Emma Hinkley, at only 13-years-old, released her first EP and was well on her way to honing her talent for songwriting and furthering her love for music. In March 2016 she went on to release her first album, continued performing locally and started to decide on her professional and creative future. Emma realized as she was deciding what she could do with her passion and talent past high school that Belmont offered a unique way to start that career path. She auditioned to become a songwriting major and upon acceptance has not stopped writing since. Below is my interview with Emma where she describes her musical journey and offers her opinion on the songwriting program.
When did you start writing?
When I was eight-years-old.
What drew you to songwriting?
I always liked to play with words as a kid and 8-year-old me was very emotional so it was just a natural path where I started writing songs for fun, which turned into something that I wanted to do as a career.
Favorite place to write a song?
On the floor of my bedroom. Or should I say dorm room floor now that I’m in college? Either way no elevated surfaces.
Fastest you’ve written a song?
20 minutes.
Who inspires your passion for music?
Carole King, Sara Bareilles, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Marina Diamandis
Where do you find inspiration for songs?
Usually my personal life, but sometimes I’ll get an idea for a certain story or emotion and write a song about what I would do in that situation.
What other majors did you consider?
Music Business or Composition.
Did you come to Belmont specifically for the songwriting program?
Yes, I knew this was the career path I wanted to take and Belmont seemed the right fit for me. It’s not just a program about writing songs, I’m getting to learn more about the business side and foster connections that could help me in the future.
Best experience you’ve had with the songwriting program?
I love all of the seminars that are offered to the songwriting majors. I feel like I learn so much every time that I go to one of them and that makes me feel like I’m making really good use of my time.
Emma’s SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/emmahinkley
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