Tosin Abasi
| Tosin Abasi | |
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Tosin Abasi playing with Animals as Leaders on August 28, 2011
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| Background information | |
| Born |
January 7, 1983 Washington, D.C. |
| Genres | Progressive metal, metalcore, deathcore, math metal, djent, jazz fusion |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar, bass |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Labels | Prosthetic |
| Associated acts | Animals as Leaders, Reflux, Born of Osiris, Darkest Hour, T.R.A.M., PSI, Modern Day Babylon, Pomegranate Tiger |
| Website | facebook |
| Notable instruments | |
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Ibanez TAM100 Signature Ibanez RG2228 Prestige Ibanez RGA LACS Strandberg Guitars Rick Toone guitars PRS McCarty Custom 8-string |
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Oluwatosin Ayoyinka Olumide "Tosin" Abasi (born January 7, 1983), is a Nigerian American musician, best known as the founder and lead guitarist of the instrumental progressive metal band Animals as Leaders. Before founding Animals as Leaders, he was the guitarist for the technical metalcore band Reflux. He has recorded and released four albums with Animals as Leaders: a self-titled debut, Weightless, The Joy of Motion and their most recent album, The Madness of Many.
Born in Washington D.C. to Nigerian immigrants to the United States, Abasi's first name "Oluwatosin" means "God is worthy to be served" in Yoruba. His brother, Abdul Abasi, is a former drill sergeant in the United States military and is currently a fashion designer.
Abasi is a mainly self-taught guitarist. He first picked up a guitar at his friend's house, simply strumming it and making up basic licks on the spot. At this time he was being exposed to some music through learning the clarinet in elementary school. He later began to rent hair metal guitarists' instructional video tapes from his local music store, saying that some "were videos you did not want to be caught watching" due to the mild profanity in certain tapes.
Abasi said that when he decided to learn the guitar, his father was "totally liberal about the whole thing and encouraging and proud" and in fact, bought him his first guitar. However his mother initially held a more conservative outlook. Tosin said in an interview, “My mom definitely represents more of the traditional immigrant mentality of education and conventional channels being way more important than a creative endeavor".
He was the guitarist for the Silver Spring, Maryland-based metal band PSI. He joined Reflux in the early to mid-2000s. During a Reflux show, Prosthetic Records noticed his skill and offered him a record deal as a solo artist. At first, he refused, saying he didn't feel comfortable with his skill level to write his own record. Afterwards, Abasi enrolled at the Atlanta Institute of Music. After graduating, he contacted Prosthetic Records asking if the offer still held. He then formed his "solo" project, Animals as Leaders, the name loosely being derived from the book Ishmael.
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