Piano Lessons in Cleveland, OH

Instruments: Bass Guitar Double Bass

If you weren't a musician what do you think you'd be doing instead?
It's very hard to think of what I would be doing if I wasn't doing music because I've always been so passionate about it. This is also true to other people that make a life long pursuit out of it. Music becomes such a part of who you are that no matter what else you end up doing, it will end up surfacing again in one way or another because it's in your soul and your soul needs it. Even if I somehow wasn't involved with music as my career, I feel as though I would need to be pursuing something in the arts. I've always felt the need to express who I am in a creative way.

When did you decide to become a professional musician? Was it a gradual decision or was there a defining moment for you?
I think the defining moment for me was when I was in 8th grade which I always look back on as one of the high points in my life before adulthood. Music really started dominating my life, and I started getting noticed for it. I began exploring a lot of different music and was even inspiring a lot of my friends and people around me to play instruments and was getting them into certain music. I even stated in my yearbook that I was going to be a musician in the future, and I haven't stopped yet so I'm going to say that was the time I really made the conscious decision to pursue music as a career.

Does music run in your family? Tell us a little about your musical family members.
I was never raised or mentored in a serious musical household and have always carved my own path. I would say that out of everyone in my family that I have known since I've been alive, that I have taken music the farthest. Thats not t say that I have had several family members that are musically inclined. My grandfather (who is still alive) sings in a choir and also plays the piano. He was the one that actually got me into singing in the choir that I was in at a young age. My great-grandfather was also a multi instrumentalist and casual performer. My fathers side also has a little bit of musical history - many of which were involved with mariachi music given the Mexican heritage.

If you play more than one instrument, how did you decide to start playing the second? (Or 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc)!
Technically speaking my first instrument was vocals which I began at 8 years old when I was in a choir, and I am still active vocally to this day. My main instrument now is bass which I started playing when I was 12. That bass being the bass guitar. When I was 17 I started playing upright bass which I started playing playing toward the of high school in jazz band. I always wanted to play upright bass but at that time I wasn't taking it as seriously or playing it properly, and didn't get any formal training on it until I was at Musicians Institute, so that is when I consider myself to officially having started to play upright bass. About half way through my duration at MI, I started getting more serious about composing and arranging, which I also consider an instrument in its own right, and is also one of my many tools that I employ.

What is your favorite style/genre of music to play and why?
Going into my mid-teens, jazz and hip-hop came to the forefront. It really intrigued me from the start and still continues to do so. These two styles are interchangeable to me because hip-hop is essentially the new expression of the former – just using a different format and presentation. Bebop and hip-hop alone take past generation’s music, and in a sense, flipped it (reharmonization), and used it as a template for improvisation, bringing it to new life. They are both about a lyrical improvisation, highly expressive, and sonically/texturally rich – at least in the “modern” sense. These elements are a big part of what I strive for as a musician.

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