Today we’d like to introduce you to A.J. Sealy.
Thanks for sharing your story with us A.J. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I had to have been around 10 or 11, I think. My family was eating lunch one Sunday, and I liked to play music on the stereo while we ate. So I put in a CD from one of the local orchestras – the Boston Pops. This particular album was called “Pops In Space” and featured a collection of works by John Williams taken from films who’s settings took place in outer space and the like. When I first heard “The Asteroid Field” (looking back, maybe not the most ‘lunch-appropriate’ track to listen to), I think that’s when I knew I wanted to write music for media.
It certainly became an “all roads lead to” type thing – like, most, if not everything I did sort of went into achieving my goal. For ‘fun’, I’d just write as much music as I could, and for everything. I didn’t have composition lessons, but I was a classically trained pianist at the time (studied with Tudor M. Bota), so I wrote a lot for piano. Fast forward a few years, and I had joined my school’s orchestra as a bassist – there weren’t any a bassists, and the piano parts I often received to play were actually bass parts, so it was the logical move. From there, I studied bass with Helen Stevenson at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School and joined the Youth Repertory Orchestra. This was one of the more transformative experiences for me as it was one of the few times I could be a part of a full orchestra and hear every instrument from within. It’s one thing to go to a concert and listen to an orchestra play – but it’s entirely different when you’re on stage hearing exactly what’s going on. In any case, I took what I learned and absorbed from orchestra playing, and applied it to the music I was writing – I noticed a big difference in my writing when that happened.
Toward the end of high school, I started getting into electronic music. This was around 07, so before the dubstep wave happened, and before EDM became pop music (or vice versa?) Artists like Above and Beyond, Ronski Speed, and BT – to name a few, were absolutely huge names in the dance music scene, but rarely known outside of it. I suppose similarly to how a record store employee would eventually start to mess around on a set of decks, I ended up starting to make my own electronic music. It wasn’t very good if I’m honest. It was a lot of fun to do though – I got to play with and learn so much about synths, and it also provided me a way to make music in a non-traditional way, especially after writing orchestral music for years and years. I got better though – as one does with lots of practice. I kept this going as I went to college. and my first official release of electronic music was called “Park Street” under a Canadian label called “Omerta Records”. I was pretty surprised that they were into my sound, but I ran with it. I released more music on their label, as well as lots of remixes for other artists and labels, all within the three years span that I was at Berklee (’11).
Quantity played a large role in my journey for sure. I chose to double major at Berklee, and pursue a Film Scoring degree, and a Contemporary Writing and Production degree – both of which were very project-heavy programs. If I wasn’t working on a project for one, I likely was for another. But between these two majors, I actually had to do a lot of orchestral writing, as well as a lot of synthesizer work. I’d say I’m pretty fortunate that prior to Berklee, I was no stranger to both aspects of music production. I still had plenty to learn, but I wasn’t starting from zero.
I graduated in 2011 and stayed local for a couple of years before marrying my high school sweetheart and moving to Los Angeles (literally landed at LAX the day after our wedding). It was pretty scary for both of us, but a lot of the people I knew at Berklee were also living out here, and so the community aspect made it a bit easier to adjust to. From these familiars, came gigs – people I performed with years prior in school, we’re out here doing the same and before I knew it, I was on stage with them at all the regulars – Hotel Cafe, Mint, W, Satellite – most of these you’ve heard of or have been to. The shows are always a blast, but it was also a key way to network; something a composer or producer relies on to grow their career. I had heard growing up too many times “it’s not what you know, but WHO you know” or whatever variations of it, and like, I understood it – but it didn’t really hit home until I figured out that it was pretty much THE way to get work.
This was kind of just how I did it – a lot of rinse and repeat. Play or perform somewhere, meet the musicians, chat about what we were working on, and a lot of times that leads to an opportunity to collaborate or a referral of some sort. I did it, and did it a lot, to the point where I stopped having to rely on live gigs to network or promote myself. I’ve been fortunate enough to work on some really cool projects that I enjoyed both film-related and not. It’s pretty much been more of that over the last 6-7 years (my wife and I have also moved around a lot, and had three children!) with bigger and more exciting projects. I’ve also been getting really into synthwave and retro music in the last few years, and in doing so I’ve been able to explore not only the music of decades old, but also discover how it was done, and replicate some of it in my own work.
Truthfully I’d call it a series of strategic moves. Looking back on 11 years old me, I’ve had a lot of highs and lows as a musician, but given the opportunity to go back and change anything, I really don’t think I would. I’m enjoying life as a composer/producer – despite our current pandemic – and I’m excited to see what the rest of the year (and beyond) has in store for me.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Nope – definitely not smooth. I had my car stolen in 2017 and it had all my gear in it from a gig the night before. That one was a tough one to get through – getting your stuff stolen always feels violating. I’ve also had my share of technology failures that typically end up costing me a lot of time, money or both. I also think everyone gets Impostor syndrome once in a while – that’s never fun. It hasn’t happened in a bit, but it was enough to make me want to stop altogether when it did happen.
Then you have the statistics. Can’t ignore those – I mean, you don’t see too many Black film composers often in the news, or on tv or even at awards shows. Call it under representation, or my own personal ignorance – but I can count on one hand what I would call “household names” of prominent Black film composers. So one of the challenges I’m working on is to crack that code or to find and break whatever barriers are remaining.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I’m a composer, producer and bassist. I grew up playing keys in churches (I still do this), but I don’t advertise it. I’m not even sure why; people know that I can, and will ask if needed, but its usually the first three that I’m known for.
It’s always interesting when I tell someone I’m a composer or producer, and they ask “oh what kind of music do you make?”. For me, I make whatever it is I’m asked to do – I’ve had to do all kinds of music, and while I may not *love* the genre I’m working in, I’ll still do it. That being said, if I had a favorite style to work – it’d probably be electronic/modern. You can achieve so much with synthesizers, and I love being able to bring that out – especially in situations where you wouldn’t expect it.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I’m not sure if I’m huge into ‘luck’, really – but I know that being able to strategize and take calculated risks can often set you up for success. That, and at least for me, something good tends to come out of something bad, or ‘unlucky’. In the case of my stolen car, I got a new seven string bass that I absolutely love playing, for about the same price I paid for the six string that was stolen! Silver-lining. That, I can get behind.
Contact Info:
- Website: ajsealy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aj_sealy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ajsealymusic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/aj_sealy
Image Credit:
Bao Truong
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