We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Avery Smith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Avery, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

Around 2019, I was studying music performance and production at Fullerton College when I decided to slip my resume and cover letter under the doors of local studios hoping someone would give me an internship. One studio, MAPS, out in Fullerton eventually got back to me, giving me the go to shadow their producers. It was here that I met DJ De Neve, a producer and musician who would become a close friend and bandmate. We would go on to collaborate on multiple projects for clients and friends, playing historic venues such as the Troubadour, Viper Room, and House of Blues along the way. As these projects came and went, I continued to pursue music performance on saxophone and bassoon as well as my secondary education degree and credential. It wasn’t until last summer circumstances aligned for DJ and I, and soon after, our good friends and collaborators Athan Birsinger, Zack Edenhofer, Landon Mills, Cyrus Payne, and Max Upchurch, to start our own project and hence, our band Lobo Tomi was born. My musical background up until this point had mostly revolved around my classical and jazz training, so Lobo Tomi gave me a place to express myself in a new, more personal form. To date, we have released four singles that are near and dear to us. I have been so fulfilled making music with such talented, kind people. I feel so lucky to be working on a project that holds space for so much musical freedom and vulnerability. The start of Lobo Tomi has also been really special because I am a full time high school teacher at Woodbridge High School in Irvine, CA, and my students have rallied around us. They are so supportive towards my own personal music journey and I can only hope that I am showing them that they can continue to make and play music no matter what career they decide to pursue.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have always gravitated towards music. Since I was young, music was one of the few things that was capable of both lighting me up and easing my mind, so naturally, I latched onto it in any way possible. I learned piano, then sax, then bassoon, then double bass. I played in any group I could get my foot in the door for. I took on multiple projects and started my own. As young as middle school I was busking outside grocery stores with my friends, just hoping someone walking by would feel the same joy I was feeling playing. High school brought a slew of new opportunities and gigs as I stepped into the world of jazz. It wasn’t until college that I admitted to myself that I had a deep desire to create my own music. This was dream that felt far away as I sat in a classroom of producers much more seasoned than me. I pressed forward regardless, and as I experimented, braved embarrassment and failure, and found great mentors, the dream inched closer and closer. It’s pretty flooring to look back now and know how proud I would be to see the life I have built brick by brick. I am releasing music with my own band, Lobo Tomi. I’m producing two of my best friends’, Mona Lucine and Kaity B’s, upcoming records with my band mate and friend DJ De Neve. I get to teach wonderful, passionate high school students in our instrumental, choral, and technical theatre programs at Woodbridge High School every week. I couldn’t have drawn up a more personally and creatively fulfilling landing place and I feel grateful to every person on my journey who has supported and believed in me. The creative path wasn’t and it isn’t without failure, disappointment, and pain, but I have grown to accept all of these as steps towards growth and happiness.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Every new project is a dream surfacing in your soul. You have an idea and it brings a new sense of possibility and excitement. When I start to feel this, I’m big on collaboration. I love bringing people together around a common dream and watching everyone contribute their hard earned abilities and unique taste to it. I would say that’s the most rewarding part, the journey and brainstorming throughout the creative process with the other creatives. Creatives that bring things to the table that I wouldn’t have even considered otherwise.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I would have to say mentorship first and foremost. I wish I would have pursued private lessons on my main instruments way earlier in my musical career. I only started studying privately towards the very end of high school and it opened up a whole world of knowledge to me. It gave me so much motivation to keep pushing and learning. On the music production side, I wish I had started experimenting with tools like Garage Band and Logic First sooner to create my own music. I think when you feel so drawn to a creative medium it’s sometimes hard to start because the fear of trying it and not immediately being skilled feels devastating. Letting go of this perfectionism showed me just how many great online resources are available, not to mention how many industry professionals are willing to let you sit in, ask questions, intern or shadow them if you’re just brave enough to ask!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @l.obotomi
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCDn4K-tO-AWaGPIAMGqi46A

Image Credits

Mona Abboud
Justin Critz
Kendall Guse
Zachary Moreton