The beat drops, and everyone in the crowd can feel the bass resonate throughout their body. Flashing lights enhance the visual euphoria that comes with the music festival Snowglobe that 15,000 people attend. Hands reach for the sky and sway to the beat as a way of expressing approval for this DJ/Producer named “Safire”. But who is “Safire”? None other than DHS alum Vik Tomar. A graduate of the class of 2008, he now tours around L.A. and has also played at Snowglobe in Lake Tahoe. His sister, Nishi Tomar is also living the dream in L.A. working as a Social Media/Digital Media manager for high profile artists who have 10 million+ Facebook likes on their profiles. The following is an email interview conducted with Nishi, as Vik was unavailable to respond due to his touring commitments.
Nishi Tomar
Q.) What year did you graduate from High School?
A.) “Class of 2011.”
Q.) What was your favorite experience from high school? What did you enjoy the most?
A.) “Honestly, I had a great high school experience overall. I’ll always have a soft spot for Dow High in my heart because, let’s face it, Dow is the best. I loved my teachers, my classes (at least most of them), and my different groups of friends. I don’t think I can sum it up to one favorite experience- not to mention high school seems like ages ago and is kind of a blur for me now- but I’ll talk about a few. ”
1) ”Joining the musical my senior year of high school with Mrs. Bushey. We did “Back To the 80’s” and I had a blast with the entire cast and crew even though I couldn’t sing/dance/act if my life depended on it. It’s all about the experience, though, and my motto is to do something uncomfortable each day to truly jump out of your comfort zone and grow as a person. That’s what being a part of the school play was for me- spontaneous, random (all my friends were very confused when they saw me in it), but overall something I’ll always look back at and smile. Shout out to Mrs. Bushey, you are amazing and inspire students every day.”
2) ”Being almost fluent in Spanish. Sometimes I look back at high school and miss how immaculate I was at Spanish. Seriously, thanks to Mrs. Shahin, and the fact that I had Spanish class five days a week (that changes in college), I was able to test out of Spanish in college and get my entire family around Spain. Those days are long gone… I used to consider myself trilingual in high school. Not so much anymore. Also shoutout to Mr. Shahin. Danielle Helgerson and I (surely your favorite students ever) will never forget your AP world history class- thanks for keeping it real.”
3) ”Snow days. Enough said.”
4) ”Getting out of school before 3 p.m. and having the rest of the day. That one is hard to get over.”
5) ”Going to Electric Forest for my first time. Junior year of high school I got to experience Electric Forest for the first time and went for the next 3 years after that. It was a bit early in the whole EDM scene, but I’m proudly convinced that I introduced Midland to EDM- it definitely wasn’t going to make its own way there with 102.5 WIOG (no offense). Going to that festival for the first time also made it clear to me that I am passionate about music and want to work with artists when I grow up (which is now).”
Q.) What college did you attend?
A.) “Indiana University- HOO HOO HOOSIERS! [It is the] best college by far. I was the only person to go to IU from Dow High from Class of 2011 which was disappointing- we need more Dow High Hoosiers guys! Prettiest campus, prestigious business school, IU basketball, prominent Greek life, best college bars, oh and Little 5 is the most insane college week out there (if you don’t know what that is look it up and you’ll be sold).”
Q.) What do you do now?
A.) “[I’m a] Social/Digital Media manager for artists. On our roster we’ve got a handful of high profile clients with 10 million+ Facebook likes.”
Q.) What is a normal day like for you?
A.) “Well first, there is no such thing as a normal day in the music industry. Every day throws new challenges at you and you need to learn how to be very creative, innovative, reactive, and look at situations from different perspectives. In a nutshell we run all the social platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Soundcloud, Spotify, etc.) for our artists. Basically anywhere the artists’ brands live online we maintain. We also bring them opportunities like brand partnerships, digital opportunities, come up with contests, and create campaigns around album/single/music video releases. So you can imagine, a lot of being on the computer and on social networks, communicating with the artists, the record labels, and management, as well as just making things happen.”
Q.) What your favorite part about what you do?
