Students within Keene State College’s Music Department explore their passion for music outside the classroom by writing and producing their own.
“I’ve been writing music for as long as I can remember,” junior music major Tori Young said. “There’s a home video of me at like age three making Christmas songs and I would force my mom to film me; I was always [making music] naturally.”
Young currently has three singles on streaming platforms such as Spotify, YouTube, Pandora and Apple Music titled “hide, deny, & pretend,” Butterflies” and “Endless Love.”
The producing journey began for Young after a friend opened her eyes to the process. “One of my friends at a camp I worked at was going to school to be an audio engineer and for one of his projects he needed to record and produce a song,” Young said. “He approached me and was like ‘hey, would you want me to record your song?’… and because of his project, I was able to get it out on platforms.”
Young said, “hide, deny, & pretend” was about “getting to school and what you think it’s going to be versus what it is like and adjusting to the newness of all of that.” Even though Young enjoys creating music, she said the enjoyment comes from the emotions she feels throughout the process rather than getting views.
“Ever since I was a kid, I have had these emotions and feelings and the only way that I know to productively get them out is to write a song about them,” Young said. “… I’m thankful I’m not trying to make money from it or make a career out of this because it’s allowed me to just enjoy and have it be out there.”
Similarly, junior Thor Brayshaw said he also creates music for himself rather than catering to an audience.
“As soon as I got rid of self-criticism for what I was releasing, I just started saying I don’t really care what other people think,” Brayshaw said. “But if people do like my music, if my music is able to touch someone and affect someone in a way that’s positive, I’ve done my job as an artist.”
Brayshaw currently has two albums and various EPs across streaming platforms. Additionally, he is the owner and CEO of his own record label, S. TIER MEDIA, which currently works with nine artists.
“We primarily specialize in hip hop and trappy [music],” Brayshaw said. “I do a lot of the mixing and mastering so I’ll have clients send me [files] and I’ll mix those down and compress everything.”
Brayshaw’s label and music producing journey began following a tough decision he had to make regarding another passion of his back in high school.
“I actually used to be a competitive snowboarder… and I ended up having a pretty bad head injury,” Brayshaw said. “So when that dream was, I guess ripped away from me in a sense, I’ve been playing sax for five years and was like, ‘You know, maybe I should just chase the music,’ and I haven’t looked back since.”
Brayshaw said there have been valuable moments that have come with his decision to pursue music.
“I think the most rewarding experience was releasing my last album demo… When I finally looked back after finishing it and put the last song in the roster I was like, ‘I finally made something that I’m proud of.’ I think that’s where I wanted to keep going with this.”
Brayshaw added, “There’s nothing more artistic than music and creation in general. It’s just pure expression, I love it. “
Sophomore Kyle Hughes said he does not have one genre of music that defines his creativity.
“I’ve asked various people in my life [about the genre I make], they usually can’t answer me,” Hughes said. “So the most consistent answer I’ve ever received is blown-out scream hyperpop.”
Hughes said that he used to make abrasive, noise music two years ago, and then he transitioned to a more pop-like sound. “I kind of just make… pop infused with, like, screaming,” Hughes said.
Producing music under the name FOREVER NOTHING, Hughes currently has 10 albums up on Spotify.
“I had an old name… I was getting thousands of streams, and it was getting fun,” Hughes said. “I was really building it up, and then I tore it down by changing my name. So I have to kind of build it all back up again.”
Regarding the name FOREVER NOTHING, Hughes said, “I think it’s provocative, the meaning of it is kind of stupid; I just wanted a name that represented dying… [The] nothingness for eternity.”
Hughes said the most rewarding part of making music was performing and getting to connect with the audience.
“My actual passion in music is getting on stage in front of a bunch of people…And I remember them moshing, like throwing each other around like fighting in the pit,” Hughes said. “I was like, this is literally my future. I can’t do anything else.”
Hughes said his biggest obstacle is finding the motivation to practice.
“I wish I could just sit and like, do nothing and get so good, but you can’t do that,” Hughes said. “… If you expect to just sit and not do anything and improve in music, or anything you do, it’s not going to happen. You got to wake up and practice your drum rolls and your vocal chains or whatever… you gotta work at it.”
Hughes added, “Things don’t just happen to you. You have to really act to get it. And that’s what I’ve done. I’ve acted a lot to get what I want.”
Nicole Dumont can be contacted at
ndumont@kscequinox.com
Tabitha Sanders can be contacted at
tsanders@kscequinox.com
