Meet Aubrey Situmorang | Bass player, touring musician, composer & arranger

We had the good fortune of connecting with Aubrey Situmorang and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Aubrey, what do you think makes you most happy? Why?
The ability to work on what I love and spread the joy of it to other people. I’m a bass player and I really love what I’m doing. I love discovering new music, learning the basslines, understanding how the music works, writing my own compositions, and all of music making activities. I’m really grateful to know that my work can directly affect other people’s happiness too. It’s really a win-win solution for everyone, so I feel happy with my purpose and I won’t trade it for anything.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m a bass player and composer/arranger. I have kept myself busy by touring, recording, composing, and performing with many artists/groups. I’m currently playing with my jazz-hip hop trio OVR and a funk-fusion collective called Rocket House. The latest tour I did was “The Life and Music of George Michael” which traveled to 20 cities all around the US & entertained up to 2000 audience each theater. I’m known for my love of performing, having fun on stage, and serving the music to the best of my ability.

It wasn’t easy to get to this point in my life, but looking back I am very grateful for the opportunities that came at the right moments. Coming to the US was impossible without the financial help of my full scholarship, and living in Boston was tough because I had to work many hours per week while taking semesters and doing projects with many artists; not to mention being far from my family and only having a couple of relatives in the States. But I’m glad I have friends & connections who help me go through my difficulties & give me opportunities to develop my career. Obviously a lot of hard work and failures have contributed to bring me to where I am now.

I am very excited for my upcoming album “One Point One”, which will be released on April 30, 2022. It will feature 5 of my originals, so I’m super pumped to share my personal story from this album.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
For sure I’d take them to Venice beach and Venice canals, the Griffith Observatory at night because the city lights look beautiful up there, and The Getty Museum to enjoy the art and have a picnic at their park afterwards. For food, I love to bring people to Simpang Asia and Mr. Sate, both Indonesian restaurants that have amazing food.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My mom earns the biggest credit to the successes in my life, her hard work and trust have brought me this far. I’d also dedicate my shoutout to Mike Pope, he is my bass mentor and a household name in the music world. He holds a big role in helping me figure out my sound, become a great bass player, and feel more confident as a musician. Last but not least, my music friends are the ones who actually keep me motivated and active musically; they are my jazz-hiphop trio OVR with Riccardo Gresino and Flo Mavridorakis, and a fusion collective called Rocket House by Francesco Staccioli and Riccardo Gresino.

Website: aubreysitumorang.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/aubreyplaysbass

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aubreysitumorang/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/aubreyplaysbass

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aubreysitumorang

Youtube: https://youtube.com/aubreysitumorang99

Image Credits
Justine Bursoni