Some Skyline musicians perform before crowds of fans, some make music in their room.
They create in a spectrum of genres, including experimental, jazz, indie, and more.
“I make jazz-inspired pop, funky stuff as well,” says Lorenzo Soto Booker (‘24), leader of the Skyline Songwriting Club. “I record music alone, with people from Skyline Blues, and people in Songwriting club… [in] my home studio, and I write in the car.”
Every student interviewed makes music for fun and to express themselves artistically, with some partly doing it as a way to make money in the future or a little on the side right now.
“I make music to express myself and to have fun,” says artist Owen DeVries (‘27). “I also write video game soundtracks.“
Student musicians also take artistic inspiration from many artists, of many genres.
“I make music that combines a lot of my influences: artists like Apparat, C418 and Skrillex,” says artist Luke Powell (‘24). “I would classify my 1st album, ‘Spaceships,’ as ambient and my new album, ‘LUMINO,’ as electronic and a little experimental.”
When asked about how they make music, students all have a similar process. First, they get inspired by something, then they add layers, and finally, they polish.
“[Recently,] we started out with the instrumentals, just picking up [the] main guitar riff,” bassist in the band, Perfect Average, Matthew Christiansen (‘25) said. “Then, [we] added in drums and a bass line to make it sound a little funky, and then [we] wrote lyrics and a melody for it and developed it from there,“
Whether it’s meeting up for a band, playing music on a laptop at home, or playing piano, students make music whenever they can.
“[Our band makes music] whenever we’re free. I feel like we’re all really busy, so we’re all like, ‘we need to meet soon,’“ says Naya Loftus (‘24), guitarist for Perfect Average.
Loftus and Christiansen’s band, Perfect Average, will be performing in early March, 2024, for Battle of the Bands at Neutral Zone. They will also be performing on March 13, 2024, at the Blind Pig. Their Instagram is @perfect_average_band.
Powell has a new album, called LUMINO, on his Spotify, lookie pookie. His Instagram is @yourfriendlookiepookie_.
Soto Booker has put out music with the Songwriting Club under beluga studios on all platforms, and DeVries has put out music under owenidk on SoundCloud.
One musician had words of encouragement for other upcoming musicians.
“I make music in my bedroom to prove that anyone can produce music if they put their mind to it,” says DeVries. “I want to show that even with limitations, success is still possible.”
Note: Roman Gattuso is a member of the Songwriting club.
