If you aren’t familiar with neo-musicians, or your TikTok “For You Page” isn’t tuned into the musical likings of freestyle-type and/or purely creative and freeform music, you probably haven’t come across the self-proclaimed “CEO of Oooo I like this one”, Sebastian Gonzalez.
California native Andres Sebastian Gonzalez is Nicaraguan homegrown, with an affinity to all things Latino. Sebastian’s roots plant firm in musical performance, as he’s been a creative kid since his adolescent years, starting with the guitar and a misplaced hand on the frets as his first musical instrument. “Once I got a piano for one of my birthdays,” Sebastian says, “I started taking a liking to the piano and I started playing a lot of that.” It’s no surprise that Sebastian’s biggest musical influence is Michael Jackson. Jackson’s Ghosts (the song) was Sebastian’s “I love music” song, with tracks like Billie Jean, Thriller, and Smooth Criminal following closely. A recent graduate from San Francisco’s Ruth Asawa School of the Arts (SOTA) and current attendee of Columbia College Chicago tells us much of what we need to know of Sebastian’s skill and experience, although he has no long-term professional training. San Francisco has influenced Sebastian heavily instead in that regard. He even calls it a “melting pot of… cultures,… perspectives,… and a lot of creative people.”
Hats off to Sebastian for a unique taste, sighting Smino and Foo Fighters, among others, as his top artists. These artists find themselves in multiple mood-based playlists like “GRUMPS”, “FUZ”, and “ROSY” that Sebastian has created on Spotify. As a contradiction to popular answers, Sebastian names Remi Wolf as another top artist. Women aren’t usually listed in a top artist list when musicians are asked, and Jeron, the host of Sebastian’s Meet The Creator (the source of these answers), makes a point to call him and other musicians out for it.
Sebastian cites The Nightmare Before Christmas as the reason for the transcendence of his musical palette. “That entire film is such a masterpiece on so many different levels.” But the real drive and support for Sebastian’s musical passions are his parents. Sebastian notes that his parents allowed him to explore his creativity—rather loudly—during quarantine, which launched his TikTok career. It’s given him the ability to work with the platform’s brightest stars like KyleYouMadeThat and Akintoye, to name a couple.
General facts about Sebastian, he’s an Aries, with a March 22nd birthday, and he’s 6’0″.
When asked how to begin a career in music, Sebastian responds, “Just start.” He says that being any good doesn’t matter, because there will always be someone who wants to hear your music. Sebastian began at four years old, lip-syncing to popular songs with his parents. Through that, coupled with being a musical theatre major, he obtained the ability to perform and share his talents, and has even expressed interest in a professional music career.
The next step in Sebastian’s career, for now, is a new merchandise venture with Placard Media, a WGMCorp. company. The culmination of this Meet The Creator is the announcement of the launch of the store. On October 29th, 2021, the full Meet The Creator releases on YouTube. Set a premiere reminder here.
Marianne Young, Influencer Digital Media Specialist for MiniMusicManage
with contributions from Jeron Williams II and KyNea Johnson