Sachem Alum Hopes to Score Big in Music Industry

While a student at Sachem High School North, Andrew Kokkosis figured out exactly what he wanted to do with his life: write and perform music.

"It's a way of life," the Class of 2007 alumnus said. "Even though it's not a steady career, it's giving back to you. It's what I like to do."

A recent graduate of Five Towns College with a degree in music education, Kokkosis, now known as Andrew Gabriel, will be releasing his first studio album in August. The album, titled “From Print to Script,” is a compilation of rock, blues and jazz music and contains 11 songs that are all written by Gabriel.

“It’s a little bit of everything I like,” he said. “It’s a mixture of a lot of things. I’m just excited that I’m doing it.”

A long-time resident of Ronkonkoma, Gabriel began playing the piano at the age of 12. When he was 15, his piano teacher suggested guitar lessons, and from there Gabriel said classic rock stars such as Led Zeppelin and Elton John inspired him to take up song writing. Gabriel said that in addition to his love for music, "just looking up to other musicians as role models" influenced his career choice.

Although Gabriel is looking to launch a solo career, he is also in a band called Piper Cubs with fellow Five Towns classmates. Gabriel said the band originally formed for a competition at the college, but decided to stay together after it won.

"It's more focused on experimenting with music and guitar playing," he said. Gabriel described Piper Cubs as a blues-rock band and said it performs a lot of old songs, but puts its own twist on them.

Gabriel performs local gigs on a weekly basis, playing covers at the Sayville Aegean Cafe Friday nights and at the Medford Pastaria Saturday nights.

While at Sachem, Gabriel was involved with band, orchestra and chorus. He recalled performing at Sachem Stock every year beginning when he was a sophomore. He also said his involvement with music in Sachem encouraged him to chase his dream even more.

"The teachers at North and the whole music department definitely inspired me," he said. "[But I also] learned a lot at Five Towns. The teachers taught me how to be a musician in the real world."

Gabriel said the idea of releasing his first album is almost surreal.

"It’s a little nerve-racking, I guess," he said. "It’s my first big attempt at being a recording musician. This is one of the first times in my entire life where I’m excited and nervous at the same time about putting my music out. Whether I get there or not, I’ll always remember that I put myself out there."

For more information on Andrew Gabriel, visit his website, Facebook and Myspace. To book him for a gig or event, contact him through Twitter or send him an email.