The journey so far

A MUSIC LIFER

From obsessing over music as child, to drumming in bands, creating music as an artist, working at the highest level as a music marketing professional, performing live, all the way to educating the next generation of artists and industry professionals — there is nothing else Hisham would rather do with his life.

“Interviewers often ask why I do so many things in music, but I've always looked at our industry as one giant playground. I may move from the swings, to the slide, to the monkey bars and everything in between, but it's ALWAYS been one playground. What some people call diversification I simply call ‘getting bored’ doing just one thing. The root verb of music is to ‘play’ it and I think that extends to every part of our industry, especially if you feel interested or well suited for another avenue within it.”

— Interview with MusicAlly Podcast, 2022

ORIGINS

A drummer from the age six, his creative passion morphed into a professional endeavor in 2010 when he found himself immersed in the growing music/tech scene of San Francisco. There he developed an early expertise in what we now call 'social media marketing' — going as far back as managing MySpace pages for artists. He was instrumental in growing the agency FAME HOUSE, one of the earliest and most prominent companies focused purely on digital strategy for musicians (clients included Eminem, Alicia Keys, Tiësto, Richie Hawtin and many more). Upon the sale of FAME HOUSE to Universal Music Group in 2016, he moved to Los Angeles to begin a consulting practice with a diverse roster including music artists, film composers, tech companies, and brands looking to leverage the music space, which continues today.

An artist at heart, Hisham follows his own creative pursuits in two forms. First, as a drummer known for his powerful and heavy style of playing in bands around Los Angeles, and on the other end of the spectrum, as an artist under the name "Rizik" — creating soft, piano-oriented compositions that span genres from neoclassical to mellow electronic. To date, Rizik has amassed over 20 million streams with listeners in over 100 countries.

Looking ahead, Hisham has his sights set on the next evolutionary frontier of his music career: helping develop the next generation of creators. After a two-year stint as an adjunct professor at the famed ICON Collective in Los Angeles, he launched his own educational vehicle called ArtistPro, teaching artists how to be better marketers and entrepreneurs. It has now evolved into what he envisions will become the industry's premiere centralized artist development platform.