A Closer Look
Ethan is currently producing a full album, and at the time of the interview, was working on a single for it called “Scorched Earth” (which is out now! Go check out “Scorched Earth” by Retired Orphan on Apple Music or SoundCloud.) When it comes to his creative process, Ethan usually begins with deciding how the song or album will generally sound, such as what energy it will have or what instruments will be used. Then he plans out a list of how many songs an album will have, which helps him map out the length and scale of the project. As he has been working in the music industry for 8 years, Ethan has built an extensive library of sample packs (collection of sounds used in music) where he can quickly choose the best sounds for a particular song. While his inspirations come from spurs of the moment, he makes sure to go to work in his studio everyday, and promises that leads to results. As he is also a perfectionist, Ethan often finds himself getting 95% of a song completed, sitting on it for a few months, and then returning to spend extensive time on perfecting the last 5%.
Katie got into music through her mom. Her mom loved music and was very supportive of Katie's decision to pursue it in college. While Katie also produces music, she has been focusing mostly on singing and songwriting, inspired by a feeling she has in the moment or is recovering from and needs to find a source of healing. In her words, her music is very selfish as she writes for herself. In her usual creative flow, she will either think of an idea or concept with chords and melody following the preconceived words or the other way around, depending on the situation and project. Currently, she is writing “Countdown”, a song that explains how anxiety feels when you're trying to calm down but it doesn't quite work. Because Katie's inspirations come in the moment, she will often run into her partner's studio at random times and write her song from the piano. According to Katie, she writes music when she feels the itch to make something creative. Sometimes it's baking or painting, but most times it comes out in a song.
Tips
Tip 1
Collaborate. A lot of people are intimidated by collaboration because it requires cold dming and convincing people to believe in your project, but it is very much worth it.
– Ethan
Tip 2
There are no hard rules. You don't have to follow a specific genre or please everyone to be a musician… Express yourself, and enjoy the arts, and you're a musician.
– Katie
