Meet Adrian Bourgeois | Songwriter/producer/singer/musician

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

Hi Adrian, Let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?
I would say the value that matters most to me across all of life, but particularly in art, is timelessness. It is a cliche that the artist is obsessed with the ephemeral and the fleeting. I hate the ephemeral and unless something has at least a fighting chance to last for a very long time, I’m reluctant to engage with it in the first place. I’m most interested the things that will at least intend to last forever, in that which transcends the era or circumstances in which it was made. I want to make music that is relevant, vibrant, challenging, and comforting today, 100 years from now, and would have been 100 years from now. I want you to be able to know nothing of the who, when or where of its creation and still be able to find yourself in it. Music is not needed. It is a want. And wants are so much more powerful than needs. We will never truly know how much we love water; we must consume water or we will die. We have no choice in the matter. Music is something we always choose with no consequence of not doing so. It is that choice by which we can measure our love for it. I want to make music that people choose again again during peacetime and wartime, through depression and bliss, through the struggles and the serene.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a songwriter/producer/singer/musician, perhaps in that order although it changes through the seasons. I’ve doing all of these things since I was about three years old. I’m originally from Sacramento, and moved to LA ten years ago. I have released two albums that I primarily produced and played most of the instruments on myself. I’ve been releasing a new song every month since June 2022 that will presumably lead up to a new album. I perform frequently around LA and have toured the US multiple times. I do a lot of producing for other artists as well, and am currently serving as technical director for John C. Reilly’s Mr. Romantic show. I’m proud of the fact that I’ve succeeded in my goal in always creating music that has always and continues to feel relevant to me. Pursuing music as a career is never easy, but it’s far more difficult to stop. The creation of music does come easy for me, which I think comes down to the choice of making music that comes easily to me. I make the music I wish existed, the music that plays in my head with no effort from me. The music I listened to growing up and continue to listen to to this day has forever been my dearest companion, and greatest source of comfort, wisdom, encouragement, and inspiration. It is my life’s greatest gift. It seems the least I can do to devote my life to creating my own version of that gift, how ever small or significant, for others.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
One of the worst financial decisions of my life was to move within walking distance of the Last Bookstore. I’ve visited a lot of the renowned bookstores out there—City Lights, Shakespeare & Co, the Strand, all special in their own right—but none, in my opinion hold a candle to the Last Bookstore. It truly feels set to make good on its name, the last remaining temple standing to remind us of all the wonderful reasons we believed in the first place. As much a museum as it is an active shop, I rarely can resist popping in every time I walk by and even more rarely leave without some newly purchased book or record.

My favorite music venue in LA is easily Largo, another living temple that reminds us of certain values seemingly lost, but still thriving if you know where to look. Largo features several carefully curated nights of music and/or comedy where you never know who’s going to show up, and I’ve many times walked away having just discovered a new favorite artist or having heard the best song I’d come across in ages. If ever my mind entertains the idea of leaving LA, Largo is enough to remind me why I stay.

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?
I’d like to shoutout my ride or die musical partner in crime for seventeen years, Ricky Berger, as uniquely brilliant a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and arranger as I’ve ever come across. And I’d like to shoutout my mentor and honorary older brother Davíd Garza, who has used his wealth of musical wisdom and generous spirit to hold open the door for me and so many other independent artists and light the path forward to so many incredible experiences, opportunities and inspirations.

Website: Www.adrianbourgeois.com

Instagram: @adrianbourgeois

Facebook: Facebook.com/adrianbourgeois

Youtube: https://youtube.com/adrianbourgeois

Image Credits
Atreyu Jones, Natalie Bourgeois