An inside look into the passions of young adults
Name: Clancey Padgitt
Hometown: East Lansing, MI
Finding what you are truly passionate about as a young adult can be a confusing and long process. At the age of 18 (or sometimes younger), we are expected to make one of the biggest financial commitments of our lives: college. It is completely unreasonable to place the pressure of deciding a lifelong career on a young adult. Because of this, more and more students have defied the societal norm of taking the traditional college route.
21-year-old Clancey Padgitt took a break from college about a year ago, and it was the best decision they could have made for themselves.
“I was unhappy and didn’t know what direction I wanted to go in.” By taking this break from school, Padgitt was able to focus on what they are most passionate about, which is music.
Padgitt’s relationship with music was developed at a young age. “My relationship with music goes way back,” Padgitt said. “My dad was a big influence…he would show me and my sister new music constantly.”
Growing up, Padgitt’s father was in a band called Groove Spoon, so they grew up in an environment full of instruments, creativity and an array of music media. “Growing up in this environment, I knew I would have to love music to some extent… music just had to be a part of my life in some aspect.”
In Padgitt’s younger years, they began to collect CDs as an ode to their love for music.
“My first CD that I bought was 2 by Mac DeMarco,” Padgitt’s CD collection has grown immensely since the age of 15, and now has a quite impressive CD player. As their collection grew, their taste in music began to change. “When I was younger, I was more into music that was catchy and more surface level… As I’ve gotten older, I am interested in music that has many layers to it, and feels more raw rather than over produced, with more meaningful lyrics.”
Some of Padgitt’s current favorite artists include Weyes Blood and Khruangbin. Padgitt said they enjoy Weyes Blood for her timeless voice and the combination of synth with a vintage feel to it. “I enjoy Khruangbin for its soothing instrumentals, and the band’s amazing stage presence; it reminds me of the music my dad would listen to when he was younger.”
In the beginning of December, Padgitt decided to create a TikTok account dedicated to talking about all things music. “I would talk about any artist with anybody,” Padgitt said. “I feel like TikTok is an extremely great platform to do so, because it is a music-based platform.”
Padgitt was inspired to create this account to find people who love music as much as they do while also turning their passion for music into something more meaningful. They made their first video on their account (@blueboyrecords) discussing the album ‘Mother Earth’s Plantasia’. Each video talks about when the band/artist originated, the genre, track list of the album, and includes their favorite work by the artist.
“The main motivation to start this account was to do something that I truly am passionate about on a daily basis and have people appreciate what I am doing.” Padgitt said.
Not even a month into their new account and Padgitt has over 80 Thousand views and almost 700 followers. Although they did not start this account with the intention of obtaining a large following, their passion for music is turning into something more meaningful and that is a beautiful thing. Padgitt’s relationship with music has shaped who they are to this day.
“Music can help with any wound you have. It shows who you are, you can discover more of yourself through music.”