Meet Rocio Marron | Musician and Music Teacher

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

Hi Rocio, do you have any habits that you feel contribute to your effectiveness?
I consider myself a hard worker. I take every job seriously, I often practice well beyond the point where I feel prepared, This helps my muscle memory kick in in the event that I get nervous while at a job. I tell myself that I’ve prepared as much as possible and will perform to the best of my abilities.

I arrive early for jobs I’m often the first one there. This gives me time to prepare mentally and put myself in a calm state of mind.

I try to maintain a positive attitude while at a job, and stay grateful for the work that comes my way, no matter how big or small.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a music teacher, violinist, violist, string arranger, guitarist, and singer songwriter. I believe I’ve been able to succeed in this business because I am versatile. I may not be the very best at every one of these fields, but I work quite hard to be good at what I do when I’m doing it.

My musical journey started when I began studying violin at a local music store at the age of 9. In high school. I became quite serious, practicing up to 6 hours a day and studied classical music at the Colburn School for Performing Arts in Los Angeles. I went on to study performance violin in college at USC, but along the way, also took electric guitar lessons. played with my cousin’s rock band, took improv lessons, and piano lessons. I also loved writing songs and wanted to create my own music.

Upon graduating from college, I continued playing with bands of different genres, including mariachi, salsa, country, and rock. This versatility allowed me to get jobs playing viola, violin, and fiddle on TV shows such as The Voice, and American Idol, playing viola on the Oscars, and also led to me being invited to play violin on the Coco soundtrack, because they needed a violinist that had a background in mariachi music who could also improvise.

One of the biggest challenges I faced as a musician was when I was diagnosed with a double herniation in my neck around 2010. I had such severe shaking and pain in my left arm that I had to keep it in a sling for many weeks while in physical therapy. During this time, I went through depression and stopped performing for almost a year. With the encouragement of my husband, I began writing and recording my own original music. It was a long process of bartering with friends to learn how to use pro tools, and have them help me set up my home studio. Toward the end of the recording process, my arm got better and I was also able to record violin, viola and guitar on my self titled album in addition to vocals. As a result of this album, I began getting jobs as a string arranger for other people’s albums, mostly Indie artists, but I was also hired for some bigger jobs, such as arranging and recording strings from my home studio for Aloe Blacc and Leanne Rhime’s single “I Do”

I have always loved teaching music as well. I taught violin, viola and guitar at the Silverlake Conservatory or Music for over 10 years. 5 years ago, I was hired to start a mariachi program at Cal Lutheran University, because one of my former college professors was the Dean at Cal Lutheran and had heard that I played mariachi after I graduated.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We would definitely go to Zuma beach. This was one of my favorite spots during peak COVID times.

I also love doing the corny touristy things when I travel, so I would do the same for my visitors. I love being around people and theme parks. Universal Studios and dinner at City Walk would be one day trip.

Disneyland and dinner at Downtown Disney on another day.

Hollywood walk of fame, and a movie at Mann’s Chinese theatre.

I have lots of fond memories from teaching at the Silverlake Conservatory so we would spend a day shopping in that area and eating in Los Feliz. Maybe something fun like the Dresden.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My family is my biggest inspiration and support system. We are all very close. My mother, stepfather, husband, daughter, aunts, and uncles are my biggest cheerleaders. Their enthusiasm for what I do has always made me feel proud to represent my culture and community.

Website: www.rociomarron.com

Twitter: @roxymae

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/rociomarronmusic