Life & Work with Michael Cole of Wilmington, NC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Cole

Michael , we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Michael grew up in a little town called Liberty, North Carolina where he started playing guitar and singing at the age of 3, and always loved music and songwriting. When he was 21, he was put on ABC’s “The One:Making a Music Star” based in Los Angeles, CA. Although the ABC show didn’t last and was canceled after 2 weeks, Michael decided to move from North Carolina to Los Angeles to see what the music industry had to offer. After performing at all the top Hollywood clubs: the Roxy, the Whiskey, the Viper Room, and writing for various artists landing a number one song on the Swiss Charts for DJ Antoine, Michael took a departure from his own music to create his custom metal work company: Custom MIC. Custom MIC is where he designed and created custom mic stands for music artists such as Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Pink, Katy Perry, Alicia Keys, etc… In 2016, Michael decided to trade earthquakes for hurricanes and move to Wilmington, NC. After a couple of years of enjoying the beautiful Carolina beaches, he realized there was a real void for quality vintage instruments, music lessons, and rehearsal spaces in Wilmington, The Loud Music Company was born in 2020, and closed 3 weeks after opening because of COVID. Since the store has re-opened post COVID, it has formed 6 bands full of all star students of all ages: elementary school student to retirees, and teaches around 80 lessons a week. One of the bands formed is Loud Music Company, an original band that Michael is the co-lead singer and songwriter in with Lilly Triolo, the manager of the store who grew up in Raleigh, NC. Since the band started in 2022, they’ve played hundreds of shows and released a live album in 2024. They have shared the stage with Saint Motel, Lawrence, Maggie Rose, LIT, Hoobastank, Steinza, Swimm, Alien Ant Farm, Big Something, Them Coulee Boys, and Lespecial. They have played Greenfield Lake Amphitheater, Brooklyn Arts Center, The Plaza Orlando, The Ritz Raleigh, The Fillmore Charlotte, Cats Cradle, Fall For Greenville Music Fest, Brewgaloo Festival in Raleigh, The Big WHAT Festival, The Flatiron Greensboro, Bourgie Nights, Porsche Club of America, NC State’s Packapalooza, and sell out almost every venue in and around the Wilmington area, headlining and selling out Thalian Hall in Wilmington, NC in Dec 2023. They also headlined Greenfield Lake Amphitheater in May 2024, and played Live Oak Pavilion for the City of Wilmington’s July 4th Celebration. Michael and Loud Music Company are going on tour this summer, and are headlining Greenfield Lake Amphitheater again in April 25th, 2025 with support from amazing Wilmington acts including some of their student bands. Michael can’t wait to see what 2025 has in store for him and the rest of the Loud Music Family.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Music business is not the easiest thing, but Michael loves it. Michael didn’t grow up with a lot of money, so moving to LA was a risk, but along the way he was able to use his skills he learned growing up to make amazing stands and art that no one had ever seen before. Once he moved back to Wilmington, he was planning on just retiring at 35 and vacationing.. but he got bored and opened Loud Music Company. With COVID hitting 3 weeks after opening, there were definitely struggles of trying to keep the business afloat during such unsure times. BUT Loud Music Company made it out! With the band, most venues and bars are expecting an all cover song band, and it can be a challenge to play all originals at venues, but so far we’ve been successful!! Loud Music Company the band was the first original Wilmington based band to play Thalian hall for over 20 years, and first to play Greenfield Lake in 10 years, so that was a challenge to try and succeed in getting on those stages, and taking the risks that other bands don’t dare to do.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Michael specializes in design and having a vision of talent/ seeing what something can be, when no one else can. In every aspect, whether its building a band full of 8 women in there 50s-60s who have never been in a band before and are learning there instruments, named the “Hot Flashes”; or a ball and chain microphone for Lady Gaga that’s never been built before and all he had is a sketch idea. Michael is the most creative dreamer I’ve ever met. If you would like see some of the pictures of his mic stands, I can happily send some of his amazing work. He also was a production director for many artists, as well as his band when we played Thalian Hall. Lastly, Michaels creative work on songwriting and getting a message across to all ages and genres, is a beautiful work of art that has everyone singing by the end of the song. Michael is set apart from others with how much he cares about everything he touches. We have a saying he says “It’s always the Grammys” meaning, every show, every time you build something, every time you present a song, it is just as importance and should have the same attention as something on the Grammys does. He never loses energy on caring about his art, or the people who are apart of the work he does. I would think Michael is most proud of the music community he built in Wilmington, taking a bunch of people who thought they didn’t belong in music, and making a family that supports each other in every way.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Hopefully the band will be full swing into tour and records, headlining 1500 seated venues like the Ritz in Raleigh, and making enough money to solely be able to focus on that. With the store, we are in the talks of moving to a bigger space, with 4 more lesson rooms, and a 500 seater music venue for bands to play. The music industry is going through an interesting time with social media, streaming, and venues being owned by Live Nation, so it will be interesting to see what things look like in 5-10 years, because 5-10 years ago, the industry has changed so much with instagram and tiktok, as well as music being able to be released without a record label, but now theres so much new music constantly out. Hopefully the store and Loud Music Company the Band will continue on strong through the changing tides of the music industry!

Pricing:

• $50 for an hour long one-on-one lesson, offered in person and online
• https://www.loudmusiccompany.com/services-2
• https://www.loudmusiccompany.com/contact-5
• https://www.loudmusiccompany.com/the-loud-music-company-band
• https://concerts.livenation.com/loud-music-company-wilmington-north-carolina-04-25-2025/event/2D0061937805357E

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.loudmusiccompany.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loudmusiccompanyllc/ and https://www.instagram.com/loudmusiccompany_theband/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheLoudMusicCompany
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@loudmusiccompany
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2BnDTNEWy3jGJdOmlopvGM
• Other: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/loud-music-company/1730073818