Today we’d like to introduce you to Amos Schwartzfarb.
Hi Amos, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Music was a major part of my early life. While neither of my parents played any instruments, music was always on in my house. My father was huge into Motown and funk and both my parents grew up in the 60’s and 70’s so bands like The Rolling Stones, Bob Dillon, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon were always playing in my apartment. Also, my older cousin, Neil, who I looked up to like an older brother was in the punk band The Dough Boys, which was a well known band during the punk era in NYC.
I picked up my first instrument in the 3rd grade – violin. I didn’t think it was “cool” so I dropped it for the drums in the 4th grade though I lost interest there pretty quickly when my neighbor and I both bought matching guitars. He was (and still is) an incredible pianist. He was a year older than me and was a true savant. He could site read and play literally anything at the age of 11.
I never really got any good at guitar back then and lost interest because I couldn’t keep up with my neighbor. Then when we went to High School, he convinced me to join the marching band with him. For the first 2 years I played the Baritone (which was like a big trumpet but in the same register as a trombone) and I also played the trombone in the concert band in the winter season. Then my junior year I switch back to drums, playing snare in the drum line my junior year and triple toms my senior year.
When I went to college, I was gifted an old crappy acoustic guitar (that I still have and play) and taught myself some basic Grateful Dead tunes. I was much more of a campfire player then a band player however, I was friends with and around a lot of musicians so I was always learning from them. That was in the 90’s.
I then put down (playing) music for almost 20 years until one day I was in Boulder for work and went over to a coworkers house at the end of the day. Her husband was a musician and had a studio in his basement. This was in 2016. After a few drinks, we all went down to the studio for a Hootenanny. I picked up the guitar and everything (which wasn’t much) came rushing back to me, including the incredible feeling of making music with people.
There was a moment that night when in the middle of a jam during the song Eyes of the World where it was all just coming together and felt so good. I realized that I had a huge smile on my face and a tear Rolling down my face. I looked over at the guy whose house it was. He was playing keys and he looked back and just smiled because he was feeling it too. – it was one of those really special moments!
That moment made it clear and brought me back, emphatically, to the idea that playing music needed to be a major part of my life..
From there, the universe just sort of took over. I started playing with a bunch of friends and we started a band called Barking Stars that played for a few years and as that started to fade away as different members of that band had competing life priorities it was more clear then ever to keep going so I started Future Hippies of Punk. At it’s core, this is a solo project, though I do have a regular and seasoned backing band of people who I love and love to play with.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
That’s a fun question to answer because I think it’s all perspective. I think there are many people who might look at the road I’ve been on and given up along the way. For me, it’s different. I feel really lucky and grateful to be on this journey at all and every hurdle is an opportunity to learn and grow and every obstacle is a chance to do some thing I’ve never done before. So smooth, not really but I think it would be boring if it was smooth
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?
Professionally I spent a lot of time building venture backed companies and then became an early stage VC for almost 10 years. I left that a few years back and now all of my work is working with CEO’s and helping them both build the best businesses possible while also becoming the best versions of themselves.
I also treat Future Hippies of Punk as one of the businesses I own. I run it like a business. This is sometimes challenging in that I literally. need to flip a switch in my head from creative to business and back. But because I have decades of experience building businesses I have the understanding and patience to know what it will take for Future Hippies of Punk to reach the goals that I have for this project.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
While I think our music has a generally universal appeal, if you are GenX and you listen closely (to the music and words), you will see hidden in plain sight is music created just for you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.futurehippiesofpunk.com
- Instagram: @future_hippies_of_punk
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amosschwartzfarb/
- Youtube: @future_hippies_of_punk
