Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam Sears.
Hi Adam, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’ve been into music all my life. Since I was three years old, I was making up songs. On the bus on the way to kindergarten I was performing my own songs and distinctly remember the audience going wild, well as wild as kindergartners can get, I guess. When I was 7, I was writing plays and at my parents get-togethers, I would assign my parents’ friends roles and give them each sides to perform. So, I guess you can say, at a very early age not only did I want to entertain, but also I enjoyed getting others involved as well! Seeing this, my parents got me involved in community theater, piano lessons, and musical overnight camp. Not only did I enjoy plays and musicals, I became fascinated with popular music and the radio. I started making my own tapes, pretending I was a DJ of my favorite radio station. I would even make my own mixes, using my dual-cassette deck boom-box, and set up my booth outside my front yard, and have the neighbor kids come on over for interviews or to be guest DJs. My tapes became part music shows, part sketch comedy, and part diary. So, to make a long story short, I have always been a creative person and just wanted to create things that others would enjoy.
2022 has been a breakout year for my progressive rock-opera project, Lobate Scarp. This year we released our second full-length album, You Have It All, my proudest accomplishment. A very happy memory of when I was a kid to a young teenager was my ritual of bringing home a CD from the local record store. I would dim the lights, sit on my bed, put headphones on, and just let the music take me on a journey as I listen to the entire album. As I listened, I would go through the liner notes and lyrics. It always fascinated me to see all the instruments that were recorded or to see if I perhaps recognized a musician from another album I heard. Recalling those experiences, that was the kind of album I wanted to make. I even made sure that our CD came with a 16- page booklet including the lyrics, and credits, so whoever picks up the CD can have a journey similar to my teenage self. I also wanted to make an album that inspires creativity and encourages people to be confident and live their truth without fear of what others think.
I was so lucky to get to work with amazing musicians and a phenomenal production and mixing team. I had some incredible guest musicians involved including some of my long-time heroes like Billy Sherwood from the band Yes and one of my favorite keyboardists Ryo Okumoto from the band Spock’s Beard. Also involved were Jon Davison from Yes, Jimmy Keegan from Spock’s Beard, and drummer Eric Moore. There’s a much larger story on how I got to work with these artists (from my favorite bands Yes and Spock’s Beard) as well as how I discovered a phenomenal mixer by the name of Rich Mouser (Spock’s Beard) 20 years ago, and how he ended up mixing as well as co-producing my albums (along with my good friend Steven Leavitt). But basically, moving to Los Angeles was a great idea, because the album happened by being in the right place at the right time, several times. If I was still in Chicago, or if I had moved to New York to pursue musical theater, I would indeed have a very different life. I’m so grateful at how much positive attention the album has received from the progressive rock community. You Have It All has also been making the rounds on indie radio shows, prog podcasts, and in publications. In addition to the overwhelming praise of the album by music reviewers, just this past week, the album has received nominations for Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Epic of the Year, from both The Prog Report (progreport.com) and online radio station ProgRock.com.
Earlier this year, I received a Rock Music Alliance award for best songwriting for “Beautiful Light” (it’s on the album). The award was presented by another one of my musical heroes Tony Kaye from Yes! I just about died! In April, we were invited to play the RoSFest art and prog-rock weekend festival taking place at the Sarasota Opera House, Florida. This was the first time my band played a show outside of the Los Angeles area and it was quite a feeling being a part of this show. The prog-rock community welcomed us with open arms and reacted very positively to our set. And I also got to meet Tony Kaye there as well, who politely asked if he pronounced our band name correctly (which he most certainly did!) ! We hope to do more festivals similar to this one next year, maybe even in Germany, the UK, or The Netherlands where the majority of our album sales are coming from.
Prog-rock doesn’t pay the bills exactly, as you might imagine, so I also spend my time working a variety of jobs. I work at the Cheesecake Factory part-time as a server, but one of my favorite jobs is being the host at The Barrel Tavern’s open mic (Sherman Oaks) on Tuesday nights. I run the night and also book the featured artists that play a full 50-minute set as the open mic sign-ups go underway. The majority of the talent that comes through there is wonderful. Some musicians are very new to either their instrument or new to performing in public while others are pros that have been at it for a very long time. Overall, I’ve tried to create a positive encouraging environment where music artists have a space to share their talent and express themselves. It’s been running for over a couple of years now (not including pandemic shutdown), and I really think we’ve built something special there.
Something that most of my more recent acquaintances may not know about me is that I am also an actor. In fact, I hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theater from Millikin University (Decatur, IL), although it’s been quite a minute since I’ve actually performed in a musical. But in a way, I’ve sort of created my own musical world with Lobate Scarp (and I’m also working on a rock opera). I originally moved to Los Angeles from Chicago in 2002 and I my goal was to make a living as an actor so I can afford to be a musician. And for a while that was working. My first two national commercials, in fact, helped me complete Lobate Scarp’s debut album in 2012. I haven’t done much acting since before the pandemic, but I hope to become more active with acting in the very near future. I’ve been a member of SAG-AFTRA since 2003.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The great thing about being in a prog-rock band is that it’s a very specific genre, so it’s easier to focus and reach out to the places and people you know would appreciate what you have to offer. I don’t have a manager or a PR person, so doing this all by myself while finding the time to practice AND work my jobs, has been very difficult. I definitely should hire someone, so I can focus more on the music itself. Right now, it’s out of my means, but as our popularity grows, I think in a year or two, that can be a very good possibility. Also, it’s been somewhat challenging being an independent unsigned band. Sometimes I think it would be great to have a label because they might pay for a whole album to be produced, where now I have to go through fans, friends, and family contributions in order to make an album and still put most of my own money upfront. If you go through a label, at least you’re making your album faster, but do they want some creative control? And there’s almost no money to be made by selling the album (it might all go to the label), so then you need to sell lots of merchandise to sell and spend much of your time doing shows on the road to make any profit. If there’s an opportunity to join a good label, I may try it once. I have an idea for a sci-fi rock opera concept album, and I have a feeling it’s going to be really expensive.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
Thanks so much! I’m a fan of what you guys do as well. There are so many cool creative people here in L.A., and sometimes they get lost with all that’s going on in the city, but you shine a light on them and the importance of what they do for the community! We appreciate that. In summary, I am the vocalist/ keyboardist/ composer of progressive opera-rock band Lobate Scarp, as well as the host of the Music Open Mic at The Barrel in Sherman Oaks. I run the Tuesday night there as well as book the talented featured artists. And occasionally I do an acting gig.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
If you’re a musician or overall creative person, I would love to meet you. You can find me at The Barrel Tavern in Sherman Oaks every Tuesday night. Come signup for the open mic if you would like to perform. And also contact me if you are an exceptional musical artist or band as I would love to book you for a featured set. Send me an email, DM, or just swing by The Barrel on a Tuesday night and introduce yourself. I would also love it if you check out Lobate Scarp! You Have It All is now streaming at all major music platforms and CDs/ digital downloads and merch are available at Bandcamp. (http://gotprog.com). Stay tuned for some local shows! Signup on the email list on our website or follow us on all the socials! Thank you, Shoutout LA, for the shout-out!
Contact Info:
- Website: lobatescarp.com
- Instagram: @adamsears32 @lobatescarp @openmicatthebarrel
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adamgsears, lobatescarp, openmicatthebarrel
- Twitter: @adamsears32 @lobatescarp
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/lobatescarp
- Other: https://lobatescarp.bandcamp.com/album/you-have-it-all
Image Credits
Richard Reyes
Brian Tirpak
Jim Stidham
