Today we’d like to introduce you to Thomas Ritz.
Thomas, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
Even as a kid, music was a big part of my life, my parents and siblings all had really good taste in music, so pretty much all of my early memories are of me listening to music (both good and bad). It was always important for me to have a soundtrack to my life. In middle school I had a friend who’s dad was a radio DJ for the local alternative station, and to me, that was the coolest job ever because it combined my love of both music and technology, so I decided that that was what I was going to do. Later in high school, I got the opportunity to be in the tech team of both the music and theater programs, and by senior year I was playing bass in one the two bands, and I was the tech lead for the whole school. Now more recently I have played in multiple bands, currently the southern rock super force- “Lucier.” I also work for several local audio companies and run sound every week for the Lestats west open mic.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do? Why? And what do you hope others will take away from your work?
To me, one of the most interesting things about my art is that I’m not usually the one making it. I’m typically kinda like the “mediator,” whether I’m doing sound or playing bass, my job is to zero in on the message or idea of the song, and find a way to convey it to others so that they might better understand/feel what the artist is trying to articulate. I do this because I genuinely love doing it, a kid, whenever I was at a friends house I would always ask if anyone needed help with dishes or groceries just because I like to help, (or maybe I got some sick joy out of seeing my friends parents like me more than their own kids, Im not really sure) so now I always enjoy helping friends and artists make what they want, and show it to others.
Artists face many challenges, but what do you feel is the most pressing among them?
Right now I think its really hard to find your identity. Because of the internet and social media, we are constantly being shown how to do things by others, so rather than finding our own style, we just do as we’re told. If you look at the greatest artists in history, a huge portion of them never even took lessons. They figured it out on their own and did what they thought was good. Today a young musician can just search the internet and find out EXACTLY how to play their favorite song, they never learn how to mess up, how to fail at what you want, but on the way find something you like even better. That compromise, that new idea you’ve just made- that’s your identity
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
You can find my work right now by supporting lestats music venue and showing up to the open mic every Monday where I’ll be helping others at as best as I can. Hopefully, soon my band will be putting up recordings of our songs soon we are just starting this project, but it is new and exciting, and I’m sure you all will love it, so be on the look for Lucier!
Contact Info:
- Address: 8147 Vista Dr, La Mesa California 91941
- Phone: 6199874489
- Email: thomas.ritz@lhssd.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tommy.ritz/
Image Credit:
Ed Mello
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