# Craig Abaya

Craig Abaya is an American multi-artist who served as director of Digital Media & Entertainment Programs for San Francisco State University Extended Learning from 2000 to 2015. He was the featured artist at Macworld/iWorld Expo in San Francisco, California where his film and photography were displayed in the gallery titled: "Craig Abaya: The Art of Rock and Roll from Analog to Digital."

## Early life

Abaya is a native of San Francisco's Bernal Heights neighborhood. He became involved in music during childhood, taking up the piano at age six, the drums at age eleven, and the guitar at age twelve. He became involved in film and photography at the age of nine.
At seventeen, Abaya enrolled at San Francisco State University where he proposed and earned a special major in multimedia, combining studies in film, audio, video, computers and electronics.

## Music and Recording Artist

Abaya is a singer and cites his main instruments as guitar, piano, and drums. He also took up recording from a young age, moving from 2- and 4-track analog tape to ADAT and eventually to DAWs (digital audio workstations). At 17, he formed his first professional band, the grunge/metal trio Apparition. At this time, he also wrote and performed music with the local church youth choir. After disbanding "Apparition," he founded the 4-piece group "The Basics" and later, "Abaya," in an attempt to merge his divergent musical interests. He has won songwriting awards in various genres, including 10 from Billboard Magazine.

## Educator

Abaya served as Director of Digital Media and Entertainment Departments and instructor at San Francisco State University College of Professional and Global Education from 2000-2014.

## Discography
### Studio albums

* ‘’The Fine Art of Politics” (2009)
* ‘’One Bus to Mercy” (2019)
* ‘’Fashion Statement” (2022)

### Singles

* “This Jail I Made” (2018)
* ‘’Truth” (2018)
* ‘’Will I Walk on Water” (2019)
* ‘’Behind Blue Eyes” (2020)
* ‘’Laze the Day Away” (2021)
* ‘’Q&A” DJ Qbert and Craig Abaya (2021)
* ‘’Topsy Turvy” (2022)
* ‘’Sex Sells” (2022)
* ‘’Living in Analogy” (2022)
* ‘’HATE” (2024)

### Guest Appearances

* DJ Qbert “Bloom (Plantoids)” from the album Extraterrestria (2014) - song composition, lead and rhythm guitars, bass guitar

### Musical Scores

* "Bridge School News" series (2008 -)
* "Retrogirl" (2016)
* "Retrogirl 2" (2017)
* “Ambush” (2017)
* "Cortical Visual Impairment" mini series (2020)
* "Communication with First Responders During Emergencies and Disasters" (2021)

## Filmography

Directed features :
| Year | Title | Credits |
| 2002 | ‘’Bruce Hornsby Live at Villa Montalvo" | Producer/Director |
| 2003 | "Joan Armatrading: All the Way from America” | Producer/Director |
| 2006-2020 | ‘’The Stern Grove Festival Videos” (series) | Producer/Director, Camera Operator, Editor, Music Mixer |
| 2008-2019 | ‘’Bridge School News” (series) | Producer/Director, Editor, Composer |
| 2015-2016 | ‘’Marissa Anne the Media Fan” | Producer/Director, Writer, Camera Operator, Editor |
| 2016 | ‘’Retrogirl” | Producer/Director, Writer, Camera Operator, Editor, Composer |
| 2016 | ‘’If I Had a Twin” | Producer/Director, Writer, Camera Operator, Editor, Composer |
| 2016 | "Ambush" | Director of Photography, Camera Operator, Line Producer, Editor, Visual Effects, Composer |
| 2017 | ‘’Retrogirl 2” | Producer/Director, Writer, Camera Operator, Editor, Composer |
| 2018 | ‘’The Nutcracker” | Director, Camera Operator |
| 2019 | ‘’Restless Soul” | Producer/Director, Camera Operator, Editor, Composer |
| 2020 | ‘’Cortical Visual Impairment” (mini series) | Director, Editor |
| 2020 | ‘’Stern Grove - Best of the Fest" (mini series) | Producer/Director, Camera Operator, Editor |
| 2020 | "Behind Blue Eyes" | Producer/Director/Editor |
| 2021 | "Regret" | Producer/Director, Camera Operator, Editor, Composer |
| 2021 | "Will I Walk on Water" | Producer/Director, Camera Operator, Editor, Composer |
| 2021 | "Q&A" | Producer/Director, Camera Operator, Editor, Composer |
| 2021 | "Laze the Day Away" | Producer/Director, Editor, Composer |
| 2021 | "Communication with First Responders During Emergencies and Disasters" | Editor, Composer |
| 2022 | "Thank You" | Producer/Director, Camera Operator, Editor |
| 2022 | "From the Ground Up" | Producer/Director, Writer, Editor |
| 2023 | "Clearly Through the Mist" | Producer/Director, Editor, Composer |
| 2024 | "Shout to God with Cries of Gladness" | Producer/Director, Camera Operator, Editor |