I'm leaving Los Angeles

Yep—it's true.

After 6+ years of being here, my wife and I have decided it's time to pack our bags and leave LA.

It was a difficult choice for us.

On one hand, there's so much we love about being here. The weather's gorgeous, the variety of food and culture is insane, and we've made so many friendships with amazingly creative people here.

But on the other hand, we've been craving more space, more access to nature, and a lower cost of living to enable us to do more of what we love: to make art.

(My wife's an incredible freelance artist in her own right—no bias, of course 😉)

And at the deepest level...

I want to continue to nurture my sovereignty as an artist—free from the pressures of Hollywood, grind culture, or fame-chasing.

Because the truth is that while there's a ton of amazing folks out here, there's also a ton of pressure that can be felt when you live here.

When I moved to LA in 2019, I'd already been composing seriously for almost a decade. I'd built up a small pool of clientele, had developed my YouTube channel, and had a workflow that I enjoyed in my art and business.

But all of that changed when I moved to Los Angeles.

Once I started taking on higher-profile work from larger clients like Disney, Dreamworks, and Tencent, I learned that at the AAA level, the bar is raised. There's standard protocol for the production quality of your work, and how it's delivered.

I began obsessing over my workflow to try and keep up.

My long walks for inspiration and melody-drafting with a pencil and paper became replaced by deep-researching Logic shortcuts and tweaking my stem layouts on weekends.

At the time, I actually enjoyed it.

It gave me a sense of validation that my work was up to "industry standards", and that I could hold my weight against other pros.

But over time, that efficiency mindset came at the cost of my deeper, slower artistry.

And eventually, I realized the simple truth:

I don't like composing for AAA projects.

I couldn't speak directly to the clients, I couldn't express my creativity, and I wasn't feeling valued for anything more than doing well-produced work as quickly as possible.

I was losing my artistry.

That's why I changed my business in 2024—towards deep private mentorship, select client collaborations, and personal worldbuilding through music.

I was tired of my work feeling like a corporate job (which is exactly what I was trying to avoid when I decided to pursue art for a living).

Writing Raven's Hollow reawakened the artist that had been dormant within me.

But now, I realize the final piece of the puzzle towards reclaiming my sovereignty as a composer is to leave LA so that the artist within me can thrive on his own terms.

There's a lot that I'll miss about living here.
But there's a lot that I'm looking forward to as well.

I'll be sharing more Raven's Hollow lore and worldbuilding on YouTube soon thanks to the incredible support of my Patrons—and plans are underway for some unique physical artwork (more on that later).

In short...

I'm so excited to share the next chapter with you all as I experience it: how it feels to make music outside of this city, how my rituals change with a new environment, and what else awakens in my artistry with extra breathing room.

See you on the other side. ✈️

—Zach

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