Our City Tonight sat down with Vancouver musical prodigy, Sean Thomas, who at the age of 24 has already worked with many music industry legends. He is a singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist with perfect pitch.

OCT: You are the kind of guy who steps into the studio and says I am going to do everything. This is not egotistical but instead reflects your seriousness as a professional musician.

ST: It comes simply from passion, and I want to learn everything about what you like doing. For music that just revolves around everything; I love songwriting, I love playing instruments, I love producing and mixing. Every part of the process, I find, feeds itself. You can learn from mixing and then that makes you a better songwriter. So, everything is intertwined and it is great to be part of the whole process. I also get to work with all these other amazing musicians.

OCT: Let’s talk about some of the things you have done. You graduated from Berklee College of Music at just 20 years old and went on to produce Debbie Gibson’s first album in a couple of decades. In fact, you were her music director during her Las Vegas residency.

ST: I am very fortunate to have met her. I actually met her here in Vancouver on the set of a Hallmark movie that she was doing. I played a music student in the movie, and she was the music teacher. It worked out perfectly and I think I was 16 at that time. We are now going on 10 years with an amazing friendship and professional situation with working on all of these albums. She has taught me so much and I am so grateful to have met her.

OCT: It’s interesting that you are able to work with someone who was about your age when she started her musical career. That must be inspirational.

ST: I do try to pick her brain to hear all of her stories and lessons because it isn’t often that you get to do a job and learn from someone who has walked down a similar path.

OCT: When you attended Berklee College, you mentioned that one of your professors had worked on the Radiohead albums.

ST: I am definitely a big fan of all the old school records and what I mean for me is all the music that came before the 2000’s. Another of my professors was Prince’s music engineer who was in all of the studios and sessions. It was incredible learning from these experienced people.

OCT: It is terrific that you have great knowledge, love, and respect for the music that was popular 30, 40, and even 50 years ago. At Berklee, did you find that everyone wanted to do the same thing in their classes?

ST: There was and is so much variance between all of the programs and a difference in what others want to learn. Even if two people are enrolled in the same music production class, one may want to pursue pop music and the other a completely different genre.

OCT: One of the things that also sets you apart is the gift of perfect pitch. When did you realize that you had this?

ST: I was probably 6 or 7 years old. I was in the choir for about 10 years, so this was discovered early on. My choir director approached my parents, and he was all giddy and excited to share that I had perfect pitch. My dad had no idea whether that was a good thing or not. What it means is that any note that I hear in the world I instantly know what it is. I can sing a sound or hear a sound and know it’s a D. I like to describe it like you are seeing colour, you know this table is brown or this water is clear. It is as simple as that in my mind.

OCT: Did you come from a musical background? What were you seeing, hearing, and being exposed to that made you want to pursue music as a career?

ST: My brother is awesome and my parents are amazing too, but music is not their strong suit. I don’t know where I got it from but ever since I was young, I wanted to pursue music. I have been working at it for as long as I can remember.

OCT: Going back to your new single, you have taken this song from the beginning right to the end result. There is a choir-like element to the song; did you create that purposely?

ST: Definitely, the way I personally start my songs, when I know that I am going to be writing and finishing it for myself, is that I will first write it completely acoustically. I will keep it that way as long as I can. For example, this new one was written completely on an acoustic guitar. I will then hammer away at the lyrics and melodies until it feels right to me. Then there is a moment when everything clicks and I hear the finished song in my head. The choir part was the fun part; I set up two micro- phones in my studio and acted like a choir going from the left to the right side of the room using different voices and accents.

OCT: some of the other people you have worked with include New Kids on the Block, and New Edition to name a few. Have you ever felt your age was an obstacle?

ST: I think they all see past the age thing, music kind of transcends age in a way. It’s more of a universal language that every- one can speak, and as long as the artists click together, then beautiful things can come from that.

For more information, go to SeanThomasOfficial.com