Featured Student: Sebastian Yoma
“I was always attracted to music. I was around two- or three-years-old when I learned to use the stereo in my house. I knew how to play CDs in it and select different tracks and I spent basically all of my time listening to music. When I was in middle school, I tried experimenting with guitar a little bit, but I never got too far with it. It was in eighth grade, a friend’s birthday party, when I discovered the bass. I remember his parents got him an electric bass as a present, so he was playing it during the party. I was blown away when I heard it; I loved that warm, low, and fat sound. So I ran immediately to him, asking what he was doing to make his guitar sound like that, and he said, ‘Well, it’s not a guitar; it’s a bass.’ And since then, I’ve known all I wanted to do was to play bass.”
“When I told my dad that I wanted to study music, it was a bit of a shock for him because we both knew that the music scene in Chile is very hard. That’s when he told me to consider going abroad and to apply to the best school in the world. So I ended up applying to Berklee College of Music, got a scholarship, and here I am. In my time at Berklee as a performance major, I’d like to get as proficient as possible on my instrument and get to play with as many wonderful players as I can. I also like to write a lot so I’d like to get familiar with more arranging and composition techniques.”
“For me, everything about Berklee is really rewarding, but if I had to pick, I’d say the people [are the most rewarding]. Being immersed in an environment with such talented people makes you grow as a musician and as a person in ways you can’t even imagine. In the future, I see myself working with different artists as well as on my own projects. I’d like to be a touring/studio bass player, playing and recording with different artists, and developing my own compositions as well.”