about sean
I tried for a long time to find a specialty; to select one area in music and to have it shape my identity as an artist. I figured at some point there would come a moment when the selection of this specialty would be obvious and that it would occur without struggle. That never happened. So I am now stuck, spread thin, lacking focus, chasing after too many dream at once. It’s cool, though.
Today I consider myself a composer, a singer/songwriter, a producer, and a multi-instrumentalist. I play pop music in clubs and bars, and modern classical music in concert halls.
Seven years ago, I moved to New York City to forge a career as a professional freelance double bassist and composer. Like many in my situation, I have played a countless number of random gigs in order to live as a starving artist in the city. For a while, I would play anywhere, any style, wheeling my upright bass on the subway with an amplifier and a tuxedo. I played with orchestras, off-Broadway pits, contemporary classical music groups, rock bands, and even with an Ethel Merman impersonator. When I wasn’t playing music, I would hear music live around New York City.
One night as I roamed around Greenwich Village by myself looking for something to do, and I stumbled into an Irish Pub. In the back of the noisy bar was a group of musicians playing without amplification, but they played with such vigor that I could not help but be drawn to the spectacle. The group was a young and hip looking collection of instrumentalists – fiddlers, bagpipes, acoustic guitar, percussionists, etc. They were playing traditional Irish music all from memory and by ear. The form of this music and the melodies that they strung together throughout their set date back centuries, yet somehow it was so alive; so current and exciting. There was joy and virtuosity. The experts were respected and beginners and onlookers were welcomed.
I went home late that night and tried to copy the guitarist that I had fixated my attention on throughout the evening. I watched his fingerings and somehow figured out his tuning, which was different than what I was used to, but so logical. A few days prior, I had just bought an old guitar at a garage sale for $40 and I was enjoying teaching myself how to play. I still use that guitar and all of those fingerings I learned from the Irish musician.
It was that year that I started seriously writing songs; inspired by this traditional folk world that I felt was both new and familiar at the same time. As I played my tuxedo gigs around town, I felt the disgruntled working musician at odds with whatever this new musician was.
About 3 years into my journey as a performing musician, I was admitted into the doctoral program in composition at Princeton University. Princeton has a unique tradition of fostering cutting edge concert and electronic music. It gave me an opportunity to learn from great musical and academic minds and explore my voice in creating and performing music. Aside from composing for string quartets, orchestra, and piano, the university had a recording and electronic music studio that I worked out of constantly, learning about music production and recording my own music. I became obsessed with microphones, recording gear, and software manuals. The library at school seemed to contain every book published on recording, synthesizers, and electronic music techniques, and I read everything I could get my hands on. I worked inside and outside school, at commercial recording studios in New York City, putting together the skills necessary to produce music on my own and for other artists. My goal was to be totally proficient in all aspects of music production: the creative, technical, business, and the community aspects.
Today, I produce my own pop music while also working on projects for other singer/songwriters, bands, and classical instrumentalists. I still compose music for the concert hall and I perform regularly as a freelance musician. However, I don’t see myself settling down and choosing a specialty in any one area of music making any time soon.