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Growing up as an artist, and being raised by my parents I have a couple of very important values to me that some others might not think of as very important in the grand scheme of things that I consider to be rather critical in continuing as a performer and artist in general.

The big two principles I have when creating anything from music, to writing, to set building is to believe in what you're making and to make sure what you’re making is yours. These two may seem obvious but they’re very important nonetheless to make sure you aren't selling out and making something you never meant to or never envisioned for your original creation.

When it comes to values as an  artist Kurt Cobain always comes to mind as he in many interview would give his outlook on the world and would refuse to sell out.

https://www.danschultzfineart.com/positive-values-that-practicing-art-can-teach-us/ I think that this article perfectly voices the values one can attribute to being an artist.

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Having some sense of normality, especially now with all that is changing in my life, is very important to me. Something I do every day is practice bass for at least one hour. Nothing else I focus purely on playing music. This approach towards playing bass is what I try to apply to doing school work.

Another habit I have that pairs well with my other statement in this is that I constantly listen to music when alone to stay focused. Even while typing this out I'm listening to Lonely Town by Vulfpeck. This helps me drown out the sounds of my dorm hall and the city outside while trying to focus on my schoolwork/ bass practicing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO12j2-ga4w this video is an interview of Vulfpeck bassist joe dart. at one point Joe is asked about his practice routine and he says that when he practices he focuses solely on the music is playing along with. this helped me shape my practices of anything that im working on at the moment.

https://hub.yamaha.com/brand/the-power-of-music-music-makes-you-happier-smarter-and-healthier-too/#:~:text=(Listening%20to%20music%20during%20a,induces%20pleasure%2C%20joy%20and%20motivation. In this article a study shows that listening to music while taking a test can improve a your performance on that test by 40% which goes along with what I said about using music to focus.

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Growing up in my household my dad and mom would be playing music constantly, now I know that specifically isn't anything very special about our house but with my dad being in bands when he was growing up and the music my parents decided to play around me from a young age mad me love the arts going from just music to plays when I joined my high school musical as a set builder freshman year.

Being a musician, the most influential people in my life would be my high school band director and theater director. For many reasons, mainly that my middle school band teacher was incompetent, my high school band teacher taught me everything I know about music now. While my theater director made me want to pursue set design as a career

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv4wf7bzfFE This video is very influential to me because after being together for 8 years with no management and under no label Vulfpeck was able to sell out Madison Square Garden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkroIXktjgE this song by Weezer is also influential to me because my brother and I both have a love for Weezer and this song specifically has always stuck with me.

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My goals for this next semester are to come out feeling accomplished, whether that be with my grades, my own musicianship, or anything else I want to feel like I've completed something. On top of that I want to make new connections with my peers and try to be more open to my community.

In the next 5 years I would like to graduate from UT and start working towards a way to merge my lessons in set design with my music for my career. Playing and performing music is a very important part of who I am and what I do today and I would love it if I could find a way to combine that with my passion for building sets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f78_Tf4Tdk This music video is from one of my favorite bands, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. In my opinion this video has great music that pairs perfectly with the set design and costuming which I wish to achieve in my future career.

Sophomore year my high school had a trip to New York that I went on. there we saw wicked on Broadway. watching the set pieces move in and out really made me want to be a set builder for a living.

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One of my biggest inspirations is whatever band or artist I'm obsessed with at the moment. Music is a large part of who I am so when I connect with music it tends to inspire a lot of life especially the music I'm writing at the moment. I tend to notice when I switch the bands I listen to at certain periods, my own music drastically shifts and I take large inspiration from these bands.

Another great inspiration to me is when i get to talk to friends I've had for year about what they’re doing in college themselves. Seeing them get excited for their ideas for the future or what they’re working on at that moment always makes me feel excited with what we’ll both be doing in the years to come.

The picture above is a 3D model that my older brother Alex made using me as a model with my bass in hands. Alex is a huge inspiration to me because growing up he was always interested in being an engineer but one summer went to a game development camp and fell in love with it. he now lives in New York and is part of the video game development course at Pratt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlEen4TeW4E in this video much like the music video in aspirations and goals, this band perfectly combines set design in the boxes they put their heads in, with their music.