“There is an authenticity in making music when you’re an emerging artist and don’t know if anyone will hear it.”
Garrett Seamans, a sophomore in the Recording Arts program at LMU SFTV, is a photographer, filmmaker, musician, and quite happy to explore whatever medium catches his attention next. While his sophomore EP “Limbo” as Postcard Boy released last summer, he’s taking full advantage of the wide spectrum of creative arts offered at LMU. With classes returning to campus in the fall, Garrett hopes to get on more film sets and try his hand at narrative filmmaking. As for his budding music career–he’s not in a rush. “There is an authenticity in making music when you’re an emerging artist and don’t know if anyone will hear it.”
How early on did you start creating music and what inspired that?
Music was around growing up. A lot of my family play instruments so I learned the ukulele in fourth grade. I tried saxophone around the same time, but it didn’t stick for me. I wish it did – to be good at playing the saxophone is such a uniquely cool skill. I was doing acoustic guitar covers here and there until my sophomore year of high school when I got into producing electronic music. After editing surfing videos to some of my favorite electronic music at the time, I started making songs on my computer and got into more alternative stuff, and then those sonic worlds came together.
Beyond music you are also an avid visual artist, can you tell us more about that?
I started with surf photography, which led me to nature photography, and then I got into portraits and fashion for a bit. I don’t have one area that I’m really locked in on, which I like because it keeps things exciting: there are so many areas for me to explore and grow into as an artist. Music videos are something I’ve been doing for myself and hope to direct other artists’ videos somewhere down the line. I’m also writing several short films. Narrative filmmaking is very new to me, but it’s something I really want to get into. I would like to shoot my first short film once Covid conditions permit. Long term, I’d like to make a surfing movie with some old friends from home and premiere it at the local theater.
What are your future plans, do you know where you want to go from here?
I used to want to be any person who passed by my house when I was little–a garbageman, the mailman, a fireman. I still don’t know exactly what I want to do. Right now, I know I like to make music and videos, but I’m also open to changes along the way. “Limbo” came out last July, but was written two summers ago, so it feels like an old version of me. I am working on a bunch of new projects, both in music and visual arts. I’m currently writing and planning a narrative short film that will be centered around an upcoming musical project.
What type of genres do you normally gravitate towards?
I think the idea of “genre” is pretty much destroyed now with how much music you can access and the crossover of sonic spaces. Right now, I’m listening to a lot of emo, but I’ll pretty much listen to anything. I was listening to Drake last night while earlier that day I was listening to Altered Images.
How has the pandemic affected your school life and work in the past year?
I have gone through waves of extreme productivity and then weeks of creative ruts. School has definitely been rough with online classes, as I’m sure it has been for most students. Things are looking up this year, so I am trying to stay positive and look ahead to better days while still making the most of where we are right now.
Top image: Garrett Seamans; still from Picture Book (Stop Motion Music Video) – Postcard Boy
Su Fang Tham is a story analyst and freelance writer specializing in filmed entertainment. Based in Los Angeles, she is also a contributing writer for Film Independent and CineMontage, Journal of the Motion Picture Editors Guild.
