Coker learned the piano at a very early age. In school, he joined the orchestra and a jazz band and later studied at the Royal Academy of Music pursuing a major in musical composition. He traveled and lived abroad in Japan for three years where he taught English[1] and studied various ethnic instruments.[2] He later moved to Los Angeles, where he juggled between composing for video games and the University of Southern California's film scoring program.[3][4] Coker cites Alan Silvestri's score for Forrest Gump and Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter as inspirations to becoming a composer.[5]