We had the good fortune of connecting with Samuel Armando Gunawan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Samuel Armando, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Being a musician has been a huge dream that I have ever since I was little. I personally feel that I am not the type of person who could express my thought easily through words, so the way that I chose to share my feelings is through music and sound.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I go by Ryuzen as my artist name and I mainly make electronic music, more specifically in the style of rhythm game music. I try to blend electronic dance elements with sounds from my home country Indonesia by adding multiple ethnic instruments here and there throughout my craft. I believe that the unique traditional instruments of someone’s country can be a really big tool to set you apart with other artists. Currently, I am still trying to figure things out since it is my first few months in LA, but I believe that with enough time, everything will work out fine. In the meantime, I am also trying to make my online presence to be more known, especially since rhythm game community are very big throughout the online sphere.

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?
I am still pretty new to the area, but Sawtelle I’d say has been pretty great! Met some awesome people there, the area is also very vibey.

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 would like to give a huge shoutout to Berklee Indonesian Community (BIC), a small Berklee club that is led by Indonesian students at Berklee. It has become a wonderful community that I will always cherish, a place where I can call myself home where I could meet people from the same country as I do. BIC has become a big inspiration when it comes to my artistry as an artist, where I am able to learn more about my roots, as Indonesian, currently living in the US.

Website: https://ryuzenmusic.com

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

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

Twitter: https://x.com/RyuzenMusic

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samuel.armando.52

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RyuzenMusic

Other: https://vgen.co/ryuzenmusic

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