 Aloha and welcome to this episode of the Hawaii Smooth Jazz Connection. I am your host, Gwendolyn Harris. My guest today is a young and energetic contemporary jazz violinist and he is classified as a musical masterpiece. He is from Houston, Texas and is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor's of Arts degree in Music Performance with Jazz Emphasis. This young artist has won many awards and accolades. He has played the national anthem at the pre-game show for the Houston Rockets, opened for Jonathan Butler at the Martini Blue Jazz Festival and this is just a little snippet of what this young man has done. I am so happy to have this young artist on the show. Please welcome Dominique Hammons. Hi Dominique, how are you? Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. How you doing Gwendolyn? Thank you for having me on your show. I am so happy to have you here. You just don't know. I am excited. I am excited. I saw you before we get into the question, you know, I saw you a few years ago, of course, on YouTube. You were like YouTube. You had done a wedding and you were showing it. That video went viral and I was like, who is this person? And then since then, I have been following you. You are amazing. You are amazing. Thank you. And a little bit later in the show, people will get to see just how amazing you are. So tell us, what got you into playing music? Or who got you? What and who? Well, I started at the age of eight. So I started at a young age. The school that I attended at the time offered the strings program. It was actually a magnet school. And they had, you know, various different art areas like dance, theater, strings, band. So I was actually picked to go to that school because you have to be in, it was like a lottery pick and you, you know, if you win, you get selected to actually attend that school. So I was lucky enough to get accepted to that school. And so then it was a point where I was, you know, I had to decide what I wanted to do, you know, because we had to choose an art. And so my grandmother was like, Hey, you know, you should let's try violin, you know, nope, this, you know, nobody, there's not a lot of African American males playing violin and, and also it's different. It's outside the box. And so I gave it a shot and, you know, it was, it was very difficult, it was very new. And the more I did it, the more I practiced, the more I fell in love with the instrument. So I continued on. I kept going with it, started taking lessons outside of school, of course, playing in school, also joining various other orchestras outside of school. So I pretty much just did, I played violin like every day, practice every day. And I got better and better at it to the point where I wanted to make it a career. Wow. Wow. But how many hours did you practice on the violin? Well, I'd say it varies really, maybe two hours maximum. I used to practice three hours, but, you know, when I got to college, I kind of, it kind of diminished. But, yeah, I practice, I'd say two hours max. Two hours max. OK, do you play any other instruments besides the violin? I don't. I can, I can play a little bit of piano, because of course, in college, we had to take classes for piano. It was required in our, in our major. So I can play a little bit of piano. I used to play drums a little bit in church, but it was, it was kind of one of those things where, oh, the drummer didn't make it. So yeah, you can like do a little bit on the drums. So, but professionally, the only instrument I know how to play is, is violin. Is a violin and you're, and I keep, I stress this, I keep stressing it. You are amazing at it. But the next question that I'm going to ask you is, you know, there's other artists that play the violin. And I'm talking about Damian Escobar and there's a few other ones. What sets your sound apart from other violinists? Well, yes, of course, there's a lot of just amazing violinists out there. Like you said, Damian Escobar, you have Joshua Vietti. A lot of great violinists out there. But I had, I think what sets myself, my sound apart is really the soulful, the soulfulness I put into my music. I tell a lot of people that I use music to express my emotions, to express my feelings. And I'm sure a lot of other artists can relate to that as well. But what sets my sound apart is that you can really feel what I'm actually feeling. So I put a lot of soul into my music. When people hear my music, they say that, oh, this sounds so smooth. This sounds so soulful. A lot of people actually label me as a soul violinist. So I've gotten that a lot. And it kind of stuck with me to where, okay, I can really see myself being like a soul violinist. Because I've never heard of a soul violinist. But to answer your question, what really sets myself apart from a lot of other violinists is that just the style of play that I put into my music, which portrays a soul, soulful music. Now, when you think about the violin, I know back earlier, back in the day, not today, but you think about the violin as a classical instrument, you know, classical music. What genre of music do you prefer to play? That's tough, because I just love that new job. I am classically trained. Like I said, when I first started playing the violin, we had to learn it was classical, right? I had to learn scales, arpeggios, concertos, all of that. And that was the kind of stuff that actually made me who I am today. A lot of people don't know that I was a classical violinist. I went to college for classical. I was an orchestra all my life, all my violin career. And so that was the genre that really elevated my skill, my technique. And it has really grown me to be the violinist I am today. But then after classical, I went to gospel. I started playing in churches. And that's when I really started to connect with my violin more, because then I started realizing that, okay, I have a gift. And I've been told that I have a gift. As a child, when you hear that, you're just like, oh, okay. But the older I got, the more I realized, okay, this is a God-given gift. And so when I started playing in churches, I started to kind of, I started realizing that. And I started connecting with my violin more on a spiritual level. And I still play classical, but then I also started doing, I started playing in various churches around Texas. A lot of people wanted me to come play at that church. So that was a thing for a while. And then that's when I started transitioning into jazz. When I was in high school, I joined this jazz Latin band. And that was the next genre that I