by Michelle Nhi Nguyen, staff writer and photographer
by Michelle Nhi Nguyen, staff writer and photographer
Fountain Valley High School is the proud home of many musically talented Barons; senior Christopher Shoda Meyer is one of these special students.
Known by his teachers and fellow classmates to be a talented music maker and producer, Meyer has almost 40 original tracks on his SoundCloud, which is an audio platform that allows its users to upload and share their originally-created sounds, under the pseudonym of “Shodameyer.”
He dates his passion for music to early in his elementary school years. Along with playing the piano ever since the third grade, Meyer was exposed to music through his father’s choice of Chinese music and Bruce Springsteen songs in the car, which eventually led to his musical interest in hip-hop.
“I had no other option but to listen to my dad’s music, but it worked out in the end. Being around music at an early age and playing piano really helped me develop the skills to play [today],” Meyer said.
The young avid listener of music strategically used the radio and his iPod to spark inspiration for his own music.
“I would dissect out each part of the instrumental so I could single out the drumline, or…a main melody that a song had. I would write down all the lyrics so I actually knew what the person was singing and listened to it over and over [to] absorb it,” Meyer said.
Now he finds inspiration to write his beats by listening to other songs, whereas the flow of his lyrics tend to come to him randomly later on. His motivation to write lyrics can be sparked by a multitude of subjects, whether it be a strong romantic interest or an interesting book he is reading. Ultimately, all of his lyrics reflect what he is feeling at the moment.
“Once I was reading Catcher in the Rye and [ended up] writing this song about how…I wasn’t making the right decisions…and how I wasn’t ready to grow up,” Meyer said. “Different feelings will get you different songs. If you’re feeling sad, you might write a slow song or more meaningful lyrics, but if you’re feeling fine, you might make an upbeat song.”
The actual process of creating songs is systematic for Meyer. The typical two-day procedure starts when he first focuses on making the main melody, which he creates on his keyboard. Then he adds secondary instruments by playing around with notes on the keyboard and recording it over.
“This is where my piano skills come in,” Meyer said. “I have a good ear so I’m familiar with the right notes.”
After the instrumental is complete, Meyer moves on to writing lyrics, whose content stems from whatever the feeling of the instrumental is, and finalizes everything with a quick recording session. He enjoys writing freestyle on occasion, which helps him with his word choice and rhyme scheme.
“You go in without a plan and you come out with a whole song. Sometimes those are the best songs that you make… you can capture the emotion with words without thinking about it.”
Meyer credits much of his ability to produce music to the digital technology of this era, especially the digital and audio software readily available for use today. Having drum sounds without actually owning a drum set or piano sounds without actually playing the piano is very convenient, he claimed, and makes it easily accessible for one person to be in charge.
“I’m pretty much my own production studio,” said Meyer. “This wouldn’t have been possible 10, 20 years ago.”
The greatest challenge Meyer faces in writing music is sharing his work with other people and putting it out for criticism.
“Music is something people are very critical of; not everyone likes the same songs. It’s really easy for people to criticize music…because it’s always up for interpretation,” Meyer said.
Pursuing a career in the music industry has never occurred to Meyer as a dream; music was more of just an interesting hobby of his. However, the possibility of having this hobby take off into something bigger is an idea that he is now considering.
“It could always happen if I get a good string of songs or if I get a lot of positive feedback from people,” said Meyer.
Meyer encourages other students who share the same musical ambition to pursue their passions.
“Music is not something you can teach. It’s all up to you whether or not you want to do it. No one is gonna tell you to keep doing it…but if it’s something that brings you happiness or if you think it’s worth it, then go for it,” said Meyer.
