What instruments do you play?

So… I sing, I play guitar — both electric and acoustic — and I dabble in piano… I would like to practice more and get more proficient in piano, I’m also picking up drums, and that’s pretty much it.

So are you working your way to being a one-man band?

You know, I don't know about the one-man band thing, but I really enjoy music and I have a passion for learning instruments; I like accomplishing learning new instruments and branching out and trying new things.

The good musicians do that.

Are you a solo artist or do you typically play in a band?

I am actually a solo artist as of right now. I’m currently also working with a small group of other people right now and we’re trying to form a band, I suppose. We’ve just been getting together and writing some content.

Are they people that you met at Norco?

Yes! Yes they are.

Okay, so they’re other students here…

Yes, two other students and the third person was just somebody that I met through the other two people.

Does that mean… do you write acoustic stuff?

For Old Scores, I definitely write acoustic stuff. The kind of style that I was going for was to do just acoustic and vocals, but I wanted to sort of structure the music so that the components of the song were just sort of like all acoustic guitar but… I don’t know, I tried to kind of play around with it a little bit so it still sounded full. When I play the songs live it’s kind of cut down a little bit, but the recordings that I put together are a little bit more elaborate.

I know you’ve already had your own spot in the S3, so I remember seeing you perform there and it was just acoustic. Chill vibes though.

Yeah.

Tell us about yourself as an artist. How’d you get to where you are now? What started everything?

Actually! When I was 11 years old, it was almost Christmas time, and I was with my family out shopping and we walked by a store and there was this electric guitar — it was the Squier — just sitting there and I was like, “yo, Mom! I want that!” and she was just like, “yeah. Ok. Sure,” and then I didn’t get it for Christmas and I like, I freaked out, and then my birthday is in February so a couple months later I pestered my mom about it like, “please get me this guitar” and she got it for me, and since then I just, I haven’t stopped playing. I haven’t stopped playing.

So are you self-taught?

Yeah. I’ve taken some courses, just throughout my years of growing up and everything, but for the most part it’s all self-taught. Vocals, too.

Never had a lesson or anything?

Not really — when I started off, anyway. I got a lot of encouragement from friends and family who were just like “hey man, if it’s something you love, just go for it! Try it! Enjoy it!” and I kind of found a love for it so I just keep doing it, ya know?

So you’ve just been playing all these years, and then you got to Norco and found out about the music program?

Here’s kind of how it happened… I graduated high school at Rancho Buena Vista in Vista, California. I then started one semester in Oceanside and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do at MiraCosta [College] and I abruptly ended up leaving the state and I spent about six years in Arizona kind of not really knowing exactly how I was going to make anything happen because there’s not really a whole lot to do out there. So I just kind of worked on getting my Associate’s Degree and just general education, and in the meantime I was just writing, and playing, and I would go out and I would busk, and I would try to find venues to play shows with my friends or by myself or whatever… and eventually, by the end of 2017, I was just like, “you know what? I gotta do something.” I looked at a bunch of schools out here in California that I knew had music programs and I moved back here specifically for that — to pursue music and to pursue that career. There were two campuses I was interested in; it was Norco and Orange Coast College which I know also has a music program. Sort of by circumstance, I ended up in Corona and figured, “hey, I’m down the street from Norco. I might as well check it out,” and it was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life, honestly.

So you actually- you looked up—

Yeah, yeah!

Oh, wow. Most people just kind of stumble into it somehow, but I think you’re the first person who’s ACTUALLY gone looking for it.

Yeah.

Tell us about your time at Norco, in the Norco Music department.

I started — this is my third semester right now — so I suppose I started at the beginning of 2018? Spring of 2018? Is that right? I’m trying to remember it… No, it was fall of 2018. I started fall 2018. I moved here [on] March 23rd, 2018, started in fall here, and then did spring semester earlier this year, and now I’m here again this semester and I’m trying to graduate by 2020 — by the end of spring 2020.

Are you going for both degrees, in performance AND audio production? Or are you just doing one?

Just audio production, and I am intending on transferring to Cal Poly. I’m looking into it… I’ve got a little bit of time.

Nice! I know you’re only a few semesters in, but do you have a favorite memory or experience so far from being in the music program?

