Music makes for powerful outlet, more than just a noise

Zeke La Mantia
Social Media/Graphics Editor

With the image of teenage musicians being loud and uncaring, Webster student musicians are here to change the narrative.

Taking the time to coordinate with other band members, venues and crowds, teenage musicians are showing to be more professional than most media showcases.

Senior Chloe Halls, a member of the band “Chainsaw Boyz” since February 2021, not only plays lead guitar and does backup vocals for the group but has a desire to turn what was once only a fun extracurricular into a career.

“I plan to do something with music in my future. I am currently looking at the music industry programs for a couple schools. I would love to learn how to market, manage and produce for my own music career,” Halls said.

“I feel like in high school there’s more freedom, depending on your schedule, and more resources, like a basement to practice in. I also think that it’s (being in a band) great practice for the future and teaches you how to work as a team, being creative, be expressive, and if you’re the manager, like me most of the time, great experience sending professional emails and such,” Halls added.

As joyous as being a part of a music group sounds, some hardships come with the work.

“The hardest part is probably just working with other people. It is incredibly hard to coordinate practices, gigs, etc with so many people’s schedules and sometimes communication can be hard because we are different ages and go to different schools,” Halls said.

“The other hard part is having to sound professional when contacting a venue. It’s a little nerve wracking because these are professional people who run real venues and you want to make sure you sound like someone they would book,” Halls added.

Senior Nina Spence is a member of the band “Fatima and the feather boas” named so because of shared interest in middle eastern ancestry among the group members. Spence agrees that there are hardships even amidst this creative outlet.

“The hardest part is that you’re not always gonna be in the greatest of moods. Same goes for the other people in the band,” Spence said.

“Some people won’t always click right away and some people won’t always agree with you and your ideas,” Spence added.

However, Spence doesn’t let the hard times get her down.

“When it comes down to it, the greatest part of having these people is what all these emotions in a room can produce, and no matter what happens or where you come from, the good outweighs the bad. We do it for music,” Spence said.

Being realistic about the experiences of working as a team opens the group up to new opportunities as well as offers a stage for self expression.

“It just felt right and something I could do easily no matter what. I plan to always do music, it’s an adventure and I’m always excited to see where it goes, where it’ll take me, and who it makes me meet,” Spence said.

Musicians have different reasons for wanting to perform.

“To me music honestly means everything. Playing, creating, and performing music take up most of my extra curricular time and it has for the past couples years. I cannot think of another thing I’d like to pursue besides music and I hope that turns out well for me,” Halls said.

About what music meant for her, Spence said, “Music means safety, understanding and really it’s just an outlet.”

“It’s something to focus my ADHD and to make me feel normal. It’s just that music was always the one thing I was good at when school makes you feel bad about yourself and it’s low vibration,” Spence added.