Students who make their own music

Crash. Ding. Boom. The sound of music fills the air constantly throughout the day. Aside from academic studies, sports and other activities, many upper school students pursue music as a passion. They express their love of music through the producing and composing of pieces.

Neil Ramaswamy

Sitting in a quiet classroom with a notebook in front of him, freshman Neil Ramaswamy, better known to his fans as rapper A Tuzzy, scrawls lyrics for a new song onto sheets of lined paper.

Neil has been rapping since the beginning of the school year, and he has released three full-length songs on his Soundcloud account. He plans to release an album of 14 to 16 songs as well.

Neil’s rapping career began through listening to rappers Eminem and Tupac Shakur, from who he draws inspiration from when writing music.

“I think the mean part of me comes from the fact that I listen to Eminem,” Neil said. “I also listen to Tupac, which is the reason why I make the ‘let’s get the world to be a better place’ type of music.”

Neil often channels his feelings into his songs. For example, his new album, “Anxiety and Metaphors,” will be about his doubts about his rap career.

“What I do with my lyrics is I go off emotions and make similes, metaphors and exaggerations,” Neil said. “For example, I look up to so many people like Eminem, and I think ‘Will I ever be that good? Should i quit now?’”

Although Neil has no definite plans for the future of his musical career, he plans to continue producing music for the time being.

“You have to stay true to you; you got to say what you feel,” Neil said. “You got to just be yourself.”

Chris Hailey

Chris Hailey (11), also known as rapper C Money, has played classical piano for 10 years, but his interest in rapping blossomed when his friend Varun Baldwa (11) began making beats online and needed someone to rap over those beats.

“My whole rap career was serendipitous,” Chris said. “He wanted someone to make some raps, and I said ‘Why not? I’ll do it.’”

Chris has a fixed routine for writing his songs. After listening to a new beat, he brainstorms potential topics for the song before writing lyrics.

“I think about what types of themes are on my mind,” he said. “Then, I write a first line, find some rhymes for that line and just keep building on that.”

Chris does not plan to take up rapping as a career, preferring to keep it a hobby. In the near future, however, he hopes to produce his own songs.

“Currently, I’m actually writing a little bit of my own beats, so hopefully I can actually be not just a rapper but a producer,” Chris said.

Chris attributes his pursual of music to the encouragement from others.

“My friends and my family support me, and they keep wanting me to make music,” Chris said. “That’s how I find encouragement.”

Megan Swanson

Megan Swanson (11) was inspired to compose music when her sister, Stephanie Swanson (10), began to write music with her friend Meghana Karinthi (10). Since then, she has composed and arranged a range of musical pieces.

“For the most part, I compose more classically-oriented pieces for chamber groups,” Megan said. “I’ve done a few arrangements of jazz and vocal songs, but I have more experience with the classical. I also enjoy composing with similar dramatic motifs found in movie music.”

When composing, Megan writes any promising ideas down and elaborates on them until she has a finished piece.

“I simply start with [an] idea, and it may end up anywhere in the piece,” she said. “After the initial inspiration, I sometimes fall into a sort of writer’s block for musicians. Eventually, I either have another burst of inspiration, or drag my way past the block to continue writing.”

Megan receives inspiration from a multitude of people.

“Almost anyone can inspire me,” she said. “Great composers and musicians, my instructors and most of all, my family and friends.”

In the future, Megan hopes to improve her composing skills and spread her love for music through teaching others.

“Since it is my passion, I aspire to never make music feel like work,” Megan said.

This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on March 2, 2016