We recently connected with Noah Garabedian and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Noah, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Being a musician is a life-long journey. There are the technical and physical aspects of music and one’s instrument to focus on, and then there are the less tangible elements; sound, touch, style, theory, etc. Improvisation is a big part of what I do, and studying great improvisors from all traditions of music from all over the world is essential to my development. Recently I have been thinking about “sounding good,” and what “sounding good” might actual sound like; what does it mean and how do I sound good? Maybe sounding good isn’t the objective, as it can mean vastly different things to different people. So now my journey is focused on how do I sound like my true self, what does my honest self sound like, and how do I want to deliver that sound to the audience as well as my fellow musicians in the moment?

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a bass player, and I play both upright bass and electric bass. I play in a variety of projects and bands, ranging from improvised music, Brazilian music, gospel, and music known commonly as “jazz.” I have my own quartet that I compose music for, and I also play in a collective trio called Ember. I teach music privately as well as with a music outreach program that is very important to me. Additionally, I am the musical director for a tap dancer and choreographer named Dormeshia, and that partnership has been very fruitful and rewarding for me. You can hear my music and watch videos on my website:

www.noahgarabedian.com

Neither of my parents were professional musicians, however my mother could play oboe and piano, and my father played drums. They were very artistic in their own ways and they encouraged me and my younger brother to pursue music, and I am grateful for that. I was lucky to have a strong music program in my public school system while growing up, and many of my friends are musicians. I am Armenian-American, and my origins lie in California. I have used my genealogy to inform my musical style, as well as the stories of the displacement, emigration, and assimilation of the Armenian diaspora as compositional material and an ideological compass. Curiosity, social justice, and integrity has served as the cornerstones of my familial journey, and they are the tenets that motivate me in daily life.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I read a great quote from composer and producer Brian Eno about NFT’s that basically sums up my feelings completely: “I’ve been approached several times to ‘make an NFT.’ So far nothing has convinced me that there is anything worth making in that arena. ‘Worth making’ for me implies bringing something into existence that adds value to the world, not just my bank account,”

Art should heal, help, and inspire people. Art can provoke thought, elicit emotional or physical reactions, or change perspectives. NFT’s do none of those as far as I can tell.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

There are several rewarding aspects of being a creative artist. I enjoy hearing from my peers that they listened to my music, and I also love hearing from strangers as well. The process and the journey is the reward, and I find myself enjoying every small victory. The most challenging aspect is finding joy in the moments we might consider as ‘failures’ or ‘negative;’ there is always something to learn and enjoy from every moment.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.noahgarabedian.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/noahgnoahg
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086225153872
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@NoahGarabedian

Image Credits
Photo 1 credit Harout Barsoumian Photo 2 credit Adrien H Tillmann Photo 3 and 4 credit Stephen McFadden