We recently connected with Edmundo Lobo Kuri and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Edmundo Lobo, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
I am blessed. I come from a family of El Salvadorian immigrants and in my parents, I have had a beautiful example of what it means to face adversity. My father is one of the most disciplined people I could even imagine. From escaping a country going through a civil war with a pregnant wife and very little English, to earning his education, owning his own company, raising two children, and finally gaining his retirement. And I would be remiss to not mention my mother. Alongside my father, she kept the team alive with her bubbly and persistent personality. It was always like nothing could touch her. We can all imagine what it might be like to come to a new country not knowing the language, culture, and customs, and without a doubt, both of my parents had to face disrespect. This woman cannot be touched… Even when I would take offense to something mentioned to my mother about her accent or her way of being, never even a modicum of care crossed her mind. She laughs it off and moves on every time. She always told me, “You have two options… You can do it… Or you can do it.”
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I come from a non-musical family. Music for me was always but a dream and never something that was looked upon highly in my community. Much to the dismay of my parents, for as wonderful as they are, I picked up classical guitar at an early age and started to dream harder and further. Now, not having an example of what it actually takes to be a professional musician, my aspirations were to be a rockstar, however, it wasn’t until I began to gig professionally as a guitarist that I started to realize that the beauty of music truly came from the deep and meticulous study of music and it’s inner workings as a craft.
Fast forward to the modern date, my focus is to provide high quality audio, both in composition and sound design, for visual mediums such as Film, T.V. and Video Games. The process of working teams and forever searching for the sounds that are required to build the worlds I am invited into, this is what actively inspires my passion for media scoring.The study of musics foreign to us, helping tell stories that don’t belong to us, and working on teams of creatives to express what their words cannot. That we composers can bring life, not only to the medium, but to our team. When a director or game developer goes through hell in casting, budgeting, writing, filming, coding, negotiating, and they look at their product wondering what is missing, we stand at the other end to give it breath. We bring our team back from their battles to make sure that they can finish. My history as a professional musician has taught me not to plan too far ahead, as plans change time and time again, but what I will be continuing to do, is working on teams of creatives providing high quality audio that expresses what words cannot, and furthermore, supporting my teams, making sure that they we all have the strength to finish.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three qualities that were most helpful to me on my journey definitely had to be discipline, sociability, and an unwavering faith in my path. Of course, talent is a necessary trait for any musician, however, talent can be developed. When I was at Berklee I was constantly surrounded by amazing musicians who were simply more talented, more experienced, and more knowledgable than myself, and this was a tough pill to swallow… But I never stopped. I worked harder than I ever dreamed I could, remaining steadfast in my goals, and slowly but surely, I made my way and earned my abilities. I never allowed myself to bring my own person down simply because I wasn’t at the level I wanted to be at. As opposed to sitting quietly hoping to become better, I incorporated myself into communities where I was able to surround myself by those who were better than me. I absorbed all the information I could and slowly built myself up.
The best advice I could give is that it is important to always remain positive in your work. You don’t have to bring yourself down because you are not what you want to be yet. It is of the utmost importance to believe in yourself and stay true to your dreams, because they will come if you continue to work hard. As opposed to breaking down because something isn’t as perfect as you think it should be, embrace the adventure of learning and perfecting your craft. This shift in your manner of thinking is what allows you to move forward. And once more, it doesn’t have to be done alone. Be social, ask questions, meet people… Because undoubtedly, there are people around you that have solved the problems you are going through and most people are happy to help. Never be afraid to show your work as it is. Those that you seek advice from won’t remember that mistake you made or that terrible wrong piece of music you wrote, they will remember your tenacity and how much you improved.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
One of my favorite professors I have ever had, Claes Nystrom, an amazing composer and pedagogue, told us all something my peers and I will never forget.
Berklee is famous for having an incredibly tough curriculum. We all were taking 8-10 classes per semester and they required us to write in all different styles for different mediums. It often felt overwhelming, of course from the sheer amount of work, but also the need to adapt and shift from one form to another.
At the end of every semester, one can often look around a college campus and see hollow eyes for miles. So, we are all tired and broken with miles more to go, and we walk into Claes’s class. He looks at us and just starts laughing.
He tells us something along the lines of, “I bet you are all feeling pretty rough right now.”
The class quietly nods with the occasional giggle.
“This is our way. As musicians you will constantly be overwhelmed, pulled from tight job to tight job. You have to look at it as a forest fire.”
All of a sudden, everyone is listening intently.
“It is not in your best interest to look at the fire as a whole. Of course it is easy to simply fall into the trap, the fire is too large and I give in. Rather, narrow your field of view. Look at the largest and most dangerous fire, and work to put it out. Keep going, only looking at that fire. Before you know it, that fire will be out, and you will look around, and the rest of the fires will seem much smaller. Find the next one, repeat… Eventually, you will restore the forest back to it’s original state.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://play.reelcrafter.com/5BOaa_XnRFGsUCkRLpSkSg
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wolf_kuri/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edmond-kuri-05a94b2bb/overlay/1711083359624/single-media-viewer/?profileId=ACoAAEzZKoYBrYSyQlzibxcF0CV3pT-waDy77S8
Image Credits
Adele Myers: Photographer
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