You know, I do. It’s not like one specific memory, though. It’s kind of a collection of vibes and memories that I’ve created with a lot of the people that I’ve met here. I’m not gonna lie, when I first came here, I thought the program was gonna be a lot more like other programs at other schools where people are kind of more distant, people are a lot more competitive, people are a lot more… I guess reserved in their creative sharing, and here, everybody is just so supportive and that is one of the things that, hands down, keeps me here. It’s just that collective passion and that collaborative effort between everybody — whether you’re in the MIS classes together or not. Anybody that I come across that is interested in the program is involved in it in any way, shape, or form. It’s like… we’re like family. And I see that. And I appreciate that. So. THAT. General vibe is… is really good.

Yeah, it’s pretty crazy because music is such a… competitive thing almost? It doesn’t really HAVE to be, but a lot of people kind of — I don't want to say they MAKE it a competitive thing, but NATURALLY you see someone and you’re like, “I wanna be on that level”

Or better.

Yeah! And it’s very nurturing here, which is very, very nice.

So, what are you doing now as far as school, music, or any other professional pursuits?

Involving my professional pursuits, I’m currently working on writing music outside of what I’m putting out here. What I would like to do is at some point start putting out singles and producing myself. I have fun with it; I love just sitting there writing and recording and getting feedback from friends… and strangers… and just everybody, honestly. I’m kind of doing that and I would like to continue publishing music under Old Scores for the time-being. I would like to free up my schedule somehow and try to get a job doing something involving music. Right now, I’m actually- I’m a cook. I work at Disney, and that’s a lot of time that I spend there. So I’d like to kind of switch that up.

Disney in Anaheim, Disney?

Yeah, Disney in Anaheim.

So you drive all the way over there? That’s killer.

Yeah, yeah. To cook. I love culinary, too, but that’s just not where my heart is, you know? So I’m trying to make a transition into doing things in the music industry, anything, landing any kind of job, doing ANYTHING just so that I can get my foot in the door.

Norco is a good environment as far as being nurturing goes. There are people who kind of get caught up in feeling comfortable with it, and then there are people who want more out of it so I think that’s a very important thing to keep in mind—

Thank you.

Yeah. Just, taking every opportunity you can — because you’ll be provided with a lot of good opportunities if you’re one of the people who is active and seeks them — that’s kind of how you get your foot into places.

That’s definitely something I’ve seen, too. Brady and all of the instructors [who] have created this program, they basically structured everything as a platform for students to just be themselves and push themselves to the best of their ability, and I’m doing my personal best to meet that expectation.

Yeah, they want to set you up, but also, they want you to… they want to have that environment where — as far as music goes, it is a lot of self-driven stuff, so they keep that in mind as well — they set up their students for success, but it’s up to the students [to be successful].

We kind of started going over this, are there any goals that you’ve set for yourself — either short-term or long-term?

Definitely short-term, I want to perform well with school. I want to get straight A’s, I want to do well, I want to do good by myself, I want to do good by my peers, I want to show not just myself and my family and my friends, but the other students here that hard work pays off and that it’s all really good. So the short-term goal is: get my degree and look into transferring and pursuing that. Long-term goal: I would like to get myself to a point where I’m actively doing something in the industry and changing my career path to music.

I know Pomona does have a good outlet with a lot of connections and resources… Were you going to do the music program there?

I’ve heard some stuff through some of my friends here that the program there is really cool, also Brady himself mentioned it to me just yesterday, actually. Just some things to look into, for sure.

So you want a Bachelor’s Degree?

In Audio Production, yes.

Do you have any hobbies outside of music?

Skating, going to the beach, and kicking it with my friends.

Okay, that’s pretty much it as far as the questions go. With this last part of the interview, is there anything that you’d like to add? Anything you want whoever might be reading your interview to know? Anything you want them to know about you? About life?

You know, just that I’m having fun. I’m having fun learning, I’m having fun growing, and every single day I step onto this campus is… it’s a blessing, honestly. And I do my best to just kind of bring that to light in myself and in other students, ya know?

Old Scores

Album Credits:

Louder than Words

• Light in the Grey

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

• Call Me Crazy

• Cut Me Down

• Pyro

• Stone Alley Reef

Beneath the Surface

• Our Plan

• Insomniac

• Fire

Additional Credits: