Isaiah Gibbons

Humber Music students polish a wide range of highly specialized skills, but as 2018 alumnus Isaiah Gibbons has discovered, basics such as treating others with kindness and respect are just as important in the workplace. We caught up with him via email to hear more about Isaiah’s work in film, television and, of course, music.

NOW

I just wrapped up working six weeks straight for The Launch Season 2, performing with all six winners on The Marilyn Denis Show and Your Morning. Now that The Launch has officially ended, I am switching gears to prepare for a two-week tour I am going on with a country band called The Abrams. We are touring through the northern Midwest United States, and this will be my first American tour. I am very excited and grateful for the opportunity! The band and I leave at the end of April until mid-May, and between now and then we will be rehearsing for the tour.

I also produce music and write songs. I am creating a hub of musicians, songwriters, singers and artists in my area of Mississauga and the west end, to record out of the home studio I recently built. I am working on establishing an independent record label with my good friend and artist Liv Marie entitled WESTEND RECORDS. We have the intention of building a community of musicians, songwriters and artists in hopes of creating music to share with the world.

THEN

With only graduating Humber less than a year ago, I am super grateful for the opportunities I have been granted in music, TV and film. In May of 2018, I began performing with 2019 Juno-nominated, Toronto-based artist Anders, and since then we’ve performed at Safe & Sound Music Fest in Vancouver, BC, opening up for Anderson Paak.

In May of 2018, I completed my first seven-song album, Live Life, on which four of the songs were recorded as part of my fourth-year Humber project. On June 7th, I hosted an album release show, selling out The Piston in Toronto, performing all of the songs with a live band and special guests. We also were granted the opportunity to perform at the Oakville Sounds of the Summer festival on the Merriam Stage.

In the world of TV, I was hired to record drums and percussion and appear in the band on an episode of CBC’s Schitt’s Creek, which will air sometime this current season. In September of 2018, I was hired by Orin Isaacs to be the drummer in the house band of CTV’s The Launch Season Two. Through The Launch, I got the chance to work with incredible musicians and artists, including Bryan Adams, Sarah McLachlan, Nile Rogers, Bebe Rexha, Marie-May, Jann Arden, Max Kerman (The Arkells), Shaun Frank, and more. The Launch Band also ended up performing on episode five’s launched song, “Don’t Say You Love Me,” by Maddie Storvold and produced by Bryan Adams. The song ended up going to number 1 on the country charts on iTunes! I was just recently hired to be a background drummer in a scene of a Lifetime biopic movie, You Brought The Sunshine, which will be released sometime this year.

HUMBER

Humber has truly and honestly helped me get to where I am now in life. The Humber Bachelor of Music program prepared me for many situations I have encountered within the last 11 to 12 months since I graduated. One example of something Humber truly prepared me for was being on CTV’s The Launch. The Launch process was fast paced, things changing on the fly, and where reading music was the number-one requirement. Through the Humber program, I learned how to read music at a high level and adapt to new situations on the fly. All of my instructors and teachers taught me different things, but the one thing that has really stuck with me is to just be a good person. I’ve been in many new situations and opportunities within this last almost-year of being out of school, and being a good person before being a good musician has helped me achieve my goals and dreams.

To learn more about Isaiah and his music, follow him on Instagram @isaiahtdf or connect with him on Facebook. To see Isaiah in action, check out the YouTube videos to the right of the Q&A!