How I got Here

I've never been a person who was ever interested in studying maths or science. In fact, school was a struggle. I struggled every morning getting up to learn subjects that I had no real interest in. I know that that is something almost everyone says about school, but for me it felt different. I had always had an interest in music. I listened to and played music any moment I could find. However, I always thought that music was a thing in my life that was secondary to everything else, as school, getting good grades and getting into university was a top priority.

When I graduated in 2013, I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life and started researching tertiary education in music. I came across SAE and in particular the Bachelor of Audio and instantly thought "yes, that's what I want to do". My serious interest in music was never really taken seriously by anyone close to me so I always just thought it was a want that would soon die and I'd forget about it. So as you do, I went to university to study a Bachelor of Arts. For the 3 years after school, while on my gap year and studying at university, my passion for wanting to pursue a career in sound and in particular creating music, strengthened.

So why audio? As you can already guess, my particular interest in the audio field is music.

I found that throughout my life, music was the one thing that was there for me, no matter what, through the good times and the bad times. I can remember specific songs that got me through tough times as well as songs that have created a memory that whenever you hear them you think back and smile. I’ve felt almost a sense of responsibility to give back to the industry that gave me so much. Music has the ability to enhance happiness and comfort a broken heart. It also has the ability to express what one feels, far greater than words or as Victor Hugo more adequately puts it, “Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent”.

True to this statement, what one of my biggest musical influences, Twenty One Pilots, does is address and confront various thoughts and feelings that so many of us are afraid to vocalise. When first listening to their music, you are introduced to their heavy use of electronic music, drums and bass and don’t focus so much on the lyrics as most of their songs are quite upbeat. But the more you listen, the more you realise that their music is creating something much more than a nice tune to listen to in the car. In many of their songs, and in particular “Migraine”, they address issues of personal demons and insecurities.

That’s the beauty of their music and why it’s one of my biggest influences in wanting to study audio. It allows people to feel as if they aren’t alone in the world, and gives a sense of relief that so many people out there have gone through what they have gone through. The ability that music has (and what Twenty One Pilots does in particular) to unify people, is something I will always be in awe of. What I love about Twenty One Pilots is their ability to combine such musical talent (their drummer, Josh Dunn), electronic music and deep lyrics to create a masterpiece full of different emotions.

The world without sound, and more specifically without music, would be dull and silent. There’s a song by Twenty One Pilots called “Car Radio” (Link below) that talks about sitting in silence after their radio was stolen from their car and that the world and their thoughts becomes too much to handle.

That’s what music is for, to lessen the pain and to make us feel on top of the world. Everyone has a favourite song, even if they have no real connection to music, and it’s such an important part of everyone’s lives. And that’s why I want to study audio, to give to others. I want a chance to create music that could change someone’s world, just like it did mine.