We caught up with the brilliant and insightful LASI a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
LASI, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.
In the music industry, larger labels get a bad rep. There’s articles everywhere about how big labels become predatory and artists lose out on millions of dollars for their own work, or not being able to own their masters and are at the mercy of the label for years.
For Bolo, we wanted to create a music label that is run by artists FOR artists. Ruby and I are artists and the team we selected to support our signed artists are pro-artist. In order for us to build community and elevate the talent we have seen, our mission is to treat artists fairly and allow them to express themselves in their truest way.
LASI, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am a Filipino-American music producer, mix engineer, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and band leader from the Bay Area.
I was classically trained in piano since age 5 and expanded my musical horizons and eventually became self-taught in a number of western instruments and also indigenous & traditional Filipino instruments such as kulintang. My musical roots span from classical piano, punk rock, old R&B, soul, neo-soul, jazz, hiphop, OPM & most recently, Kpop.
While a student at UC Berkeley, I became the musical director of the university’s Pilipino Cultural Night live band and performed in multiple productions in Zellerbach Hall. I also began producing and engineering music by collaborating with a number of local artists which was my first real start into producing and mixing music. After graduation, I further studied jazz and bass guitar, and had the opportunity to study under Grammy award winning bassist, Victor Wooten.
In 2018, I joined The Balikbayans, Ruby Ibarra’s live band and served as a co-musical director and bassist. In collaboration with Ruby, we toured the world and performed for sold out shows in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and the Philippines being featured on Wish107.5, Rappler, SaGuijo, and the Malasimbo Music Festival . When it comes to traditional Filipino music, I am also a musician and member of House of Gongs. I also had the opportunity to perform as a musician at international folk festivals in Belgium and Croatia with LIKHA-Pilipino Folk Ensemble. Also in 2018, I had the opportunity to conduct field research in Mindanao to study the music of various indigenous groups.
I am most proud of forming Bolo Music Group with Ruby. It has always been a dream of mine to run a music label that showcases Filipino-American talent. It’s one of those accomplishments where you realize how your thoughts become reality and I am excited to show the world the talent our community has.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
I met Ruby back in 2018. I’ve been a live musician and part of the live circuit here in the Bay Area since I graduated college in 2013 and I was referred to Ruby since her band needed a bass player. Our friendship and work relationship strengthened over the years after playing many shows together, especially after our memorable shows in the Philippines. What cemented our creative and working relationship was when she approached me to produce a song called “A Thousand Cuts”, which was to become the title track for a PBS documentary of the same name covering renowned journalist, Maria Ressa. Ruby asked me during the busy holiday season if I could produce, mix and master the song in 2 days. Despite the quick turn-around, we were able to get it done and were very happy with the result. It was one of those full circle moments, especially because we got to actually meet Maria Ressa while we were touring the Philippines. It made me proud to be a Filipino creative in this space helping amplify important voices and messages.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I haven’t had a conventional career as an artist. I graduated from UC Berkeley as an Economics major, but most of my time was spent producing and mixing music with friends and local artists in the Bay Area. I was so obsessed with mixing that I spent an entire summer on my own reading books and learning on YouTube. After college, I lived in Singapore for a few months working as a consultant intern thinking I would get into business. However, when I got back, I ended up working at a law firm and then worked for a large biotech company afterwards. I’ve been asked many times “Why don’t you just leave your 9-5 and focus on music?” Truth is, I wanted to do both and while there were many junctures where I could have left my 9 to 5 and do music full time, I stuck with having a job which allowed me to fund and build my music career. My job also allowed me to have structure in my day, which I think is important to have otherwise it’s easy to get lost and become undisciplined.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bolomusicgroup.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lasi_musik
Image Credits
Gino Lucas (on behalf of Bolo Music Group)