Today we’d like to introduce you to Heath Farmer.
Hi Heath, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Hey, thank YOU for giving me the opportunity! I grew up in Irvine and played in bands for as long as I can remember, but I didn’t get my start in San Diego until I went for an audition back in 2013 as an electric guitarist for a new show at a famous theme park based on a popular animated movie series. I quit my job to learn the audition music because it required some of my attention—it was a Van Halen piece. I can’t say what I would’ve done if the audition didn’t work out for me, but the good news is: it worked out.
And it was a blast. I made some lifelong friends and memories because of that show and it ran for a couple of years. I remember our musical director telling us, “you’re all going to get a lot of gigs because of this show,” and I remember thinking “yeah right, sounds too good to be true.”
But fast forward nearly a decade later and I’ve been granted many opportunities as a guitarist I never thought I’d have—performances in parts of the world I’d never been before, steady long-term gigs in town, shows with wild and crazy crowds, even shows in goofy costumes—and I can attribute it all back to when I decided to take a chance at that one audition.
My life isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, and as a freelance musician there are still times I worry about how I’m gonna make bread, but the universe seems to always pull through for me, and many times I get to do it all alongside my friends I made back in those days at that one show. Who would’ve thought?
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
That’s the thing—to say there were bumps in the road does not fully illustrate the heartache and anxiety we all felt along the way. A better analogy might be: we drove off a cliff and didn’t realize what happened until we were midair.
That seminal production I was involved in… well, it eventually came to an end. And I actually don’t know the extent to which I am allowed to discuss the details regarding that, but what I can say is that I and the rest of the cast felt like we had been displaced by a controversy that had nothing to do with us or our show, and for that we felt like we didn’t get a fair shake.
And so you can imagine the range of emotions that I and the rest of my crew were feeling during that time. But as fate would have it, more opportunities started knocking at our doors—many gigs that I have even maintained and expanded upon to this day.
Turns out when people hear you’re available, they start throwing offers at you; the old “when one door closes, another one opens” adage. So I guess the lesson is if the door you already walked through closes, who cares: it’s already behind you anyway.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’ve been fortunate enough to make a living as a musician out of San Diego, primarily as a guitarist: lead, rhythm, acoustic, bass, ukulele. All the above. Most people who hire me also like me to sing, and lately I’ve been able to work on some really cool projects as a producer and songwriter. I think the people who work with me like me to put a creative flair on things, and so I usually try to take the music and interpret it in a way that I feel is true to me. I can’t do things unless I can put a little bit of my soul into it. I just can’t.
Most people know me around town for my work as a guitarist in various groups, playing for artists such as Island Apollo, Nada Robot, Tolan Shaw Band, Cassie B Project, Ash Easton, Eric Sage’s “Ultimate Rock Show,” Young Guns, and for shows at the San Diego Zoo & Safari Park, SeaWorld, Disneyland, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise Lines, and more.
There are a lot of projects I’ve been proud to be a part of it, but a recent project that I am proudest of might be an album I co-wrote and co-produced this past summer with my buddy Reid Moriarty called “Summer Sounds”—an album celebrating radical inclusion and neurodiversity, heavily influenced by the musical styles made famous by Brian Wilson.
We put in a lot of work—along with producer and engineer Chris Hobson and Reid’s parents—to create and shape that album, and to see Reid’s face and reaction along the way as we went around town promoting the album… nothing can replicate the joy that we all felt.
I’m also proud and excited to announce that I will be releasing my first single as a solo artist very, very soon. It’s taken some time to get the ball rolling on that, but the stuff is sounding really cool and I can’t wait to put it out there. I’ve been contemplating whether or not I’m going to use my real name or an artist name for the release, and I’m not quite sure how to approach that just yet. A name I’ve been throwing around is “Coastal Wolf.” But I’ve also been thinking of just staying as Heath Farmer. Either way, it would be a new direction for me and I figure it would go hand-in-hand with the stuff I’m already involved in too.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Everything is temporary; nothing is forever. That wrong note you played? It will stop resonating soon. That epic applause? It’ll fizz out. But in spite of all that, make every moment count. The song might last three minutes and twenty seconds, but if it’s good enough, you’ll get it stuck in their heads for a lifetime.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.heathfarmerproductions.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heath.alan.farmer/
Image Credits
Photos courtesy of Jessica Lindsey Photography, Carlos Beltran, Moonshine Beach, & Mary Lauderdale
