Going behind the music with El Migli

The time that Francesco Migliano, also known as El Migli, has had here at Coastal Carolina has been nothing short of a whirlwind. Migliano, a native of Montalot Uffugo, Italy, began his college career at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Migliano was a tennis player at UT-Arlington and despite a good first year, things began to go awry and forced Migliano to look for a new program.

“I had an injury in my second year and really was not given the proper amount of time to rehab,” said Migliano. “I started to look for a place where I could find harmony.”

Migliano, a 4.0 student-athlete, was looking at schools such as Georgetown and Cornell. However, due to those universities being private and Migliano being an international student, he was unable to apply for financial aid.

“I started using some of my connections and I remember talking with Renan Samed, who played tennis here at Coastal, at a tournament,” said Migliano. “I got in touch with the coach, came here and loved it.”

Migliano had a great career at Coastal Carolina, both on and off the tennis court. Migliano went 16-12 as a player and made the 2016-2017 Sun Belt Commissioner’s List. Migliano graduated Coastal Carolina summa cum laude where he received the President’s Award. He was also honored as the Coastal Carolina Male Scholar Athlete of the Year.

After his time at Coastal Carolina, Migliano secured a position as a Placement Analyst with the Citi Latin America Internship Program. The six-month internship with the Fortune 100 company offered a unique opportunity for Migliano to gain meaningful work experience in a very competitive environment at a global organization.

Migliano opened up about his experience within the internship.

“The people that I worked with in Ft. Lauderdale and Miami were absolutely amazing,” said Migliano. “I gained so much insight on how the market works. However, working there I discovered that I am not a person that can sit at a desk all day in a suit.”

So, what exactly kickstarted Migliano’s passion for becoming a DJ?

While Migliano did experiment with music a little bit during his time at Coastal, it all started back when he was attending high school in Spain.

“Electronic music is big here but not as big as it is over in Europe,” said Migliano. “I started listening to it a bit more when I was in high school and fell in love with Avicii. I didn’t really start really vibing and dabbling with music until I was a senior. I had this classmate whose friend was a DJ. I was invited to hang out with them at a tailgate and I was standing behind the DJ booth fascinated as to what I was looking at.”

Almost immediately after that day, Migliano bought his first console and for three straight days, he messed around with the device.

“I didn’t sleep during that time,” said Migliano. “I actually got my first gig as a DJ not even a week after I bought that console.”

When it comes to being a DJ at a party and producing his own music, Migliano is very meticulous in his work and what he wants to play.

“I certainly want to play artists like Avicii and whatever is at the top of the charts,” said Migliano. “However, I do want to have my own personal style. I don’t want to go into something giving it fifty percent. I am always going to give it 100 percent.”

Migliano said that during the first few weeks of creating music, he couldn’t even save projects that he created because he had an older laptop and couldn’t afford to download the full-version of the proper software.

“I created a song that was complete garbage but I still put out there in an effort to see what direction I was going in and what areas I could improve in,” said Migliano. “I got a lot of negative feedback but I didn’t give up.”

And he hasn’t.

As of right now, Migliano has put out a couple of singles across all streaming platforms. Migliano’s recent single “Hold Me in Your Arms” was released on Nov. 17. The song features Shayce Opal and it took Migliano seven months to perfect the track.

“I never thought about how hard it would be,” said Migliano. “I knew that this was something that I was passionate about and this track is very special to me. It is the first time I worked with lyrics and another artist. And it is also basically the birth of my record label, EM4U.”

Migliano is currently working on creating an online shop for merchandise and for greater promotion. Be sure to search ‘El Migli’ on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube and other streaming platforms.