Photo by Kelby Reck

“The really interesting thing about computer science, and the reason I really liked it, was just being able to make something from nothing…The 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 – those are similar instincts.”

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’t 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.

“I don’t even have words for that,” he said. “It’s such a high number for someone who studied computer science.”

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’s career is a lesson in preparation meeting opportunity, coupled with the courage to trust his instincts and bet on himself.

Following in his sister’s 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’t feel quite right.

“My philosophy is you need to allow your life to unfold in the way that it’s supposed to,” Long-Seabra said. “If there’s any friction in your life, with your career or something like that, it’s 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.”

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.

“The really interesting thing about computer science, and the reason I really liked it, was just being able to make something from nothing – 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,” Long-Seabra said. “The 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 – 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.”

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 “Welcome to Wonderland” 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…”

 

“I was just a software engineer sort of posting songs online on the side, and then they started to take off and I thought ‘you know what, I would rather do this anyway, and I think I’m pretty good so I’m going to give it a go,’ and it ended up working out,” 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 YouTube and Spotify.

In 2019, Long-Seabra’s 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 TikTok 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.

“I certainly wouldn’t be as successful as I am today if I didn’t know how to make videos on those platforms,” he said. “You can make the best videos in the world, but if the actual content of those videos isn’t resonating with people, it doesn’t 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’ve used these platforms has really helped me excel.”

Long-Seabra moved to Los Angeles in 2021 and is continuing to see his career blossom. He was named one of Amazon Music’s Artists to Watch for 2021, an achievement that earned him a billboard in New York City’s famed Times Square. Perhaps the greatest moment so far was hearing his song “Walked Through Hell” featured in an episode of Grey’s Anatomy.

“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 – this seal of approval from a very well-known brand.”

 

“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 – this seal of approval from a very well-known brand,” Long-Seabra said. “It was really surreal to be validated in that way.”

Success has yet to go to Long-Seabra’s head, mainly because it is not his motivating factor in life.

“I didn’t plan for any of this. I’m still sort of adjusting to being a singer-songwriter,” he said. “In my experience, life will make the decisions for you.”

Long-Seabra’s 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.

“Honestly, I hope it gets really, really crazy. I hope I ascend to a very high level of success,” he said. “I 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.”