We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Salvador Zamora. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Salvador below.

Alright, Salvador thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Though I’m listed and known as a designer by my legal name, I’ve also taken on the stage name of “Suavecito” and often credit my work as Suavecito Sound Design or Suavecito Productions. The name was given to me by a close friend on my high school’s latin dance team, and refers to a hair gel brand I was very fond of at the time. We were up in Los Angeles, getting dressed for our performance when some of my teammates came asking for gel to help hold down their hair. I offered mine to the group and my friend jokingly referred to me as Suavecito. Liking the translated meaning and reference, as well as the general ring to it, I went with it. At first it was a cute nickname within the team, but as I began making art I decided I needed a stage name to create under. My first real project was creating a dance mix for the team’s next performance, so it only felt right to tag the mix with the name my team gave to me, Suavecito.

Salvador, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Salvador Zamora and I’m a sound designer, composer, and latin dancer born and raised in southern California. I grew up a classically trained musician, playing the violin in academic and regional orchestras and later joined my church’s youth choir. From there I taught myself basic guitar and piano and became interested in music production. During this time I joined my high school’s latin dance team where I began learning to make the music mixes for our performances. I went on to attend UCSD with an Interdisciplinary Computer and Arts Major (ICAM) where I began my career focused on music production and audio engineering. I found myself in a sound design for theatre class and quickly fell in love with the world of theatrical sound design and the various roles a sound designer gets to perform. I graduated in 2019 and continued my time at UCSD, graduating with my MFA is Sound Design in 2023.

My work consists mostly of original sound effects and compositions for live theatre, while focusing on spatial audio techniques and emphasizing the movement of sound in a space. Movement sits at the forefront of my sound designs and I practice spatially moving sound in a theatre to create a change in space, direct an audience’s attention, and even respond to a controlled set of movement like choreography. I accomplish this in my personal programming, considering movement and how I can respond to uncontrollable variables that affect the trajectory of a play.

My style can be classified as ethereal, other-worldly, creepy, and surreal. I really strive to get a strong emotion out of an audience, whether that be through goosebumps or a heavy heart. I specialize in horror/suspense and anything relating to death, absolutely love comedy, and I’m passionate for Latinx stories. My compositions are often influenced by hip-hop, reggaeton, English and Spanish ballads, and classical music, and though resampling audio material has always been a staple of mine, I often play in my own pieces.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Doing your best work on every production, no matter the size. Finding productions to work on can be tricky, especially as a new graduate, so I can’t provide much advice but I can share my experience. Most, if not all, of the offers I’ve gotten were because someone saw my previous work and recommended me. So had I not given a passionate effort on a show just because “it’s not worth it”, I wouldn’t be earning better offers because though I have the talent, no one would see it. You never know who’s watching, and the world of theatre is pretty small.

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

The most rewarding aspect has got to be showing an audience my artistic interpretations of life. There’s something really exciting about a crowd’s reaction to a moment in a show that you had made a strong connection to, especially when you’ve put a lot of thought and time into it. It affirms my abilities, but it also confirms the belief I have in myself, and it’s crucial for all artists to believe in themselves. To sonify a piece of a text and create understanding in an audience is what I strive for.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.suavecito.design/
• Instagram: @suavecito_sounddesign
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/salvador-zamora-26a7ba120
• Youtube: @salvadorcazareszamora5907
• Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/59dmBAVNcTHRN29IINvDpQ?si=3Sf-82_VS8-y_15PmOtREg Sound Cloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/xs64GbUXmDk7XCWRA