Senior Aiden Mason-Velasquez is a full-time student, but in his free time, he is a musical artist. Velasquez started making music after listening to Pavement, an indie rock band from California.

“I think I started making my own music because of Pavement,” said Velasquez. “Their sloppy style made me realize you don’t have to be good, just expressive.” 

Velaquez picked up guitar in his sophomore year and started experimenting with making his own music last April.

“When I started, I basically just recorded song length instrumentals on GarageBand, one track at a time, and then added lyrics if I felt like it,” said Velasquez. “They all sounded pretty trash though.” 

Although Velasquez does not have the expensive equipment seen in most recording studios, he found an application called Logic Pro and learned how to use it in his free time.

“I bought Logic Pro and started learning it in my free time,” said Velasquez. “I eventually started making beats and sampling, and once in a while, I’d make something worth putting vocals over.”

Velasquez has an account on Spotify named Aiden Mason where he publically posts music he makes. Right now, his music is a hobby, however, by releasing his music, he hopes to watch his music change and evolve. 

“Sometimes, I put the tracks that sounded good at the time on streaming platforms because I thought it would be cool to see someone’s taste and style progress over time,” said Velasquez. “Hopefully I’ll get better, but as of right now, I’m doing it just for fun.” 

Be sure to check out Velasquez’s Spotify account, Aiden Mason, on Spotify.