ISAIAH HAZZARD
WRITTEN BY PRZM_Admin
What’s your name, age, and preferred pronouns?
Isaiah Hazzard, I am 23, and I go by he/him pronouns.
Where are you from?
Vashon Island, Washington.
What will Gen Z be remembered for?
Gen Z will be remembered for a lot of things. I think primarily, we are the generation that navigated probably the most significant technological/social/psychological shift in human history as young people: the transition to a digital world, to information overload, to unlimited access to information all the time. I feel like this shift has altered human psychology in a pretty unprecedented way.
What inspired you to start drumming?
To be honest, seeing the School of Rock movie turned on a big lightbulb in my head. Then, I saw my would-be teacher/mentor play live, and I was like “I want to do that”.
Who are some of your favorite musicians?
This is quite a long list. The musicians that stand out to me these days are John Coltrane, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, Bill Evans, D’Angelo, Chris Dave, Donald Byrd, Kevin Parker, J Dilla. There are of course a ton of other musicians and artists that are big inspirations/influences to me, but these are some of the people that I’ll be studying and listening to for many years to come.
Which musicians dead or alive would you want to start a band with?
This is an amazing question, and also incredibly difficult. At this point, I think John Coltrane, Marvin Gaye, Jimi Hendrix, Kevin Parker, Esperanza Spalding, Isaiah Sharkey, Pino Palladino, Herbie Hancock, Don Alias.
Due to covid, DIY performance spaces are falling away. What do you think the future of live music will be, how do you cope with this loss to the music community?
It’s a huge loss. It’s left a lot of really creative people wondering what to do. For performers, there’s a hole that ‘performance’ used to fill in our lives. Everyone is experiencing a certain level of grief and in their own unique way, and performers are certainly experiencing it very directly. It’s hard to say what the future will look like — where things will land. I think there will be many more virtual collaborations — I think remotely recorded music will/already is thriving to some degree. I think people are getting time to think about what they really want to create, and learning new skills in the process: producing/practicing new instruments/learning new mediums. For me, coping has been tough – I’ve just been trying to take care of myself and try to develop good habits. I’m working on music a lot, recording myself sing and play drums which has been a really exciting process.
Have you stayed creative during quarantine?
Yes! I’ve been recording music, playing drums, writing songs, learning Ableton — also watercoloring. I feel like I’ve been ‘discovering myself’ (not in a dramatic way) to be more of a songwriter and producer than I previously had, which has been a blast. I’m hoping to release an album in the not too distant future.
If you could make a wish and have it come true, what would it be?
Wow. Good question. I wish the world and its people could be peaceful and free from unnecessary suffering. I feel like suffering is a part of life no matter what, but there is so much suffering we inflict on ourselves and others. I wish humans could be free of that. It’s a big wish, but I feel like that’s what a lot of the pain in the world emerges from.
Last but not least, what do you believe in, if anything?
I believe in the power of humor, face to face human connection, love, and nature…
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