Meet Adam Schmieder | Composer & Music Artist

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

Hi Adam, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I’ve had the conviction to pursue something creative ever since I was a kid, having been surrounded by creative people and influences throughout my upbringing. Back in elementary school, I used to make animations on the Nintendo DSi, and was obsessed with building machines and contraptions (vending machines, slot machines) using Lego pieces. In addition, my small group of friends and I would make short comedic and narrative sketches that we’d record and upload onto YouTube; which, unbeknownst to me, would eventually shape the humor I inject into my own music videos.

During this time, I began to get more and more interested in electronic music; dance music, music from dance dance revolution and other videogames I enjoyed at the time, etc. By the time I entered 6th grade, I had become fascinated with the potential of making my own music, and began learning and researching the software to do so, which at the time, consisted of GarageBand and preset-packs downloaded from the internet. By the end of middle school, I had funneled all of my creative energy away from my previous interests directly into music, and by high school, it became something of a backbone of my personality and way of life.

As I continued to grow older, my talents within this field were further honed, and even though there were other paths in life that presented themselves to me, I didn’t feel the same conviction as I did with music. It wasn’t really until college that I made the decision to go “all-in” on this as my career choice, officially switching my major from Computer Science into Music Composition after my freshman year. And since then, it’s been a flurry of learning experiences as I continue to develop and expand my skills into the professional sector, advancing my capabilities far outside my comfort zone, and into more uncharted and exciting territories.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
How’s it going! My name is Adam Schmieder (aka “chictapi”), and I’m a 24 year old composer and music artist from Los Angeles, California.

My art tends to be the intersecting point between multiple polarities of expression; the experimental and the traditional, the digital and the analog, the accessible and the niche, the emotional and the comical, etc. I believe that holding two opposing principles simultaneously has the potential to produce something exceptionally unique and profound. For the most part, this practice hasn’t been something that I’ve attempted to reach consciously; I’ve sort of always been doing it like this. But things like my background as a classical film composer, juxtaposed with my interests in IDM and experimental sound design, or my internet-coded sense of humor, juxtaposed with the depth by which I care for evocative expression in my art, naturally sort of point to this practice in my creative process.

Right now, I’m most proud of the music videos that my crew and I have been able to shoot, and I’m excited about the ones I have planned for the future. It’s been quite the endeavor learning and implementing the filmmaking medium, and has taught me a lot about planning, researching, coordinating a team, and executing large scale projects. I’m very grateful to be surrounded by other like-minded creatives that believe in my vision and contribute their time, expertise, and abilities to these projects, and I hope to continue down this trajectory as I grow as an artist.

It took a lot of intentional effort to get to where I am currently, and I’m still no where close to where I want to be as a professional creative. For the vast majority of time spent getting here, there were practically no immediate results; which started off as very frustrating, but I slowly got accustomed to not expecting anything crazy with each creative release (which ended up making each release more rewarding when they did get traction, as it would come unexpectedly). Even now, I still experience frustration from the lack of results my art gets, but I’ve realized that I just need to have patience when it comes to my work, and trust that I’m on the right path as a creative. It’s a principle that we tend to forget as artists, but its something that I have to always remind myself of- that these things take time, and that I shouldn’t be throwing in the towel and giving up yet, even if there aren’t any immediate results.

The other principle I find to be important as a professional creative is the ability to maintain balance. You must balance treating creative work as “work” itself, while also ensuring you’re able to capture and feed the creative sparks of inspiration as they come. Its a tightrope walk between two opposing chasms. To lean too far into the creative side means to be an unstable beam of energy and ideas, that can never sit down and properly put in the work of releasing something legitimate, because the “work” side of things puts you off too much. To lean too far into the work sides means to not feed the creative sparks of inspiration, or to even shut off the flow of sparks themselves, which will make you feel miserable as an artist, and plunge you into feelings of despair and notions that you’ve “lost your talent” (which I’m sure many artists, including myself, can relate to).

Ultimately, a lot of what is needed to be an artist in general necessitates proper balance in many other respects; balancing time devoted to creativity, research, health, exercise, relationships, family, etc. Being able to look at oneself from a birds eye view and assessing what habits you fall back on, what characteristics you could improve upon, what your comfort zone is (and how you can go outside of it), will help you take the reins and effectively live your life to the fullest as an artist. Sometimes you do need that extra push, though, and this can come from close friends or family who know aspects of yourself that you might even ignore or push away to the back of your mind. In my experience, friends can effectively see for me the aspects of myself that I’m ignoring or are ignorant of, and bring these aspects to my attention, in an effort to better myself as a creative and as an individual.

If I were to give a spark notes summary on some core lessons I’ve learned over the years, it would be:

Don’t put your eggs in one basket, whether that basket is a person, a record deal, a gig, an event, a project, etc. Instead, spend your efforts maximizing baskets to put single eggs into, whether this be by expanding your skills into adjacent fields, your network of people and potential clients, your genres of music you have experience in, or anything else that has potential to benefit you in your career in the long run. 

Capture ideas down the second you have them, otherwise they will be forgotten and be lost forever. I’ve lost an abundance of great ideas due to the fact that I was simply too lazy to transcribe them when they came, or even record a voice memo humming them out. Sometimes it takes a while to input these ideas, and a lot of the time, these ideas come up randomly and sporadically throughout the day. But always get them down somewhere, whether on paper, the notes app, an audio recording, telling a friend, etc. Good ideas are worth more than gold to the artist, and there will be bouts of time where you have weeks of amazing ideas, in conjunction with months of none at all.

Surround yourself with like-minded creative people who can offer their skills and insight into your projects. This also helps with self-motivation, which is entirely necessary but nearly impossible to sustain long term as an artist. Being around creative people works as a feedback loop, as you inspire them, and they inspire you, and both of you will walk a way with a resurgence of exciting ideas and motivation to continue.

I’d want others to realize that they don’t have to be limited by any style, genre, or medium as an artist; they they can and should pursue every neat idea to its ultimate end, and that they can still make quality material far outside of their comfort zone. A lot of what chictapi ends up being is a showcase in range; testing out new techniques, trying new things, expanding my abilities into other categories far outside my typical zone of interests. If I can encourage others to do the same, to constantly grow and move outside of their comfort zone as an artist, then I think I’ve done a good job. Art can’t drive the car, but it can start the engine, so to speak.

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.
I personally love Redondo Beach and both the Redondo Beach pier and the Hermosa Beach pier, so we’d definitely hit both of those up. There’s a neat tea place in Redondo called “Racer Tea,” which is a go to spot for my friends and I, so I’d want to grab a drink from there and chill on the strand. And we’d have to go get ramen in Little Tokyo, particularly at Hachioji if it’s open. Other than that I’d probably just wing it, go check out some spots in Palos Verdes, venture out into Downtown LA at night, or play Mario Kart on the projector at my place.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have to thank my family and friends for encouraging and strengthening my artistic pursuits. I’ve been lucky enough to have them in my life, and I wouldn’t be here on this path if not for their influence and belief in me.

Website: https://www.adamschmieder.com/

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-schmieder-89b0b6184/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/chictapi

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chictapi.924/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoCIDPuD9X_BxYMo-J2A_uA

Image Credits
John Schlaerth

Blake Stevenson

Drake Velasco