Year: Sophomore
Major: Music Industry
Hometown: Port Washington, NY
Relationship Status: Single
HC: What are you involved in on campus?
Derek: “I am on the Ultimate Frisbee team, Treasurer of the song writers club, Secretary of Macduff Hall and I am a part of “Grammy U”, which is a networking group made by The Grammys to help students grow in the industry by hosting networking events in NYC.
HC: If you could pick one emoji to describe yourself which would it be and why?
Derek:
“I use this emoji when somebody says something nice to me. It’s very complimentary which I am as well, I compliment people a lot.
I also use a lot of other emojis a lot which people don’t typically use, such as these:”
HC: What is your ideal first date?
Derek: “Dinner, maybe a slice of pizza, something really casual.”
HC: What is the first thing you notice about a girl?
Derek: “I guess her smile.”
HC: What got you started in the music industry?
Derek: “I’ve been playing guitar since I was about eight years old. I’ve always loved music and had a passion for listening to and discovering new music. I am still playing guitar and taking lessons here in Oneonta. In about 9th grade I discovered electronic music and dance music so I started DJing and producing music electronically. During high school, I started writing and producing music of my own. Originally, I wanted to try and create songs that were similar to the artists I listened to and through this process I realized that I did not sound like them. This resulted in the development of my own sound and music style. As I said before, I am also a DJ. The art form of DJing is putting your music library on display. It is mixing and mashing songs to make them work with one another in interesting ways. I focus more on the songwriting and music production aspect of the industry because I think it is more of a “sincere” art form. I write original music, plug in my guitar, pull up synthesizers, drum machines and try to make something new sounding.”
HC: Who are some of your musical inspirations?
Derek: “That’s good question. I write so many styles of music. I could be writing jazz one day and dubstep the next. I would have to say my favorite artist is Porter Robinson, an electronic music artist. He nailed his craft in creating his own sound, which nobody can match or sound like. Guitar wise, I would say The Edge from U2. As far as basic music production and song writing style I would say, Phoenix, Dead Mouse and Radiohead, definitely Radiohead.”
HC: where do yourself see/wish you are in 10 years?
Derek: “Writing music for a living. I hope to be somewhere really warm, maybe on the West Coast.”
HC: If you could pick any time era to live in, which would it be?
Derek: “Right now. I’m happy living right now because we have so many opportunities and tools to make our goals happen. All of our goals are possible, with the amount of knowledge and technology our generation has. I think a lot of people have a bad impression of our generation but I think they haven’t really given us a chance. I think we will be doing some great things in the next few years.”
Be sure to check out some of Derek’s music on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/derek-moss-1