A.) “I love working directly with artists and helping get the most eyeballs on their music online. They are extremely talented and it’s amazing to see how great of people they are as well. The perks are definitely going to music video shoots, sitting in on studio sessions, and being surrounded by people who love music as much as I do.”
Q.) Where do you want to end up? What’s your end “goal”?
A.) “[My] end goal is to be a music lawyer and directly negotiate all aspects of artists’ careers.”
Q.) List some notable events you’ve been to or famous people you’ve met if any
A.) “Where to begin? Well, the nature of my career and the industry I work in revolves around going to these types of events and meeting “celebs”, its just inevitable as they are my clients so the list goes on. Trust me the first few times you are star struck, but that easily wares off- they are all really just normal people like the rest of us.
Here’s a few of my favorites:
Other than all my clients, obviously, I’ve also had the opportunity to meet/hang out with people including Diplo, Taylor Lautner, Shaun White, Dillon Francis, Big Gigantic, Dada Life, Cody Simpson, and more.
I think my favorite event that I’ve been to (not necessarily a “notable event”) was Adam Sandler’s holiday party. Every year he throws a holiday party with ice skating, bowling, and him personally singing on stage all night. He was one of my favorite actors growing up, so that was definitely one for the books.
Lots of my friends out here in LA are doing big things in the industry too, so through them there are tons of opportunities to meet people. It’s really fun, but it’s pretty normal in LA to meet some celebrities! ”
Q.) What are your plans for the future?
A.) “Keep hustling, working away, networking, and eventually going to law school to become a music lawyer. I just graduated from college about a year ago so I’m trying to focus on getting used to the real world and how to balance it out- it’s a big change. ”
Q.) Do you have any advice for high school students?
A.)
1) “Find something you are passionate about while you are still in high school and follow that passion
2) Explore your options, talk to people, job shadow, figure out what really interests you and start carving your future around that. I was so caught up in the daily high school routine but I wish I had thought more about my career options and taken the time to research what is out there (and trust me there is a lot). Just a good way to get an early start and get ahead of the game.
3) Don’t forget to just enjoy yourself- the only worry you have is getting into a good college. There is plenty of time to stress later in life. Just take high school for what it is- enjoy your spending time with your family & friends, having free time after school, all the fun high school activities, and just being young in general because the real world hits you really fast and you’ll never be in high school again!
4) Like I said earlier: do one thing each day that’s uncomfortable for you- that’s the main way I’ve grown as a person. If you put yourself in an uncomfortable situation you have to learn how to deal with it and get through it, and maybe you’ll even learn to enjoy it.
5) Don’t be close minded. Midland is kind of a bubble. There is a lot more out there, so venture out if you can and try to experience the rest of the world, different types of people, and different cultures. I know high school feels like everything in the moment but trust me, its not.
6) For those of you that are about to go to college: make the most of it! Network, study, but also enjoy yourself. Seriously, college is the best time of your life and it goes by WAY too fast. This is an exciting time for you all- good luck!
7) This is for the Seniors: Don’t take part in the Senior prank, it’s not worth it (or at least don’t get caught). Take it from someone who was a really good student and never got in trouble, but got suspended her last day of high school for throwing pennies on the ground as a part of the senior prank. First of all, it was the dumbest prank ever. Secondly, I didn’t get to have a LAST DAY OF HIGH SCHOOL because of it. Something I’ll never forget! ”
Q.) What college did Vik go to?
A.) “Arizona State, then Central Michigan”
Q.) Can you give me a summary about “Safire”
A.) “Vik has been making music since his early college days. He moved to L.A. to pursue being a producer/DJ. Since moving to LA Safire has played around LA and at Snowglobe Music Festival in Lake Tahoe. Vik is continuing to make music under his producer/DJ name “Safire”, and he also does design/video production & editing for the Marley’s, as well as contract tour managing work for Dada Life and RECESS.”
Here’s a link to Vik’s SoundCloud where you can check out the music he’s produced.
Additionally, here is an upbeat EDM remix of Stay With Me by Sam Smith that he made.
By: Samir Bahadur
