Meet Sammy Tampubolon | Architectural Designer & Musician

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

Hi Sammy, why did you pursue a creative career?
I have always been drawn towards the more creative side of things since I was young. I loved to draw and listen to music growing up in Jakarta, Indonesia.

I was fascinated with Walt Disney and his work. I remember my father bought me a book about his life. I grew up in Indonesia, this book was an import from the US, so I know it was very special for him to get me this imported book. I flipped through that book everyday. I’d try to copy the drawings more than anything, since I did not read or understand much English back then. He also entered me into drawing competitions here and there, did not win anything but it did not matter. Being there among tons of other kids who were into drawings was a great feeling.

Then in 3rd grade I went to a friend’s house. I remember seeing drawings or blueprints everywhere in his house. I asked my friend what they were, and he said it’s all his dad’s drawings. I asked what his friend’s dad does, he is an architect. I was so fascinated by that. There is profession that allows you to draw all day? I could not believe it. From then on, I wanted to be an architect. My dad supported this fully. He was an urban planner/engineer himself, so he knew how to direct me toward the architecture field.

Music is also part of my youth. My father loved Elvis, The Beatles, Tom Jones and gospel music. He always puts on music at the house, in the car etc. My favorite thing was drawing in our living room with The Beatles blasting on the stereo. It was the best.
I also loved Indonesian pop music. I have a small radio that I kept next to my pillow so I can listen to music while I sleep. Then I learned about heavy metal right around 7th grade from my classmate. GnR and Motley Crue started my new obsession. These two LA bands were so exciting to me. I still remember asking my mom to buy me Guns N Roses tape from the market. She got me the tape of Appetite For Destruction. I saved up my allowance to buy Motley Crue’s Dr. Feelgood. I ate ’em all up, all kinds of heavy metal. Iron Maiden, Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth etc.

I started singing in bands in 9th grade. I did not learn how to play guitar for real until I got to college in Oklahoma though.

It’s only natural that I want to do music and architecture for the rest of my life.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
In my architecture work, in the past 12-13 years I have been involved in a lot of projects in the Airport setting. 5 years with SAGA Architecture in El Segundo then going on 7-8 years and counting with Sidley Jones Architects in Culver City. We do other projects outside Airport projects like offices, residential etc, but we have done so much work in LAX, some work in Palm Springs Airport and Ontario Airport and John Wayne Airport that it become sort-of our specialty. We also do a lot of work in SeaTac Airport in Seattle. Airport projects usually require additional knowledge of codes and perhaps a way of working compared to non-airport work. Each airport will have their amendment to the local code. For instance LAX adheres to Los Angeles city and county building code, but they also have additional requirements on top of city and county code.

The work I have done at these Airports are varied, from mundane building interiors of administrative offices to retails and F&B. With budgets from $20K to $20M.

Most of the time the challenges with the Airport projects are to do with the schedule, submittal requirements and code requirements. We have to meet certain deadlines set by the airports as landlord, their design team, our client and the brands that we need to satisfy and their design teams, the general contractors and vendors during construction and budgets. There are a lot of moving parts and each part has demanding criteria and schedules. We have to do presentations to the client and the brands that we are building for. Then we have to bring that to the airport’s authority and their design management teams and we have to satisfy their requirements. After we have done all of that we have to bring those up to the city building and safety for their review and comments. Also, if it’s F&B projects, satisfying the Health Department requirements. All of these efforts have to meet a certain budget and schedule.

On the music front, my band REOG has been playing the LA metal scene since 2005. The members may have changed throughout the years but the current core of the band has been together for about 10 years. Ralph Beam on bass is also a great lyricist. Jon Asher on drums who brought his modern sound and way of playing. We have been working with Bay Guitaro, a great lead guitarist and multi-instrumentalist from Indonesia for more than a year now. We toured the south and south western parts of the US Summer last year. We also toured Indonesia a few months later. We taped two music videos while we were out there. We have 4 albums, a new self titled album was just released a few weeks ago. You can check it out on www.linktr.ee/REOGmusic . All done independently without any label help. It’s very liberating actually. The songs we write are exactly the way we want them to be. The shows and tours we do are the ones that we want to do.

The way I overcome challenges in both fields are interestingly similar. First and foremost you have to remain calm and flexible. No matter what field, what you do, there will always be challenges. If there are no challenges, it means you’re dead. I am joking, but you know what I mean. If you remain calm & flexible, you’ll be able to see the problem clearer thus you and your team can come up with the best solution possible. To find this best solution requires looking for several options and weighing the risks involved with each option.
If you remain calm and flexible, you and your team will work better with each other. You always need your team. You, one person, can do a lot, but you and your team will do so much more.

These two seemingly completely different worlds are occupying both sides of my brain. These are things that keep me going, honestly.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Living in LA, the entertainment capital of the world I’d say we should wine (figuratively since I don’t drink anymore) and dine, hang out at the beach then see some shows.

This just happened actually, a few months ago, our friends from the DC area came to town for a few days. My wife Terri and I took them to hang out in the recently (much needed) cleaned up Venice Beach, just strolling around the beach to see the shops, people watching and grab some bites at Fig Tree Restaurant, afterwards we went to see comedy shows at the Comedy Store Hollywood. Next we go to Bacari in Playa Del Rey before we head out to The Legendary Whisky AGo Go to see a Danzig tribute band Lucifuge. The next day we just hung around downtown Culver City and then headed down to Hermosa Beach to hang out and eat at Tower 12 at the Pier. If they have more days, we would have taken them to hang out in downtown LA to see a game at the Staples Center or Inglewood’s Sofi or The Forum and probably do a hike in Malibu.

I love taking people who come to town to experience the Hollywood rock scene. Rock is Dead?? Not really, you just have to dig deeper to find it in the dirt. Haha. There are always shows at The Whisky or The Viper or just hang out at The Rainbow. I love people watching too. Best place to do it is at the beach. On the pier or on the sand. There’s always interesting people to see.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First of all, it would be my parents. They always supported me on the things I loved. Even when I was “distracted” and almost abandoned pursuing my architecture degree, my Dad encouraged me to keep at it. They basically paid for my education abroad, here, in the US because the US is the center of the world of innovation and technology. My Mom is also the one that keeps me grounded. To remind me to pray and be thankful to God. For that, I will be forever grateful.

I would also give a shoutout to my wife (for 12 years and counting), Terri Tampubolon. She is the beacon of hope I can always rely on.

My mentors in Architecture fields: Mr. Sean Espahbodi, Mr. Frank Glynn, Mr. Mike Jones. All of whom are LA based Architects who I learned a lot from in almost 25 years in the field.

Also to the people who influence me on my craft. These people don’t know me but I certainly know them through their work. The superstars from the world of Architecture: Frank Lloyd Wright, IM Pei, Norman Foster, Louis I Kahn etc. From the world of Heavy Metal: James Hetfield & Lars Ulrich of Metallica, Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, Dimebag Darrell of Pantera, Nikki Sixx and Mick Mars of Motley Crue, Scott Ian and Charlie Benante of Anthrax, etc

Website: https://www.REOGmusic.com

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sammy-tampubolon-070a8a57

Twitter: https://www.instagram.com/REOGmusic

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

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/REOGmusic

Other: https://www.linktr.ee/REOGmusic
https://www.sidleyjonesarchitects.com/

Image Credits
Sammy Tampubolon, Novi Hartoyo, Jonas Svedberg, Fikky Vallian