Alumni Spotlight: Anson Long-Seabra
Photo by Kelby Reck
Anson Long-Seabra has experienced so many OMG moments in the last few years it would be easy to think he is living a dream. What aspiring musician doesn鈥檛 fantasize about appearing on a billboard in Times Square or having their music featured on a major television show? Many artists would love to be able to claim more than half a billion streams of their music. Long-Seabra is one of the few who can, even if he hardly believes it himself sometimes.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 even have words for that,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 such a high number for someone who studied computer science.鈥�
The blueprint for musical stardom does not usually include earning a computer science degree at a liberal arts university in the Midwest, but that is exactly the path Long-Seabra took. Just a few years removed from earning a degree at Truman, he is already an established professional musician with more than 2.7 million followers on social media. His unique blend of emotive, singer-songwriter pop garners more than five million monthly listeners on the popular streaming service Spotify. While it may seem like his success occurred overnight, Long-Seabra鈥檚 career is a lesson in preparation meeting opportunity, coupled with the courage to trust his instincts and bet on himself.
Following in his sister鈥檚 footsteps, Long-Seabra came to Truman from Blue Springs, Mo., in part because the University offered him a scholarship for speech and debate. He planned to be a software engineer, and his career trajectory in that field was promising. The kid who taught himself how to develop iPhone apps earned an internship with a prominent cloud computing and enterprise software company. He parlayed that into a full-time job after graduating in 2017, but something didn鈥檛 feel quite right.
鈥淢y philosophy is you need to allow your life to unfold in the way that it鈥檚 supposed to,鈥� Long-Seabra said. 鈥淚f there鈥檚 any friction in your life, with your career or something like that, it鈥檚 generally a good indication that you are coming up against a deeper part of yourself. If you go where you need to go and do the things you need to do, there will not be any friction if you do it correctly.鈥�
For Long-Seabra, that meant reconnecting with his musical side. He learned piano at a young age, and while on campus, he would often wander into the practice rooms in Ophelia Parrish to play. He began writing his own songs at Truman and taught himself how to produce music on his computer.
鈥淭he really interesting thing about computer science, and the reason I really liked it, was just being able to make something from nothing 鈥� being able to scratch that creative itch, and being able to take an idea you have in your head and bring it into the real world,鈥� Long-Seabra said. 鈥淭he same thing is true with music. When you have an idea in your head and you want to be able to take it to fruition 鈥� those are similar instincts. People want to create. They want to make. A lot of the same characteristics that make good programmers make good producers.鈥�
Long-Seabra planned to combine his passion for music and his knowledge from his computer science background into a career as a music producer. The meticulous nature of coding lends itself well to music production. He saved money while planning a career change with the hope of eventually moving to Los Angeles, but something interesting happened along the way. Long-Seabra was posting his creations to social media platforms, and in 2018 his song 鈥溾�� became popular, earning him a deal with an indie label. The song currently has more than 19 million views on YouTube.
“I was just a software engineer sort of posting songs online on the side, and then they started to take off…”
鈥淚 was just a software engineer sort of posting songs online on the side, and then they started to take off and I thought 鈥榶ou know what, I would rather do this anyway, and I think I鈥檓 pretty good so I鈥檓 going to give it a go,鈥� and it ended up working out,鈥� he said.
Long-Seabra left his programing job in Virginia and returned home to the Kansas City area to focus on his music. He wrote more than 20 original songs in just a few months, and he found modest success on and .
In 2019, Long-Seabra鈥檚 career took a huge leap forward, thanks in part to a hometown friend working as a middle school teacher. They mentioned many of their students used the social media app to find new music. Originally skeptical of the app, Long-Seabra tried it out. He added more than 100,000 followers in less than a month and can now claim more than 1.8 million followers on the platform. His content has accrued more than 30 million likes.
While social media has played a significant role in establishing his career, Long-Seabra is no internet fad. He understands substance is what matters most for a career to stand the test of time.
鈥淚 certainly wouldn鈥檛 be as successful as I am today if I didn鈥檛 know how to make videos on those platforms,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can make the best videos in the world, but if the actual content of those videos isn鈥檛 resonating with people, it doesn鈥檛 matter. I think a lot of my songs do resonate with people in a very deep and meaningful way. That combined with my savvy for knowing what works and how I鈥檝e used these platforms has really helped me excel.鈥�
Long-Seabra moved to Los Angeles in 2021 and is continuing to see his career blossom. He was named one of Amazon Music鈥檚 Artists to Watch for 2021, an achievement that earned him a billboard in New York City鈥檚 famed Times Square. Perhaps the greatest moment so far was hearing his song 鈥溾��.
“To actually see my song on this enormous show, that everyone knows, was sort of a new milestone because it was like this thing that now everyone can see and understand 鈥� this seal of approval from a very well-known brand.”
鈥淭o actually see my song on this enormous show, that everyone knows, was sort of a new milestone because it was like this thing that now everyone can see and understand 鈥� this seal of approval from a very well-known brand,鈥� Long-Seabra said. 鈥淚t was really surreal to be validated in that way.鈥�
Success has yet to go to Long-Seabra鈥檚 head, mainly because it is not his motivating factor in life.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 plan for any of this. I鈥檓 still sort of adjusting to being a singer-songwriter,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n my experience, life will make the decisions for you.鈥�
Long-Seabra鈥檚 Zen-like approach to life should not be seen as a lack of ambition. Now that he has found a field that meets all of his passions, he plans to pursue it to the fullest extent possible.
鈥淗onestly, I hope it gets really, really crazy. I hope I ascend to a very high level of success,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 have a bunch of really good songs, and I hope a lot of people get to hear them, and I hope I get to meet a lot of people that like the songs.鈥