learned was jazz. And it was difficult because it was definitely something new. I'm so used to looking at sheet music that I wasn't used to just playing notes from my head, you know. So I had to learn how to mold myself from classical into a jazz violinist. And of course, listen to various artists and just learning from different teachers that teach jazz. It's definitely elevated my career. So to answer your question, though, the genre that would really stand out to me the most is gospel. Just because that's when I first, that's when I first started connecting with my violin on a spiritual level. And then that kind of told it to me, you know, that, that that's when I started bringing up into other genres such as jazz, hip hop, R&B. And I started incorporating the spiritual aspect of it, the soul that I give into my violin with those other genres. Nice. I'm telling you, I just can't express enough. If people go to your go to YouTube and look you up, they will, I mean, you just get into and you just get into everything. Like you say, like you say, you can take a and, and, and I had to one of my friends really likes rap and gangsta stuff. And he doesn't like smooth jazz. So I said, okay, all right, I pulled you up. And you did. Which one is it's one that you did gangsta. Uh, I forget which one it was. It was something that you did and I sent it to people and they fell in love with it. So now there's, I said, see, you can take anything and make it so jazz, you know what I'm saying. And that's you. And that is you. You took TLC. Yeah. Rock that. One of my favorites, Bobby Caldwell, you did that. Plus you have your own style like you say because you have your own music that's coming out. And we're going to talk about that shortly. You've collaborated with some people, but if you could collaborate with anyone, any, anyone that's dead or alive, you've collaborated already with some people. Who would you like to collaborate with? Oh, definitely no pointer. He's, he's a jazz, he actually passed away. Um, I want to say 1995, 1994, 95, I was born in 94. So I know he passed. I think it was a year after I was born. And he's, he's, of course, he's a jazz violinist. And a lot of people, um, what made me find out about him is that a lot of people was like, Hey, man, you know, you sound like you sound like no a pointer. Who was that? And so I looked him up and I'm like, this dude, because he plays from the soul as well. He has the same kind of similarity. His technique is, it sounds exactly like mine. And of course he's from a classical background as well. And a lot of his music, I listened to this specific song that really stood out to me. It's called Wavering Stranger. And that song really just, it did a lot, it did a lot to me. It did a lot to me and I can, I can connect with him through, I can connect with him through his music. And so, man, I was like, man, if I, if I had the opportunity to collaborate with him, that would have been, I think we would have made some history or something like that. I mean, we would have made some good music, but you know, unfortunately he passed, but that would be my pick for collaboration. Nice. Now, um, as you know, this pandemic is just taking everybody, everybody for a loop, especially in the entertainment. Because all of your shows have stopped, have been canceled or postponed. And it's just hard right now to plan anything as far as when the next shows are going to be. So what have you been doing during this pandemic to, you know, to keep yourself sane so to speak? Excuse me. Um, yeah, just really doing a lot of the stuff I kind of was doing, but not as much because before COVID I was, I was performing a lot. I had private events at the private events every weekend. So I was doing so much traveling, but also during the week I would do like live shows on Facebook. Um, I still would post videos, content, but, but now I'm doing that even more because of COVID since a lot of my shows are canceled and pushed back. I'm able to grow my fan base on my social media sites. I'm able to make more music, better my technique, just really make myself a better musician all around and a better man. So I took it, I took advantage of the, you know, I don't want to, I guess I want to call, I guess I should say opportunity because a lot of people think, you know, yes, there's a lot of negativity that came with COVID. But there's a lot of things you could, you can do as well to better yourself with all the downtime that you, that you have. And, you know, yeah, you know, it's financially it's been pretty difficult, but I've always kept my faith first. And I always knew God would take care of me and just the supporters I have on Facebook and Instagram and just then listen to my music each and every day they they send me encouragement they help me throughout this whole thing so it's been it's been a lot. It's been pretty, they made it easier for me. So really I just been just growing, just growing my craft, making, making more music, and just put more content up for my followers. And so that way, when everything is kind of going back to normal. And I do go to another city I have much more of a following in that city. So I kind of just took advantage of the time. You're going to get better and, and you're going to be bigger and better than ever once all this is over, but we have to go on a quick break. We'll be right back. All right. Connection what we have. Mr. Dominic Hammons here that amazing international violinist here and I am just so happy welcome Dominic. Thank you, thank you. Now, before, before we went to the break we talked a little bit how you got started and through the pandemic and all that, but tell us about your new single that you collaborated without fear and a. Yes, so I just recently released a single last Friday. It's called my beautiful dream. And it's actually technically it's my first smooth jazz song. You know, I had to kind of make my imprint in the smooth jazz industry. I tell people, you know, I do smooth jazz but I do all other genres, you know, I like that I don't like to put a label on my music. It's just, you know, I just call it just kind of like feel good music, you know, but it is my first official smooth jazz single featuring out the overnight on the flute produced and written by William Green out of Atlanta. So it's it's done pretty well so far. A lot of people still listening and I'm, you know, the streams are pretty good so I got a lot of good feedback from it so I'm really happy about that. And the song is available in all streaming platforms. So, you