Meet PABLO.ANMUAR | Producer/Composer/Performer

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

Hi PABLO.ANMUAR, how do you think about risk?
In general, I think life constantly presents us with challenges that lead to making decisions that are at least, moderately risky: Do I want to stay in my comfort zone or leave it? In my life, there have been many moments when I have had to weigh my options and take risks in order to achieve what I set myself to do.

The moment I realized I wanted to have a career in music, I was presented with a risk: Do I carry on with pursuing my dream even though my future might not be secured or conform to finding a job that I know will be more stable but I won’t be as passionate about. I chose to take the risk, and thankfully, I was rewarded with being able to study and graduate from the school of my dreams.

Nevertheless, at many points during my time as a Berklee student I was also presented with many small and big risk decisions. For example, during my first semester, I was living far away from campus and I had to leave early in the evening to be able to catch my bus back home. Every day I had to decide whether I wanted to stay to attend an event, to play with others or record music but risk not being able to get home later, or go home early and miss out on everything I had come to do at the school.

Even in the things that don’t have to do with my career in music, I still find these kind of dilemmas. A lot of times I have been presented with a situation that could benefit either my economy over my health, my career over my economy, my health over my career.

The music world is fast pased and you have to learn how to make these decisions quickly, sometimes immediately. I have seen people close to me go through similar situations and I always have seen this as an opportunity to learn from their decisions or mine too. Being able to be decisive is something I’m grateful for.

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.
With my music, I aim to create sounds that feel human and connect with the most inner fibers of our beings. I have always seen music as a language that can connect people no matter where they are from or what language they speak. In the same way, my music is the reflection of this belief: I want to create music that doesn’t need translation from culture to culture or language to language by creating a sound so universal that your body and your mind assimilate it before thinking of the words that are being sung. This is the ultimate goal I pursue with all of my music. It doesn’t matter if it is a simple composition with voice and guitar, an electronic piece, a Big Band arrangement, or even a full orchestral composition; if I can connect with you before the first word has been sung, I have already won.

All of this aside, making a career in music has been incredibly difficult at times, but has also brought great joy to my life. Since I was 14 I wanted to study at Berklee College of Music. I wanted to learn from the best of the best, proving my abilities to others but mainly to myself. However this dream was bigger and more expensive than what my family could afford. Still, contrary to what I expected, my parents were always supportive of my dream. So first and foremost, I’m grateful for my family for always being there for me.

After I graduated highschool I committed my full attention to preparing for my Berklee audition. Having had one year of constant preparation, I auditioned but was incredibly disappointed to learn that I had gotten into Berklee without a scholarship. To me, this news was equivalent to not getting in. I was destroyed and felt like the hard work was all for nothing. A few days later I was back at it practicing. I decided to apply again and had a little under a year to prepare. I was hoping to get a scholarship this time. Thankfully, all my efforts paid off in May of 2019 when I found out I had gotten the scholarship I needed to at least attend Berklee for a year.

Coming to Berklee was a very different experience than I expected, and to my surprise the music wasn’t the hardest part. It was incredibly challenging being in a different country, speaking a different language, and being away from friends and family. I had to work as many hours as I studied because my country’s currency is worth less than half the dollar and I had to make enough to support myself. To this day I still feel like there are things that I’m just figuring out, but each day that I spend making music is a day that I feel fulfilled.

After graduating college, I have had the opportunity to work with many different musicians from Boston, New York and LA, recording, producing and/or playing with them. I’m really grateful to be able to do music for a living like I always dreamed. I know that this road is a long, long road and I still have a long way to go to reach the end of it.

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.
Depending on the season I would recommend different activities to do in Boston, but something that you can’t miss no matter what season you come visit on is taking a walk down the Charles river. This is by far my favorite part of the city, mainly because it’s such a big landmark that connects with almost all of the different areas of the city.

To make it a whole week plan I would go from west to east. Starting in Allston to get some good Korean food and Boba and from there going south to Jamaica Plain. I would do a little tour of the Harvard Arboretum as well as the Forest Hills Cemetery and move north-east from there going up Centre Street to reach downtown JP. That would be the first day.

I would start the next day in the Jamaica Pond and we would go up the Emerald Necklace until we reached Longwood. From there we can walk to Fenway and explore all the different restaurants, bars and stores as well as the iconic Fenway park. I would finish this day at the esplanade by the Charles River. Nothing beats a sunset by the water while enjoying some refreshments.

Next up I would dedicate a day to exploring downtown Boston and the North End. This would be the best day to try as many different foods as possible. We could start by getting Dim Sum for lunch in ChinaTown and going from there through the financial district until we get to Quincy Market and the Long Wharf. Dinner would be a step away from there since we would be so close to the North End.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to dedicate this article to the Brookline Teen Center. They are an organization working to give access to youth to opportunities in various fields including music. Without them and their support, I wouldn’t have been able to keep pursuing my projects for these last two years. I also want to dedicate this story to all the amazing musicians and friends I made during my time at Berklee College of Music and EMMAT in Bogotá, Colombia. They helped me develop my skills both interpersonally and musically. I am the musician I am today thanks to all the work I did with them.

Website: pabloanmuar.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pablo.anmuar/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pablo-andr%C3%A9s-mu%C3%B1oz-armella-7556001b1/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PabloAnmuar

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pablo.Anmuar/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChec6FqYBkUM4c1xLnibC-g

Other: https://soundcloud.com/pabloanmuar

Image Credits
Cover photo and picture #1 by Elizabeth Hul Photo #2 and #3 by Angel J. Camilo Photo #4, #5 and #6 by Marisol Monahan Photo #7 and #8 by Mario Alberto Muñoz Armella