Meet Zach Simao | Drummer & Music Producer

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

Hi Zach, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I moved out to LA in January 2020 from NYC, and I originally came here with the idea of being primarily a gigging drummer. I had played drums for years in New York and, though I had interests in electronic music and songwriting in general, I never really pursued them. I defined myself as a drummer. During the pandemic, though, I obviously wasn’t able to pursue gigging or really drumming at all. Without drumming as an outlet, I found myself learning other instruments, writing lyrics, and singing my own material. I discovered that my relationship with music was much deeper and more holistic than I thought it was previously.

Once I completely acknowledged that, I knew that I would approach music differently after the pandemic. I loved taking a project from beginning draft to final product and wanted to be involved in each of those steps as much as possible, whether working on my own music or someone else’s. As a producer and composer, my heart will always belongs to the rhythm section, but I absolutely contributing to any piece of the project.

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.
As a kid, I had no idea I would end up in music. I wanted to study computers at first and later on biology. I played music in high school and loved it but didn’t know how to pursue it. I went to Yale for my undergrad and initially studied biology but spent all my time on music and eventually switched majors. At Yale I fell into playing for musical theater orchestras and loved how many different people and pieces were needed to pull off a show. I really loved the teamwork and camaraderie in the pit. I moved to NYC to pursue that world after college, but my original love of rock music got ahold of me again and I became the drummer for post-punk band DDWhite for a few years. During that time, I also found myself reconnecting with pop music and R&B, ultimately diving into music production as well.

If you’ve read this far, you can tell that my interests and career have zig-zagged a bit. I have always loved trying new things and seeing if they work for me, and I think that is my greatest strength as a musician and producer. I’m flexible and willing to go down whatever road to see if an idea might better serve the song.

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?
Honestly, if you have any recommendations please let me know! Seriously, I was only here for 3 months or so before everything shut down, so I’m absolutely still learning this place.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I am so excited to shoutout my fiancee and fellow creative Becca Beberaggi. As an actor/singer/writer, she understands the challenge of redefining yourself and giving yourself permission to change and evolve as a person. For so long I thought success could only be achieved by defining yourself as one thing and grinding that out into perfection. I had that mentality for a long time and it was so toxic. Becca constantly encouraged me to expand my view of myself. She also encouraged me to start therapy, which I finally did during the pandemic. So I would also like to shoutout my therapist for helping me shed some of the stagnant views I had of myself.

Website: zachsimao.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zach.simao/

Other: https://soundbetter.com/profiles/236598-zach-simao

Image Credits
Kevin Vallejos, Becca Beberaggi