Today we’d like to introduce you to Avi Buffalo.
Avi, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started by making music in my bedroom, playing guitar around age 13 and it grew from there. I began writing songs a couple of years later while playing guitar in my high school’s jazz band and trying to form bands with my peers. Once I was at the end of my teen years, I was recording an album with Aaron Embry, who had played piano for Elliott Smith, Brian Blade, Daniel Lanois, and Jane’s Addiction among others.
Aaron liked my music, and we got along magically, so collaborating came very naturally to us. He knew someone at Sub Pop Records who started listening to my stuff casually, and they approached us about releasing my first album. I released that record with them in 2010 and toured on it, then I made another one that I released in 2014 and also subsequently toured on it a little. I write songs, play guitar for other people and am a lover of improvisation and sonic exploration.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Music is a really interesting career-path. For me, it’s taken a lot of learning as I go, and figuring out what’s important in life in general in order to feel truly productive as a musician. I’m happy to have figured out rhythms of touring that work for me more recently, as well as more and more ways of collaborating with people. If it wasn’t continuously challenging, I wouldn’t want to keep doing it, because I live for the search, the curiosity and the fun in making music itself.
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I write, record and perform my music live, so far mostly just in North America and Europe. My first instrument was the guitar, but I also have found my way over to keyboards for writing and recording purposes mainly. I’m very proud of a strong sense of musicianship in my performance, and I feel like that sets me apart from a lot of songwriters in today’s musical climate.
It’s really good for someone who writes good songs to really be able to play an instrument proficiently, and I strive to do that just as a default that I started playing guitar and wanting to play music in general first before writing my own personal, self-therapeutic songs got a major label’s attention.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
So many people! People like Aaron Embry who recorded my first record, my first guitar teacher Dave Murdy, Gerard Perez of LA Underground, and really good friends that I have now like Gianna Geller, who’s a great performance artist as well as a human being. A producer named Ari Prado and I have created an electronic album we’re releasing soon called “Glow Cast On Eternal Sound,” and I have him to thank for the great opportunity of working together.
The guitarist Nels Cline I became friends with around age 15, and he’s been a really beautiful mentor and inspiration for guitar playing and artistic expression. Of course, I gotta thank my amazing family for being true music lovers, critical ears and warm hearts. It’s all very important stuff, and I have many people to be grateful for in my life.
Pricing:
- I’ll make a ringtone/phone alarm for you for $20 and you can give me any custom prompt for inspiration.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.avibuffalo.org
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avibuffalo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avibuffalomusic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/avibuffalo
Image Credit:
Nicola Buck and Leticia Gomez
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