This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Vanderbilt chapter.
Ever fangirled at a Jugal Vandy concert and wondered who that really tall guy killing it on the bass was? Well, it’s time for you to meet Ethan Addison, the man behind the music, the master of poetic Instagram captions, and the educated foodie turned chef.
Name: Ethan
Nicknames: “Open Hawaiian”
Hometown: Johnson City, TN
Major/minor: Mathematics (major), Music History (minor), Computer Science (minor)
On-campus involvement: Vice President, Bassist, and Musical Director for Jugal Vandy; Calculus Teaching Assistant
Relationship Status: Single
Ideal date: Start in an ice cream parlor and transition to a quiet park for conversation until the sun begins to set. Head to an all-night diner and keep up the colloquy until the sun starts to rise.
Celebrity crush: Amy Adams. Such pep. Much adorability. Wow.
Biggest turn on: Intellectual and emotional passion
Biggest turn off: Vapidity and hypocrisy.
Favorite place to go on vacation: Atlantic beaches in Florida. But I’ll take an Appalachian cabin, too.
Favorite shows/movies to binge watch on Netflix: The Office if I want to laugh and reminisce. Breaking Bad if I want grit.
Movie that makes you cry: The Kingdom
If they made a movie out of your life, who would play you: Adolescence to early Adulthood – Jim Sturgess; Later Adulthood – Russel Crowe.
Favorite Nashville restaurants: Noshville (breakfast), Sitar (lunch), Michaelangelo’s (supper), Mike’s (dessert)
Favorite cereal: Reese’s Puffs. It’s Reese’s for breakfast.
Guilty pleasures: Calzones, brownies, anime, upbeat pop-punk of the early 2000s
Weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten: Peking Chicken Feet. I definitely recommend.
Career aspirations: Professor of Mathematics at a liberal arts college, musicking on the side.
Item on your bucket list: Record an album, publish some form of literature, step foot on a different continent, grow an entire meal from start to finish, and build a home.
Favorite musicians: Dave Matthews Band, Snarky Puppy, Edgar Meyer, TTNG, John Mayer, John Frusciante, Ben Howard, Chris Wolstenholme, Shankar Tucker.
Favorite musician you’ve seen live: TTNG
Favorite Nashville music venue: Mercy Lounge. As long as you don’t get stuck behind one of the support pillars, you’re golden.
Tumblr, Imgur, or Reddit?: Imgurian all the way.
5 words to describe yourself: The dream of the 1890s
Something you think about once a day: How is this different for short people?
Spirit animal: Badger
Animal videos or people videos: Animal, as long as they aren’t exploitive.
Early bird or night owl: I could definitely live a dusk to dawn lifestyle, though I’ve really wanted to test out that überman sleep schedule.
Five Getting-to-know-you Questions:
What’s been your favorite thing about being a part of Jugal Vandy, and what are some of your favorite songs that the band has covered?
I’ve really appreciated Jugal Vandy being a medium to share the sounds of the world with campus, and I’ve met some wonderful people along the way. I’m probably most proud of our cover of Naomi Wachira’s song “African Girl.” We wrote most of the instrument parts ourselves, and something magical just gelled the very first time we played it. There are so many layers to the music, and we were actually able to reach out to Wachira; her response to hearing our rendition of her work really surpasses anything else we’ve done in my tenure in the group.
Five random facts about yourself:
1. I’m 6’4”. 2. Before coming to Vanderbilt, I had never formally studied music, and I’ve still never had a lesson. 3. My parents are Jehovah’s Witnesses, so if you can think of a holiday, I’ve probably never celebrated it. 4. I was supposed to be born on
Valentine’s Day. 5. I’ve never met someone with glasses thicker than my own (but thankfully I can get away with wearing contacts most days…)
If you go could back in time to a year ago today, what would you tell yourself?
That feeling of gratitude you have right now that your dad made it through open-heart surgery, the desire to stay close to him and never take him for granted again: don’t lose it. Even when things ‘go back to normal. Because there is no normal. Every day that passes is one less day you have with him. Your mother, your sister, your dogs, too.
If you were given a year to do whatever you wanted to do with your life and the money to go along with it, what would you do?
I’d travel the world, sampling regional cuisine and absorbing the music. I’d try to write and record an international album, really, with artists from all over.
How did you choose your major and what do you enjoy about it?
I’ve been self-teaching math for nearly a decade after having found an archaic calculus text when cleaning out the garage of a family friend. From there on, I was sold. Like with music, something about the way it looked on the page just drew me in. The unfailing logic of the discipline is what I love. Philosophy and religion may be searches for truth, yet in mathematics, truth is the starting point. And I want to
share that with others; being a professor was the natural choice.