Conversations with Bo Baskoro

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bo Baskoro.

Hi Bo, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up thinking I was going to be a martial arts instructor and a detective thanks to Jackie Chan in “Rush Hour 2.” But then after watching an episode of “Smallville” and hearing the song “Where I Stood” by Missy Higgins during a breakup scene, I decided that I wanted to write music for breakup scenes. Ever since then, I’ve been exploring the music world and trying to find my place in it.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Not at all. It’s been incredibly lonely at times. I think the biggest struggle is finding friends in the music scene that genuinely want to support you, I feel like that’s the case in a lot of industries, but the music scene has been especially hard. I’ve always wanted to write and produce with many artists, but as of now, I’ve only worked with like two haha. I think overall, it’s just hard finding someone that believes in you, so it’s been important for me to believe in myself even though I’m a major external validation kind of person.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
For the last five-ish years, I’ve been lucky enough to have my hand in a lot of creative jobs. Primarily music, and then I also do modeling, and recently acting and voice acting. I just love being a part of creative productions. As far as what I’m known for, I guess I’m known for my songwriting, but it kind of depends on which crowds and which industry I’m hanging out in. What I’m most proud of is my character in these industries, as far as I feel I’ve never been one to cave into the social pressure of being someone I’m not; it’s too uncomfortable to be something I’m not and for a while, I tried fitting into different crowds and it was a huge letdown so I’m chillin’ being whoever I am and being immovable in that. What sets me apart? I guess I would say the sound and production of my music. Lately, I’ve been trying to figure out what other artist or band I sound like, and I’ve asked my friends the same question, and none of us can really put a finger on it, so I’d say my sound is pretty uniquely mine.

How do you think about luck?
Oooooh, good question. I’m gonna try to sum this up, but I once had a big hip surgery that kept me from walking. I moved out of the place I was living because nobody wanted me there if I wasn’t able to pay rent since I wasn’t working, so my mom let me move in with her. She only had a one-bedroom place, but there was a walk-in closet in her living room so I lived in that for half a year. When I started walking again, I happened to be in a commercial for a casino, and the production company got wind of my story about living in a closet and pursuing music and asked me to be the face of this rebranding campaign for Maxwell House Coffee. They did a bunch of promo and marketing for this campaign, and it featured one of my songs, and that was what gave me the platform to start really pursuing music. So, I guess you could say this hip injury was the best bad luck I could’ve had.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @bobaskoro
• Facebook: @bobaskoro
• Twitter: @bobaskoro`
• Youtube: @bobaskoro
• SoundCloud: bobaskoro

Image Credits
Images by Shawnie Fortune