his site can be found at: www.burnlounge.com/andrewentertainment), and teaches guitar lessons. He has recorded in Mikal Blue’s studio (of American Idol fame), was in the final running with his band on NBC’s ‘StarTomorrow,’ played on ‘Good Morning San Diego’ and on SpikeTV’s ‘Project MyWorld,’ won Skinnie Magazine’s Battle of the Bands, was featured in the October issue of the ‘OC Metro,’ and starred in the recent commercial for Nokia cell phones. He does all this with books on his back and guitar in hand, and maybe, just maybe you’ll see him skating across campus in his casual style, but likely rushing off to the next engagement. “I stay pretty busy; it comes with the territory as a senior. I’m telling you though, this town, these people are inspiring. If I’m doing it, I’m doing it right here, right now.”