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I loved seeing how people reacted when somebody was singing, something like that that would give you goosebumps for that kind of stuff I want to be able to do that.

I still don't know if I do that, but it was something I always wanted to do.

I don't know what you need, I'm so bothered by you.

From Futuro Media, it's Latino USA, I'm Mariano Jose.

Today, one of our how I made it segments with Omar Apallo, a rising star in the Indy R&B scene.

Omar Apallo began making music on his own, teaching himself chords from YouTube videos and honing his sound in an attic in a small town in Indiana.

His musical inspirations, transcend borders and cultures, reflecting his experience as the son of immigrants from Guadalajara Mexico growing up deep in the Midwest.

The music of this 23-year-old Mexican-American artist, courses with rich funk, sweet soul, an upbeat pop, and his lyrics often flow seamlessly between English and Spanish.

Omar began performing music at house parties and open mics in his hometown of Lake Station, Indiana.

Then in 2017, while working at a fast food restaurant, Omar found his first breakthrough on Spotify with the song, Ugami.

He then began receiving invitations to play at venues in Chicago and eventually across the country.

Almost four years later, Omar has amassed more than 100 million streams on Spotify and has signed a recording deal with Warner Records.

Before the coronavirus pandemic brought the world to a halt, Omar had relocated to Los Angeles after wrapping up nearly two years of touring throughout North America, Asia, Australia, and Europe.

When California went on lockdown, Omar decided to scrap everything that he'd been working on, daring himself to turn quarantine into a lab of sonic experimentation.

On this episode of How I Made It, Omar takes us to the early days of making music on borrowed equipment and tells us how he explored everything from funk music to corridors in order to make his debut album Apolonia.

It was up Omar Apollo and I'm an artist from Indiana.

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