Written by Matthew Bailey
Music speaks a language that everyone from all walks of life can relate to. It is a powerful tool that can be used to unite the divided, give hope to the hopeless, and is the ultimate pain relieving sedative for many. Music is a drug that many people take doses of everyday to stay afloat. The legendary Jamaican musician Bob Marley said it best when he stated, “One good thing about music is when it hits you, you feel no pain.”
Students at Manhattanville College have a general love for music. I mean you can’t escape it with people on the quad playing music in the springtime, the radio in the cafeteria blasting your favorite pop songs, and the campus being filled with talented musicians. For some of these musicians, music means more to them than it does for the average music listener. For them, it’s not just simply listening to something that sounds nice or catchy. For three students in particular, music is that which gave their life purpose and direction. For them, music became the ultimate pain reliever.
Grant Pillson is one of these three students. He says that music was there for him when nothing else was. “During that tough time in high school I felt that I had nothing there for me and the only thing that I could relate to was music.” Grant was always into music before high school but he wasn’t heavily into music before his tough times. In high school he found hip-hop and he was able to relate to a lot of the artists within the genre. When he found that connection with music, he wanted to be a part of music and became a producer. “A lot of the artists that I listened to, I could relate to what they was saying so they was feeling the pain that I was feeling at the time so that’s was the connection. That’s where I think after that I told myself that I want to be in music. How can I be in music? Making beats was the first way I got involved.”
Pillson isn’t the only one who music has picked up while they were down. John Aybar is another student musician at Manhattanville whose passion for music stems from his personal connection to the art. Like Pillion, music was there for him when he was going through his struggles. “I started listening to this band when I was going through tough times and it [music] became something really important to me.” Once he established his connection to music Aybar decided that he wanted to become a musician.
Not only does music alter the mood of people, but music is also used for people to dive deeper into their moods. Pillson says that he listens to music according to his mood. If he’s in an excited mood he’ll listen to an up beat song. If he’s in an emotional mood, he’ll listen to a song that emotes emotion. “I listen to music based on my mood. So if I’m hype I’m going to listen to a song like ‘I Don’t Like’ by Chief Keef. If I’m sad ill listen to some Drake.”
For both musicians and music lover’s, music is also a form of therapy. This therapy can put you in a mood, take you out of a mood, or help you express your mood. For Pillson and John Aybar they use their art to express themselves. “When I get into making a beat, and I see it come together nicely, I think that’s when beat making becomes therapeutic for me because I start to enjoy myself” says Pillson. The reason why music is John’s passion is because he uses it as a tool to express himself through song writing. “Music is my passion because I use music to express how I feel.”
Student guitarist Waaz Vihokrut says that music is his passion because it is a form of escapism for him. “It lets me kind of almost not let me forget about my problems but kind of just makes me put on a different lens for a second of how I see the world.” Music effects Vihokrut, whose native land is Thailand, in the same way it does his American collages. He not only uses music to take a step back from his problems, but he applies the lessons that music has taught him to his life.
“[Music] taught me to see the importance in work and practice, not just practice in playing something, but practice in doing anything. The key is if you want to enjoy something you have to get down and dirty with it. Which is intense practice. You have to devote that time. And I take the time outside from music and say you know what, in life if I want to be good at something all it takes is practice”
It’s that attitude which has turned Vihokrut into a guitarist who is admired by many of the students at Manhattanville.
These artists are just three examples of how music has the power to impact lives for the better. It has provided comfort for the people who are feeling down, became therapy for the people who both listen and create music, and has given purpose to the lives of many. Much like a painting, the meaning of music is subjective to the listener. A song or a melody can be something you listen to because it sounds good, or the words to a song can provide the uplift you need to stay afloat.