They say that inspiration has to come from somewhere–the divine, the smile on your best friends face, the business class you hate, dropping all of the coins from your pocket accidentally on the floor. But for so many of us, the real inspiration of our lives comes from music. Music gives us the chance to get beyond ourselves into someplace beautiful, sad, scary, adventurous. Music can change your mood–and if you don’t believe me, go put on “Come On Eileen” and dance. Music can show you you’re not alone, and can also help you form your own identity. Music can be so much and nothing all at once.
But where do the people who create music themselves get inspiration? Each year here at KDUP we put together a mixtape full of student musicians and their work, and this year we decided to talk with some of those musicians about where their music comes from. Each song, either covered from another artist or written and preformed by the artist themselves, tells a story grounded in personal experience and a love of a craft. Senior Amanda Munro says that her piece, entitled “Atlas”, is grounded in her own forgiveness of herself and others: “I often think about environmental devastation and social inequality. It’s hard to escape the fact that my very existence in our consumer society contributes to the immeasurable suffering in the world. When I look around on campus I sometimes feel so isolated and devastated about it all that I don’t know how to handle it. This song for me is a healing song; I play it to remind myself that I am doing my best and I have to have compassion for myself and everyone else.”
Similarly, Arran Fagan’s song, “Sad Old Songs”, comes from a place of working towards a new awareness in one’s life: “The song is about being fed up with being sad and finally making steps to get better.”
Inspiration strikes, but then the cool thing about music is that then you have to put that inspiration and wrap it in notes, in noise, in the feeling that you that words can’t quite express. For Munro, inspiration and song struck simultaneously: “I was hiking in Mt. St. Helens by myself one day last summer and I felt so purposeless…I sat down to meditate and observe what was going on with me, but I was really distracted. When I opened my eyes though, I was suddenly fully aware of all the intricate, living organisms surrounding me. I realized that I may never be able to fully accomplish my ideals, but I can work towards those ideals for the rest of my life. It’s really all I can do. That’s when this line of the song came into my head, ‘As I knelt in reverence among the moss and clover, the world felt so heavy in my arms I thought it’d tip me over.’ Melody and all. I wrote it down on a scrap of paper and a few months later I revisited it and finished the song.”
For some, the feeling inspiring one to write the song is furthered by the process of finishing and recording: “My song was recorded in the women’s bathroom of a church. The lights were off and candles lit the room. If you listen closely you can hear traffic driving by the building” says Fagan. The process of putting emotions into words and words into cords captures something that connects with each person, which is why we are excited to bring you the KDUP student mix tape.
We’re also lucky to feature a track by August Urban, a sophomore here at UP. He spoke to us about being involved in the mixtape and his creation process: “I enjoyed recording this short mix for KDUP. Having multiple tracks prepared and running at the same time can be tricky to manage, but when they come together to make something more it’s a really exciting feeling”
Be on the lookout in the coming week at the KDUP table in the commons!