Music has always been part of Dominik Seaton’s life.
From the time he was a child, he had been surrounded by it. The senior at Dale High School credits this to his late father and grandfather, who were both musicians. He remembers producing music with his dad when he was six or seven, though he admits his father didn’t really call himself a producer.
“He kind of did that on the side.. it was just something he did for fun,” Dominik said. “We don’t really have any equipment or anything. We kind of just recorded stuff on our phones.”
Essentially, music was all around him. Dominik’s grandfather was in country cover bands, and he said music has always been in his family. His mother told him that when he was a toddler, they would put him in a car seat and blast rap music or ‘90s and 2000s hip-hop to get him to go to sleep.
“I just love loud. I hate silence,” he joked.
Dominik is currently a member of the Dale High School jazz band and concert band. As the school doesn’t have a marching band, he also plays with OBU’s Bison Brigade. It was an opportunity that came out of the blue the summer between his freshman and sophomore year. It’s also an opportunity that doesn’t typically happen.
“Joining my sophomore year, it was very overwhelming. ‘Cause like, I’m 15 years old and I’m just chilling with a bunch of like, 21-year-olds in college, you know?” he said. “But they took me in pretty quick. I was pretty excited to know that I had a bunch of people there for me.”
It’s been a great experience for Dominik. He said last year when he was playing in pep band during a basketball game, he was having the time of his life.
“I was getting to play music every day with my friends, and it was just the best. At that moment, I was like, ‘This is what I want to do for the rest of my life,’” he said.
That may happen. Not only does Dominik play the trumpet, but he also plays the piano and mellophone. Additionally, he writes music and has a passion for jazz. Assistant Band Director Rachel Karger said that it’s his creativity that stands out. He can diddle around on an instrument and create music.
“He was in the band room just the other day and sat down at the keyboard. He just started playing as some middle school students were coming into the band room. They all gathered around to listen. I can’t even tell you that he had a plan for what he was playing, but it caught everybody’s ear,” she said.
Dominik said he would like to teach high school for a little bit, but his ultimate goal is to be a jazz professor and an allaround musician. He also said he could talk about jazz all day. He likes the speed of it and the feel.
“You can play jazz really slow. You can play it absurdly fast, or you can go right in between. And either way, it just gives you a completely different feel,” he said. “I just like the expressiveness, because in classical music or concert band music, you don’t really get to express how you feel.”
He said he started on the drums when he was about four and had hoped to continue that when he joined band in the sixth grade, but went with the trumpet. His grandfather already had one, and Domink said he didn’t want him to have to buy a new instrument.
Navigating his busy senior year has been stressful, he admitted, though thankfully it still revolves around music. He starts his day at Dale High School for concert band, and then does some of his university concurrent work. After that, he has some time to write music or practice. He then comes back to the high school for jazz band before going to OBU rehearsals.
But at least Dominik has some options. He’s considering OBU for university, since they’ve already offered him a fullride. He’s also considering UCO since they have a good jazz program, as well as the University of North Texas. But if there were no limitations, Dominik has a few more schools he’d add to the list.
“Frost School of Music in Miami or Berklee in Massachusetts,” he said with a smile.
Regardless, he has support and cheerleaders behind him.
“I hope Dominik keeps his curiosity for music alive and well as he embarks on higher education. College is tough, especially for music majors,” said Karger.
“I hope he stays on his path of greatness and achieves all of the things he sets out to do. I hope he has his own band room someday with a plaque on his door that says, Professor Seaton!”