Meet Eli Pafumi | Songwriter, Producer & Teacher

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

Hi Eli, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
I’m lucky to have always been in the presence of creators from many mediums. Coming from artist-teacher parents, a sense of rabid imagination was highly prioritized. I think that’s one of the most necessary muscles for creative stamina. Encouraged to take free-thinking risks from a young age and surrounded with kooky theater folk, freedom of expression was the lifeblood of our family rapport. I had a couple really monumental teachers and music mentors growing up whose lessons I still hold dear. Particularly my elementary school music teacher Carla who was the first person to really encourage and develop my songwriting.
These days I’m empowered by a modified version of what i grew up witnessing – a professional life supported by the collaboration and connection to other passionate makers and thinkers. Writing and producing with artists who inspire me is a cornerstone of my musical drive. I’ve finally been delving back into my own solo material but frolicking in the shared artist playground is my favorite space. I teach students from ages 10-50 three days a week and in many ways, guiding and fostering new musical pathways for others keeps me motivated and intrigued. We all get tuckered out at times but I still hold this craft very sacred even at its most tumultuous moments. After six years in Los Angeles, I feel the sturdiness of my roots here – this is a garden I’ve been watering and am grateful for what has grown and the troupe I’ve found along the way. It does indeed take a village.

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.
My artistic path has steered many directions over the past decade. I started scoring professional theater pieces by accident when I was still in elementary school. My mom founded a theatre company a little outside of Washington D.C. and she would occasionally ask for my help with songs she was working on. In the fourth grade I wrote a piece for the accordion that ended up in a show and a representative from a college in Pennsylvania wrote to the theater asking to license the music. I certainly never told them my age, and quickly realized that composing gave my music the ability to live long past the current moment. That was a significant proof-of-concept moment for me. As I got older, my mom and I continued to collaborate, eventually composing a full musical called The Magi back in 2016. TEDx later invited me to speak on behalf of the composition process, sharing the same stage as my childhood idol, poet Nikki Giovanni. These early moments of seeing my work and views valued allowed me to build a growing trust in my ear; even while I remind myself that art is only as good as it makes you feel. I’ve definitely had my small-town music kid moments growing up – funding an EP on Kickstarter, and playing local shows, but I came straight to Los Angeles after graduating and the world got a lot bigger and a lot smaller all at once.
A short stint living in Denver allowed my younger brother Jeremiah and I the chance to begin developing our family-band / recording project RitaRita before we both moved to LA full time. We put our debut self-produced concept record Savta’s Garden out in 2019 and are currently finishing writing our sophomore album. The LA band also includes mastermind bassist Daniel Sedano and guitar sorcerer James the Eighth.

Currently, I’m about to release my first full-length solo record which I recorded during the pandemic at Kingsize Soundlabs in Chicago, IL with sound savant Matt Pittman. It has taken crossing quite the emotional hump to finish, but it’s almost time to set her free. The first three songs are already out with the last single and full album on the way this fall. I just finished up a whole summer of touring the U.S. promoting the tunes and playing my first round of music festivals. I’m thrilled to be a part of the creative teams behind artist’s Zach Day and Arcadia Bay’s upcoming releases, whilst myself and RitaRita foster an underground songwriter / psych-jazz scene with our favorite players in the LA community. Hope to see you at a show very soon!

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.
How about two different moods?

For all you dreamy mystics out there go a little outside the city to Topanga Canyon. Stop at Jalan Jalan Imports and poke your head in the back to make a wish. They aren’t always there on the weekends but when you’re driving back to the city, take Temescal Canyon off PCH and find Galvan’s Catering food truck – I stand by their breakfast burritos as the best I’ve ever had. The Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine is also an oasis on this side of town – an antithesis to the LA bustle.

For pondering and people-watching head to the intersection of Vermont and Hollywood Blvd in Los Feliz. Great quirky shops – I love Starday Vintage (hidden instrument collection in the back), Waco, Blue Rooster Art Supplies and Skylight Books. Grab a nosh at Homestate or Kismet and walk over to Barnsdall Art Park to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House and 360 degree views of the city.

Honorary mention Caveman Vintage (best music shop in the city) and Angel Kisses (Sabrina is a tattoo genius)

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Two words – Joel Eckels! Joel is a true rocknroller, sound engineer extraordinaire and a community building troubadour. Arguably the most influential scene I’ve found myself in was founded by Joel a decade ago and that is the weekly Monday Monday showcase at The Hotel Cafe in Hollywood.
When I first came to Los Angeles, I had coffee with the brilliant Rett Maddison to pick her brain about surviving in the city and part of her advice was to go straight to Monday Monday. An unsuspecting impetus, the first one I played practically moved me to the city. The image of Joel, a wizard behind the soundboard in the cozy second stage has become a totem of my time here. Joel is the kind of mentor who keeps you in this wicked business. He leaves town every few months to run the sound spaceship for Lukas Nelson on the road so two years ago he gave me the keys to the castle, and I’ve been curating and hosting 10 songwriters pretty much one Monday a month since then. I’ve met some of the most incredible humans in my life thanks to his ripple. Much love to that dude.

Website: http://www.elipafumi.com/

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

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

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHAR-QIldT4

Other: http://www.ritaritamusic.com/ @ritaritamusic

Image Credits
Deryne Keretic Nico Herrera Justin Higuchi Melissa Fox