Richard Schmieg

For the past 8 years, Richard Schmieg has been perfecting the craft of putting lyrics to music. In high school, Richard was fondly called "the songwriting machine" by friends; he would often write two or three songs in one day. "I just love watching the transformation of a few awkward strums on a guitar into a full-fledged piece of art with a personal story and loads of feelings attached to it," Richard says. "Music speaks deeply to me, so I try to speak to others using music the same way."

Richard was born in San Diego, California into a modest family. They moved up to Riverside County when he was fourteen, where one of Richard's friends introduced him to The Rocket Summer's album "Calendar Days." He immediately fell in love with the album, taught himself to play piano, and began writing his own songs. In 2006, Richard formed the band Goodbye Luna with a few friends at his alma mater, CSU Fullerton. When life began leading the busy band members apart, Schmieg started searching for a project where he could have more creative control over his sound, and the band went on a hiatus.

But Schmieg's history wouldn't be complete without the story of Passerby. After graduating college, Richard was desperate for a job, so he moved to L.A. to work full time at what he now considers his "worst job ever": sitting inside a windowless office answering phones. "It was there that I realized I was miserable, day in and day out," says Richard. So he took a weekend off from work to play music at a friend's church near San Luis Obispo, CA and at some point during the seven hour train ride he began writing a song from what he saw outside the window: "I'm hoping you take me awaypast the coast and the docks and boatsI'm ready to be someone new." Richard had found his passion for writing all over again. "I decided right then that I could never give up on my dream of becoming a songwriter," says Richard. A few months later he quit his job and began pursuing music with a brand new vigor.

Richard just released his debut EP, "No Ordinary Life" in September 2012 and is still writing positive music to inspire his listeners to dream big. He currently leads worship at Messiah Lutheran Church in Downey, CA.