Sebastian Arias grew up in a small town in Costa Rica, where he began to play music and take lessons at age 9. He took up electric bass when he was 11 and upright bass when he was 13. He first visited the United States in the summer of 2014 to attend the Benny Golson Jazz Festival. After spending a week learning from and watching artists such as Carl Allen, Rodney Whitaker, Rodney Jones, Reggie Thomas, among others at the festival, he felt inspired to pursue jazz music.

At 18, he moved to Utah, where he got his Bachelor’s Degree in Commercial Music from Snow College. There, he developed his jazz bass studies under the instruction of Philip Kuehn and other mentors such as Carl Allen and Chase Baird, and he was an active player in the Salt Lake City jazz and pop scene during this time.

In 2023, he moved to Kansas City to pursue his Master’s Degree at the University of Missouri - Kansas City, continuing to study under the instruction of Carl Allen and other instructors such as Eric Hitt and Jeff Harshbarger. Since moving to Kansas City, he has continued to maintain a busy performing schedule within the local jazz scene. He was also selected to attend the prestigious JAS Academy in Aspen, Colorado in 2024, where he worked under the artistic direction of Christian McBride. During the program, he performed with Grammy-winning singer Lisa Fischer and received mentorship from acclaimed artists such as Shelly Berg, Chuck Bergeron, and Brian Lynch, among others.

Some of the artists Sebastian has performed with include Chase Baird, Adam Larson, Electric Tinks, Peter Schlamb, Dave Scott, Roger Wilder, Matt Villinger, Michael Eaton, Trample Man, Marcus Lewis’ Brass & Boujee, Stephen Martin, Matt Otto, Stan Kessler, David Halliday, Pete Fucinaro, Isaiah Petrie, Henry Scamurra, Brian Ward, Danny Embrey, Michael Eaton, Marty Morrison, Clara Campbell, Brad Gregory, Ryan J. Lee, Zach Morrow, Christian Eertl, Matt Hopper, and many others. Some venues that Sebastian has performed at include The Blue Room, Rudy’s Jazz Room, The Bop Stop, Fultron Street Collective, NOCE, The Dark Room, NOMA, Trio Jazz, The Majestic, The Gallivan Center, The Red Lion Lounge, Jazz in July, Northwest Arkansas Jazz Society, MARONDE Recital Series, The Ship, and Barrel & Flow Fest, among many others.