Intern Spotlight: Christian Moreno

Published July 30, 2024 by Rebecca McDaniel      |      Share this post!

Where are you from?

I grew up in good ol’ Schaumburg, Illinois…aka the town with the huge IKEA.

What is one thing about yourself that you want everyone to know?

I once “opened up” for Billy Joel at a private birthday party performance…the guest of honor was a famed billionaire that I will not disclose for legal purposes (: 

A link to something about you (website, video, post, etc.)

https://www.christianlolomoreno.com

What are you up to these days?

Living my best bohemian life as a freelance percussionist in Chicago!

When did you intern with TCP?

I worked with Third Coast during my freshman year at DePaul University, sometime in the middle of 2013. 

How did you connect with TCP?

I remember seeing a post on the TCP socials, announcing that applications had opened up for their annual internship program—I took a shot in the dark and decided to send an application, not expecting a response…the rest as they say, is history.

Did you gain anything from the internship that you’d like to share?

One thing that always stuck out for me was their meticulous and detailed execution of tasks behind the scenes. The amount of planning and organization that goes into literally EVERYTHING that they do was very inspiring and changed the way that I think about being an artist. On top of that, watching them perform live was a masterclass in musicianship. 

What else did you do while you were interning?

… my main focus was arriving to my group piano classes on time haha

Did you leave a legacy or mark on the organization that you’re particularly proud of? 

I like to think so! My favorite contribution was creating the first iteration of TCP’s official Wikipedia page. It was more of an involved project than I originally anticipated, requiring some basic level of coding and in-depth research about the group’s history, but I really enjoyed the process. Peter was gracious enough to grant me a “one- on-one exclusive interview”, which gave me some great insight. I am very happy with how the page turned out. 

Favorite memory?

Getting to drive a rented U-Haul box truck home from Notre Dame University, all the way back to Chicago by myself….it was my first time taking the I-90 back from Indiana into the city.  As soon as I arrived in Chicago, I remember seeing the iconic Morton Salt Factory (now the Salt Shed) and the sun began to set…being stuck in traffic never felt so good. 

A GIF or YouTube link that sums up your experience with TCP?

(I’m David Spade in this clip…)

If you were a cartoon character, who would you be?

My girlfriend Rebecca says Yosemite Sam…let’s go with that lol

A funny or embarrassing story from the internship?

OK, so it’s Day 1, and my very first assignment was to take Sean to the post office. At that time, I was listening to Radiohead’s, In Rainbows, pretty religiously, and I remember Sean and I conversing right away about how great that record was…not even a minute after driving us off, I made a wrong turn down a one way and literally saw my life flash before my eyes. There wasn’t a turn off for a few blocks and I felt so bad because the post office was literally 2 minutes away and it took 10 minutes to get there.


Our interns can experience every part of TCP’s organization, from visiting recording sessions to writing grants and everything in between. We accept interns almost year-round. If you’re interesting in learning more about an internship with Third Coast, please contact Sean Connors at [email protected].