Following his muse wherever it takes him

Photo by John Larson

CREATIVE SPACE. Sean Van Dommelen practices playing one of his original songs at his Lakewood home.

Sean Van Dommelen began playing music when he received an electric guitar and amplifier on his 13th birthday.

He took lessons for a while.

“I was reluctant at first, but I jumped right in.” After a year his instructor told Van Dommelen he should start writing his own material. While he went on to take a music theory class in junior college, learning by ear has been his primary method.

At 15 he joined Mona Lisa Shines, a band active in the local scene in the early 1990s. He remembers having to wait in the kitchen at the old Red Roof Pub in Lakewood until the band took the stage because he was not otherwise allowed in the bar area.

In 1995 he discovered sampling and rap became his muse. With the Beastie Boys as a major influence, he and a cohort started a rap project that was active until 2000.

After that Van Dommelen got into drugs and went into a downward spiral. He got clean and sober in 2005. While in a treatment center, his mother bought him an acoustic guitar

He began performing as a solo act. At one gig he opened for local metal band VIII Days Clean. About a year later he connected with one of the members on the Internet, learning the group was looking for a new guitarist. He was asked to learn two songs and show up for an audition. He joined the group and played on their latest album, “Angels Of Nothing,” which was released in November.

Van Dommelen continues to do his solo work. He lists Muse and Radiohead among his influences. “I want to broaden my horizons, and not be a typical singer/songwriter artist,” he said. “I have so many ideas it is ridiculous,” he said, noting his goal is to write 200 songs.

He entered one of them, “Lonely Girl,” into the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. He won in the electronic category. “That re-ignited my passion to do something with my original material.”

His latest song, “Sacrifice,” is a touching ballad inspired by the fatal shootings of four Lakewood police officers in November. He is donating 50 percent of proceeds from Internet download sales of the songs to the families of the slain officers. For a direct link to the song go to http://www.broadjam.com/artists/home.php?artistID=71085.

Van Dommelen lives in Lakewood, in an apartment behind a business along one of the main thoroughfares in the city. One or two of the slain officers used to get permission from the business owner to park in the driveway to watch for speeding motorists.

He has been told that Lakewood Police Independent Guild appreciates the song and that someone will use it as background music for a video montage being made about the officers.

Van Dommelen dropped out of high school. He earned a general equivalency diploma and went on to Tacoma Community College, where he was named student of the year for 2009. He graduated in June and now attends Evergreen State College.

Onstage with VIII Days Clean, Van Dommelen can lay down some heavy riffs within an aggressive rock format. For his solo work, he creates in the solitude of a spare bedroom in his apartment with his instruments and computers with recording software.

“With this I have complete control,” he said. As an example, he played a recording of a rap song he recently wrote. “I go all over the place. If I hear something in my head, I record it, then figure it out later.”

He has considered forming a band to play his original material, although he does not want to do so unless he finds the right people.

After he earns his bachelor’s degree, Van Dommelen may pursue writing music for movies and television shows. He is also interested in producing other artists. He is figuring out how he can be artistic and serve the community and help other artists as he follows his muse.

“I do not see myself as a performing artist for the rest of my life,” he remarked.

For more information on Van Dommelen, visit his website at http://www.sleepypilot.com

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