As a child, William Riley found himself drawn to the music emanating from around the house. His father was a bass player, and his band would cram into the house and practice for hours.

“While they were rehearsing in the living room or garage, I would sit on the floor and I’d set up one book like a cymbal and one like a snare, and I’d be sitting there playing along with some pencils for drumsticks,” Riley recalled fondly.

Other adults would tell his father, “You’ve got a real drummer on your hands.” And for a time that was true. Later, Riley took that aptitude for music and filtered it into a burgeoning hip-hop act. At other times he has worked with his brother in music production. Throughout his life, Riley has always remained rooted in music, even if his everyday job has not.

Riley currently drives a truck for Hollywood productions, but has always eyed fulfilling that music part of his being. As he graduates with distinction in Music Business from UCLA Extension, he now has the tools and connections to get back into the music business and continue his family legacy.

“Music, for me, some of it just touches your soul,” Riley said. “It can be so relatable for what you’re going through. It reaches into your heart and your emotions. Music is next to food. You need food to survive, but I almost feel the same way with music. Can you imagine a world without music? It just places you.”

Riley’s father was a session artist and sang backup vocals with acts like Mary Wells, Johnny Guitar Watson and Charles Write and the 103^rd Street Band. It was inspiring at the time, but Riley’s interest in drumming faded, eventually giving way to other youthful pursuits.

In the early 1990s, Riley joined the hip-hop collective Blak Forest. He was in a duo called The Landmines, and they burst onto the scene adjacent to acts like Easy E and Dr. Dre. They performed on the college circuit with future stars like The Black Eyed Peas and a host of others, also gracing stages at legendary venues such as the Roxy and Troubadour.

“I wasn’t really as focused as I should have been,” Riley said. “I didn’t take it as seriously as I should have, I just didn’t. We were just out there doing it.”

Even after Riley left hip-hop behind, he came together with his brother to start a music production team that landed a sync deal with Killer Tracks, now part of Universal Production Music. But more stable work was in order. Riley bought a diesel truck and eventually started driving with Teamsters 399 for motion picture studios and television networks.

The work has been good, and the life satisfying, but Riley still harbors interest in getting back to music. He is 54 now, with a lot of experience in entertainment and show business.

“It’s always been there, the music, and me wanting to do something in music,” Riley said. “I’ve done negotiations with the trucking business. I’m a people person. I feel like I would be an asset to an artist moving forward, but I still needed to know a little bit about a lot. I was always a little bit curious about artist management. I thought maybe I could go back and learn some things and pick up some skills and possibly manage an artist.”

When he first entered the Music Business program at UCLA Extension, Riley admitted he felt a little bit out of his depth, but the professors let him know that his experience was an asset, and soon he was working well in tandem with his younger cohorts.

“To be around all these young people who are just full of energy, I’m meeting a lot of people,” Riley said. “It was ultimately a great time throughout the process. Every single professor was A1, the best.”

Riley said he has been working with a young singer-songwriter he met in class from Austria, and that has been quite rewarding.

“I’m definitely looking to manage moving forward,” he said. “I really feel inspired by a lot of the students I met through the program who are just going for it. They’re not taking ‘no’ for an answer, and I love it.”

Riley completed an internship with Front Room Entertainment Enterprise, learning the finer points of management and live shows. He has been progressing through the program one course at a time since winter 2023. Music is coursing through his life again.

“I’m very inspired and very thankful that I chose UCLA and their Music Business certificate program, it’s the best,” Riley said. “It has brightened my eyes to be involved in the music industry again.”

For more information, visit the Music Business Certificate Program Webpage.