[Si] TV

Mario Sebastian is a multitalented, humble musician who six years ago came to the Big Apple in search of success. Along the way he achieved his childhood dreams, but also discovered that getting there was only half the journey. Staying there would prove to be more of a challenge. But his deep understanding of how to earn the respect and admiration of his peers will carry him through to the next level. He's already performed with Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez on the biggest stages in the music biz. Si Entertainment chatted with the Argentina-born Sebastian about being a diverse musician and learning tricks of the trade from the Latino power couple.

Si Ent.: Tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do?
Mario Sebastian: Basically I'm just a human being who's trying to do something that he loves and make something out of himself. I'm a musician who loves music. [I'm] a guitar player, singer, songwriter and producer. I've been working in the industry for about five to six years and I've been recording and performing alongside Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. It's given me the opportunity to establish myself as a musician and it's also opened doorways for me to become a songwriter.

Si Ent.: At 17 you decided to relocate to New York to pursue music fulltime. Where did you find the courage?
MS: Well, it's easier when it's a group of guys that are all musicians and they're all like, "Yeah let's all go to New York" and you get psyched up and say, "Yeah let's do it." So it helped that we were a group of six, seven musicians. We all met in Florida and we had a jazz band and we all had that dream. At the time the Florida music scene was kind of dead. We were a bunch of jazz heads who felt like we had to go to New York. It was the obvious thing to do.

Si Ent.: How did the other guys who went to New York with you fare in the music business?
MS: It's an interesting question. We all thought we were gonna be together forever. Ends up when reality strikes life takes you all on different paths. Everyone went their separate ways and I got the opportunity of a lifetime. I consider myself very lucky because I got to establish myself commercially working with artists like Marc and Jennifer.

Si Ent.: What's it like performing with Latin icons like Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez?
MS: It's amazing, bro. They're great human beings and they're very supportive of the band as a unit. They're the type of artists who when they turn around they're used to seeing certain faces in the band. We back them up. And it's amazing to be able to say that I back up Marc Anthony when he's singing on stage in front of 40,000 people. Luckily I've been able to survive because it's very demanding and very nerve wracking at times because you have to be perfect.

Si Ent.: Have you learned anything from being around them?
MS: Yeah, you learn a lot of things. You see how these guys work. How they go up there and just let it out. They put it all out there and that's very important as an artist. You have to be true to who you are in your music because if not people will notice. As long as you're true you'll prevail.

Si Ent.: What sets you apart as a guitarist?
MS: Musically speaking just being open-minded as a musician. Nowadays the way the music industry is you have to be very open-minded and dabble in different styles. Marc Anthony is a Latin artist who performs everything from pop, salsa to rock. We'll be performing live and he'll want to do "Hotel California" by the Eagles or "Faithfully" by Journey and you better be able to rock out and then be able to play salsa. I also owe props to Erben Perez who basically discovered me. But honestly, anybody can make it man. The thing is once you get there you have to have the wits to keep it going and do something with it.

Si Ent.: Are you excited about the upcoming tour with Marc Anthony and what countries you'll be visiting?
MS: We'll be doing some South American countries, Europe, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Spain. We're still working out some things.

Si Ent.: Where can we expect to see Mario Sebastian in the next five years?
MS: Hopefully traveling and performing my music in front of a lot of people. I just want to connect with as many people as possible. Five years can go by pretty fast. As of now my ultimate dream is to live off my music and have my songs be important to people.