Meet Thomas Parrish | Singer-Songwriter & Musician

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

Hi Thomas, Let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?
There are a lot of principles I’ve learned are so incredibly important in both music in life such as integrity, ambition, and passion, but one of the most important that I’ve had to work on is confidence. When I first started making music, it was the scariest thing to put out something I had poured my heart into and expect people to connect with it in the same way I had. Through this first year of really pursuing it though, I came to know that there was no reason for me to be scared or nervous about putting my music into the world. If this really was my dream, then nothing should stop me from pursuing it, especially other peoples thoughts. I learned to hold tight to how my creative pursuit could be a positive light in other’s lives, but also learned to accept that some people will view it as the opposite, and to not let that affect me. Today I’m feeling more confident in my creation than ever.

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’ve been in music my whole life through violin growing up and singing in high school, but songwriting and making my own music first came to me about halfway through college. I started to make and release my very first music then, but in the past year have really found my stride. I make music that I hope can explain the emotions I go through both sonically and lyrically, and somewhat hope that people can connect with those emotions. One of the best feelings is finding someone else who is feeling how you feel, and music is how I do that (both ways).

I’ve also learned in this past year that the music industry is a slow burn. With a few exceptions, musicians have to struggle through every level to eventually find success. I would say I’m still in my starting phase but slowly building a group of people I know will stick with my music and slowly starting to play bigger shows. But it is a slow journey, and I’m still learning to embrace that.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
This is a great question because I actually just had a friend do this exact thing, so I’ll just run you through what I did with them. I move between Orange County (OC) and Hollywood all the time, so we first started out with my favorite spots outside of the city. My #1 favorite area in SoCal is Mt. Baldy village near Claremont. The drive is spectacular and it is just a tiny village in the middle of the mountains at the foot of Mt. Baldy. They have a diner, amazing hiking, and just a wonderful feel in the air. We also visited Huntington Beach and Carbon Canyon while we were out there.

In LA, my favorite spot is probably Mulholland Drive up in Bel Air and Beverly Hills. The views of the San Fernando Valley are incredible and I just love driving that road feeling like a rockstar. My favorite restaurant in that area is called Crazy Rock’n Sushi in Hollywood. It is incredibly tasty and also an insane value. Would definitely recommend.

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 want to dedicate this one to my parents, Mike and Sarah Parrish, for giving me the love and support throughout life but especially in the past year I need to keep my dream in sight.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thomasparrishmusic/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbbPCg1MiLGfxAmxRn5mEnA

Other: Music: https://linktr.ee/thomasparrish

Image Credits
Ryan Gomez