Pushing the envelope of music at such a young age, Michael Weber is an up and coming musician with gaining popularity and success. His love for music started before he could even walk, and today he is working towards releasing a new album while continuing to perform live concerts. His passion for music fuels his drive to create completely original songs that are written, produced and performed all by him. He loves music but he also loves to share his passion with others. Music has the power to bring people together and heal the world.
Her Campus: When did you first get into music?
Michael Weber: So as a baby I’ve always been around music, and my father was really into rock bands in the 80s such as Wham. There were always instruments in my house, so I always gravitated towards it. There are some things you can say and pinpoint the reason why something happened, but music for me cannot really be pinpointed. I was watching live performances of artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmy Hendricks just as a toddler, and I couldn’t get enough of it.
HC: How old were you when you first started playing instruments?
MW: I started playing guitar before I could walk, and I actually would compose compositions before I could talk. My mom recalls these songs of baby babble lyrics, and the same strumming patterns on my guitar and she would hear it every single night as she cooked dinner. They were always the same and that was the idea that I was actually composing the material. Then after that, when I was about five years old I started playing piano. At about seven years old, I played drums and now as a muti-instrumentalist I work in the studio and I’ll play all the parts on records.
HC: Who is your biggest musical inspiration?
MW: My musical inspiration is listening to albums. Artist wise, I’ve grown up as a massive fan of legends such as: John Lennon and Bob Dylan. I also get a lot of inspiration from artists such as: Big Star the band. Overall, I get my inspiration from listening to people and a lot of my inspiration for writing stuff doesn’t actually come from music itself. It comes from watching people and the sounds of the streets. The sound of the world.
HC: What was your big break?
MW: It is something that is yet to come. I’ve had nice opportunities in my life such as the Hollywood EP, which was released last summer. I am happy that I was able to work with the people on the album, all of which either had multiple Grammys or were in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. It was an honor to work with these people, and to cut the album in a legendary recording studio. United Recording, the same place the Beach Boys recorded Good Vibrations and where Michael Jackson recorded Thriller. Actually Dave Matthews was recording in Studio B while I was in Studio A. I see my music career as always on an incline. There is always a pinnacle yet to be reached.
HC: What do you enjoy most about being a musician?
MW: It creates a lot of personal satisfaction, because I can play something and I can look out in the crowd and see people really enjoying it. Truthfully, art has a power to it that can heal people and you can even do benefit concerts that can raise money for people that are sick. The power of that is I have a love for music, but I can also spread the love to other people in ways other than just listening to an album and watching a live performance. It holds a lot of power in that way and I love that. It goes beyond just the passion of trying to continually create an album that’s really good.
HC: Who were the people that encouraged you to go after your dreams?
MW: I owe a lot to my parents, because of their continual support even though neither of them are musicians and they haven’t necessarily shaped me as a musician. They have always been there for me. My parents are always on my side.
HC: What are you going to do from this point on to further your career?
MW: Continue to work, that’s the only answer. Play shows as often as I can, and release albums as soon as I can. Some of my newest projects I have been working towards are cutting albums with exclusively original material played just by me. I play every single part, engineer and produce it. That’s the newest concept: produce introspective songs done in a way that has never been done before completely by one person.
HC: Any advice for future musicians that are trying to make it big?
MW: To everyone else out there: just go for it. Keep playing and take advantage of any opportunities that come your way. You have to do it out of love though but it’s difficult, it’s a struggle and if you do it for any other reason than the passion for doing it then you’re doing it for the wrong reasons.
Follow Michael on Facebook: Michael Weber, Instagram: michaelweber2