Point Lobo is the musical and visual project of Miles Senzaki, a Los Angeles based musician who recently released the first single, ‘Broken Parts,’ off of his upcoming EP, Tacoma Narrows. Taking inspiration from heavyweights like Men I Trust and Gary Numan, Senzaki seamlessly blends together genres to create his distinctive and unique sound. A professional drummer who has toured with the likes of The Pharcyde, Senzaki tells us how he started out as a musician, why his studio is called Grandma’s Dojo and how he experienced his first ever panic attack at the beginning of lockdown.
I’ve fallen hard for your brand new single, ‘Broken Parts’, but I know that your musical journey started many years ago. What led you to where you are now?
Thank you so much! It’s been a slow and circuitous route for me. In many ways I think my journey is a big loop. I started off writing songs in my bedroom in high school, recording them on a 4-track machine and playing in a literal garage band with my best friends. As time went on I got more serious, graduated from college with a music degree and eventually started playing
professionally as a jazz drummer. But I also never lost the recording bug. I built my own recording studio and developed a career as a recording engineer. It was so awesome helping all these amazing musicians bring their projects to life, but at a certain point I realized I had put my own creative side on the back burner for too long.
I needed to reconnect with that kid sitting on his bed, strumming his guitar and putting his imagination onto a little cassette.
POINT LOBO
I must confess that I’m a massive fan of The Pharcyde and I know you’ve played drums for them. How did that come about and what are they like?
It really was a surreal dream come true for me. I have a buddy, Chuck Boogie, who I’ve played with for many years in a funky soul band called Breakestra. He plays keys in The Pharcyde and they were looking for a drummer to fill in for whenever their main drummer couldn’t make it. Breakestra, led by Miles Tackett, was a literal funk & hip hop university/bootcamp. We learned note-for-note all the original soul breaks that formed the sampling vocabulary of much of classic hip hop. Plus, in college, I led a live hip hop band that was very much inspired by The Roots. So when Chuck recommended me to step in as drummer, I gave it 100% – and when their drummer got busy with other work, I ended up playing regularly with them, touring abroad in Europe, the US, and festivals.
With your latest EP scheduled for release on July 21st, what made you select ‘ Broken Parts’ as the lead single? What does the song mean to you?
I think Broken Parts is a nice middle ground between some of my more funk-inspired head-nodding music and my more introspective, cinematic music.
I think the subject matter of mental health has a particular relevance as we all start to emerge from our intense year of pandemic isolation.
POINT LOBO
I recently watched the animated lyric video for the track. I’m a little obsessed with the owl! What’s the story there?
I think a lot of people love owls because they are such mysterious and graceful animals! My partner really loves owls, and I’m a very nocturnal creature myself. But other than that, I think I just needed some sort of recurring character to star in my videos. I originally made stop motion shorts using a claymation owl and eventually developed a digital 3D model for animations. As far as the video itself, it’s heavily inspired by the imagery of one of my favourite anime of all time, F LCL.
There finally seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel regarding the global pandemic. How was your lockdown experience?
It was a time of serious introspection for many musicians who were out of work, myself included. Luckily I was able to do some remote work, but it taught me that I wasn’t quite as introverted as I previously thought.
It turns out it really helps to feed off of the creative energy and inspiration of others!
POINT LOBO
I also had the first panic attack of my life at the start of lockdown and it was quite a scary experience. I am blessed that I did not lose anyone close to me during the pandemic. But I think that even those of us emerging unscathed are not emerging unchanged.
What would success look like for you and what importance do you place on it when creating new material?
I’ve witnessed so many artists in all different fields suffer from burnout. I think professional artists are especially prone to burnout because we tend to be perfectionists who always give it our all. I mean, you can’t practice your craft every day unless you already have at least a slight tendency towards obsessiveness. Combine that with the current social media machine we live inside, and it’s a recipe for disaster. So I’m really trying to prioritize sustainability.
If I can continue to steadily put out creative projects without turning into a pile of ashes, then that’s success to me.
POINT LOBO
I’m a bit of a sucker for cozy, homey recording studios (have you watched Sound City?) What can you tell us about Grandma’s Dojo?
Oh I love all those music documentaries! Well, Grandma’s Dojo was originally going to be just a soundproof place for me to practice drums and have band rehearsals. I spent several years researching acoustics and built it from the ground up, with special dimensions and custom sound treatment. It turns out that I did such a thorough job, it ended up being an ideal place to record not just myself, but others as well. I started recording my bands, then other friend’s bands, and it grew from that. The spot used to be my Grandma’s house, who was alive during the time I was building it, so I named it in honour of her. She taught me so much about life that I felt it really was her dojo.
If you could ‘ steal’ one song in the world and claim it as your own, what would it be and why?
Oh man, tough question. I think it would be any one of Yoko Kanno’s tunes from her most famous scores, like Cowboy Bebop. Not only would I be known for having written an amazing song, I’d also be forever associated with an incredible animated work.
I know Gary Numan was a big inspiration for your most recent single. Who would you include as major influences throughout your musical career?
As a drummer, my biggest influence was jazz drumming legend Billy Higgins. I was fortunate enough to get to study under him in college, and the energy and spirit he gave to music will always be my shining light. As a songwriter, I’d say Cass McCombs. The way he approaches things with both a measured wisdom but also a disarming child-like earnestness helped me find my own voice in songwriting. In terms of overall attitude towards music, I’d say David Byrne. To this day he hasn’t lost that sense of innocent wonder and curiosity that keeps music feeling important and alive.
If I grabbed your cell phone and opened Spotify, who would come up under recently played?
Probably Men I Trust. This past year I’ve been listening to their music almost nonstop! Their sound is absolutely intoxicating to me and their songwriting is deceptively clever and nuanced.
You’re also a band member for the jazz trio GF3, dream-pop outfit Young Hunting and psych-folk act Moonie Moonie. Where do you find the time?
The only honest answer is I don’t!
Time management is one of my biggest challenges and I’m still awful at it. Left to my own devices I’d daydream all day without getting anything done.
POINT LOBO
But having musician friends who inspire you helps give you a kick in the butt!
You’re allowed to collaborate with one musician or band. Who do you choose?
Right now? I’d probably say Nai Palm from Hiatus Kaiyote. The type of energy, skills and intelligence she has seems to me like what you’d ideally want in a collaborator. But I don’t think I could possibly bring anything to the table that her bandmates don’t already possess in abundance!
Once your EP, Tacoma Narrows, is released, what does the future have in store for you?
The Tacoma Narrows EP represents material that I’ve been working on over the past few years, but I have a backlog of new songs that I’m really excited to work on and put out. I hope to keep churning out a steady stream of new work and I also hope to get better at 3D animation. It’s incredibly time consuming but I’d like to be able to put out visuals at a similar pace that matches my songwriting. Other than that, I hope to keep building bridges and finding fun new collaborative projects with other artists.
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This coverage was created in collaboration with Musosoup as part of the #SustainableCurator movement.