know, if you want to go check it out, you can go. It's available everywhere. And also, for more of my music, it's you can go to dominant cameras calm, but also my album flavors is available on all streaming platforms as well so. So, are you going to play first day? Yes, I am. Yes, I am. So, so the song I chose is actually off my latest album. It's called flavors. And it's actually a cover, but it's by Keisha Cole and it's called I remember so I'm going to go ahead and just perform that for y'all today. So I hope you enjoy it. Here we go. I'm excited. All right. All this is over to when we start, you know, coming back out I just can't wait. We also need to get you here to Hawaii so we've already talked about that part. Oh yes. Oh yes I can't wait. That's the dream. I'm telling y'all I can't wait. What do you like to do in your spare time when you have it? Honestly, I like to play video games. I know that sounds so off topic, but I like to play video games, just, you know, just kind of take my mind out of everything off of everything because, you know, just a lot of this. I love music. I love the music music industry. You know, so far, I haven't gotten, you know, I'm not to the I've only been in the industry for like two years, two, three years. But you know, it can get a lot of it can get it can be a lot sometimes. And so sometimes you know as much as as much as I love music, I just kind of got to take my way, my mind away from it just for a little bit. So that's that's one thing. I also like just just hanging out with friends, you know, just the everyday thing that you that normal people do. But honestly, I play violin every single day so it's like I can't really escape from it. Yeah, I can't really escape from it. So tell me, what if you had to give in this industry. Okay, in the entertainment industry, especially music and all of this. You have some artists that make it and some don'ts. What would you give to a new and upcoming artists is coming up behind you. It's a few things, it's a few things. First, you have to believe in yourself you got to you got to tune out everybody, because you're going to have a lot of critics going to have a lot of people that tell you that hey this shouldn't do this because there's been plenty of people that told me that hey violin is not going to work out for you. You shouldn't do it. Well, yeah. And, you know, and you have that thing that people, you know, people say that hey, you can't. How can you live off of being a musician, you know. It's just that kind of mindset that's not really going to take you far if you really listen to other people like that. You have to, you have to know that you can, you can live off of music you can do this, you know. Another thing is setting goals for yourself do things that no one else is done, you know, you have to step outside the box do it set yourself apart from a lot of other, you know, musicians. And that's why I try to kind of I try to set myself apart from other musicians and do things that, you know, they nobody's ever done, and I'm still I'm still learning I'm still working. Um, so that's that's another thing but I think the most important thing I would tell somebody is to invest in themselves. A lot of musicians, and I'm not trying to knock anybody else, but you know, a lot of a lot of musicians are kind of close minded. They don't see the big picture because a lot of people tell me that, you know, they will call me a local artist. I tell them like, No, I'm not a local artist. I'm a national artist. No, I do this. And so you have to label you have to put that title on yourself to, you know, the more you do it, the more people going to start respecting you. And of course you're gonna have haters, you're gonna have people that don't like, you know, because I definitely have a lot of people who question why I'm at why why I'm at the point in my life. And compared to theirs like how he could hear so fast, you know, I've been doing this for X amount of years and he's only been doing this. I've gotten a lot of that. But like I see you got to tune all of that out and you have to, you have to do what's best for you. And so you have to invest in yourself. I put a lot of money into promoting myself. I mean I put hundreds of dollars each month just to post boost my content on social media. And this is not me. But at the end of the day I know that God will take care of me he gave me the gift for a reason and, you know, but those are the things that you have to you have to sacrifice. Right. And that's excellent advice that is excellent advice. And before we go. I want people to know exactly because I know I'm going to get calls and text about where can they find you and all this stuff right. Tell us exactly where can people find you to look you up your website and all of that. Okay. Yeah, so you can find me on a Dominic hammers.com. I have videos pictures. My album flavors is on there as well. And then also we have at the bottom, if you want to book me for an event so if you have an event you can fill out the little form of my website. You can follow me on Instagram. Excuse me. You can follow me on Instagram at Dominic Hammons violin. That's D. O. M. I. Q. U. E. hammers violin and also on Facebook as Strativari music, S. T. R. A. D. V. A. R. I. Strativari music. Honestly, if you type my name Dominic hammers into Google you'll you'll find everything. Also on YouTube. I have a lot of videos on there as well. So like I say I'm very you can find me pretty much anywhere. And also my music, my album flavors and my new single is available on all streaming platforms so if y'all want to check that out. Feel free to. So yeah, that's, that's pretty much me. That is so awesome. Like I say, I'm so happy to have had you here on the show. Again, we're going to have to get you here to Hawaii so you can definitely in person so that people can see exactly, you know, what you do. But again, Dominic, I thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being here on the show with me today. Thank you for having me. And also thank you think tech Hawaii for having me as well. So I had a great time. Oh, yeah, I'm going to be following you even more now. Definitely, most definitely. But again, thank you so much. And to all of you viewers if you have any questions about where to find his music you can text me or or go on my page and I can go ahead and definitely put that up there as well. But I thank you everyone. Thank you Dominic again and I thank you everyone for tuning in to the Hawaii smooth jazz connection. Until next time. Aloha and God bless.