Zen

Finding the percussion and poetry in words together while leaving space for you to breathe.
Passion and groove that make you tap your feet but maybe you also just sit and listen still.
Using melody with accompaniment that he describes as red, orange, and yellow; Zen’s emotionally driven songs are like pages out of his life. He brings personality and intimacy to performances while captivating a room. Coming to you from Oakland, California, Zen interacted with music at an early age; playing around with whatever instrument was lying around in his father’s music studio. Similarly, his mother was part of an all-mom rock band called Placenta of which he attended rehearsals. Singing in boys choir and eventually playing Double Bass, Zen developed his skills in ensembles and how to communicate musically. This translated to his acceleration in Classical music. He eventually was playing in the top youth orchestras in San Francisco before moving to Michigan to pursue a more dedicated art education at Interlochen Arts Academy. This is where Zen found his people and found his love of songwriting. “I realized I was spending more time in my practice room trying to figure out how to write songs than I was picking up the bass to learn Bach.”


Now, at New York University, Zen is studying songwriting.