Studies to Studios
We sat down with Anna Gonzalez, a psychology student at The University of Texas at Austin, and got an inside scoop on what it's really like to be a college student pursuing music. Gonzalez is in her sophomore year of college and has had quite a journey performing and creating music. Here’s some good advice for those of you who may want to go after your own time in the spotlight…
Inspirations
Anna has worked with several artists local to her area and produced her own music with her friend Alex Chin under the name Teal Honey. Taking inspiration from Billie Eilish, Clairo, and Geskle, her sound has a familiar, yet fresh mix of beats and gentle vocals. While Taylor Swift and Dayglow are her biggest inspirations, she revealed that recently she has taken a lot of influence from more shoegaze-style bands such as Slowdive or Gleemer. She says, “Taylor Swift’s lyrics are, as my father once put it, “mathematically perfect.” She tells a story with every word, and I think it’s so beautiful, especially in songs like “seven” and “august”. Anna’s lyricism reflects these feelings, telling the story of her life experiences in songs like “thirteen”, which she produced with Teal Honey. Gonzalez also stated she has a big appreciation for softer-toned vocals like that of Billie Eilish and Clairo. Being a young vocalist, it's important for her and other artists to know that talent isn't necessarily determined by the ability to belt.
Gonzalez says the thing she values most about the artists she draws inspiration from is authenticity. The artist Geskle, who collaborated on her self-proclaimed favorite song “So She Goes”, helped her create the honest and dreamy hit. Versatility and intricacy heard in works by Slowdive and Gleemer, are qualities she has come to value through her experiences working with rock bands. Dayglow’s first album Fuzzybrain, which Anna informs us was produced independently in a UT dorm room, is a perfect example of what she considers honest music production. She says, “I have loved hearing his sound evolve over the years, and he serves as a reminder that I can truly produce music that I’m proud of on my own if I really devote myself to it”.
Choosing not to limit yourself to one genre when you are starting out is vital to the journey of a young musician. Gonzalez has tried her hand at a multitude of musical art forms, becoming a chameleon for whatever musicians she is working with at the time. During her experience with Teal Honey, she says that she took on a more dreamy or jazz sound due to the elaborate chords and harmonies utilized during production. She also gave grunge music a shot during her time with Killer Haze at UTSA. While they mostly did covers, Anna said that the original song she performed with them at the last show was very grunge and shoegaze inspired. As an individual artist, she wants to create indie rock, bedroom pop, folk, and what she calls “baby shoegaze”.
Teal Honey and Creating music
Anna shared that colors are an integral part of her relationship with music. When deciding on the name "Teal Honey", she drew inspiration from her favorite color, teal, and her first completed song, "honey". Anna expressed most of her favorite songs "feel" like the color teal, and this association with her own music only makes sense!
Songwriting can be tricky, but for artists like Anna, it's how she unpacks her experiences. She shared that being able to convey her emotions through words is both beautiful and exciting. When writing “thirteen”, the story of her first love, she said that having lyrics that are expressive, yet hold her secrets is part of what makes the song so special. She says, “It’s a reminder of the feelings we shared during that time, and I will forever be grateful for the chance to put that out there”. Although she has written many great songs, Anna says that songwriting can be very frustrating, especially if she has been working on them for too long or lacking inspiration. “My favorite songs are the ones that I wrote in the heat of the moment, and they are the ones with the most meaning and emotions behind them”, she shares, “It really is a hit-or-miss process”.
Production is something she is not very familiar with, but she says she does have a good ear and plenty of ideas for the future. Concerning the production of her projects she says, “I know exactly how I want the finished product to sound, so it’s usually just a matter of applying the right effects in the right amounts”. Alex Chin, her Teal Honey partner, has taught her everything she knows and is responsible for their creative sound.
Collaboration
“Working as a team of musicians can either be amazing or really messy” Anna revealed. It can be difficult to mesh everyone’s ideas together to create something new. She told us that with Teal Honey, she and Alex had to find a happy medium because they both had different visions for their sound. Even with her “garage bands” like Killer Haze, all the artists found their own way to contribute to the sound which took some ironing out. Anna explained that regardless of the occasional “messiness”, she is very proud of all her music projects.
Time Management
The short answer about time management and music is every project is different. Anna tells us her first song “honey”, which she produced with Teal Honey, was originally meant to be a school project. After the long production process, they were thrilled with the result, and it wasn’t too taxing. Killer Haze was another story altogether, she tells us, and they spent most of practice laughing and working on new music together. A local band Spontaneous, which Anna only worked with for a short period of time, was a fun experience, but very different in structure from her other projects. As a fill-in vocalist, she had to make times work with the rest of the band for rehearsal, but she says performing in a venue where some of her favorite artists performed was well worth the work. As far as songwriting goes she tells us “making music on my own is a really sacred process. I can write songs anywhere, depending on when the inspiration hits''. Coordinating times that work for all her projects can be difficult as many of her fellow musicians are also in school. The class workload can be strenuous depending on how her schedule works out, but she always makes time for her outlet. She explains, “I’m truly in my element when I’m creating”.
What it's really like
The best part about being a young musician is the community! “I get excited because I’m part of it”, Anna explained. She also expressed that music and songwriting have been a great outlet for all the new emotions that come with moving to college and starting new.
“Recently, I’ve learned that things fall apart; friends leave, classes get hard, relationships end, people hurt you, and you may feel super lost. But music is always there, and it’s always changing yet always constant all at once”
No matter what comes her way, music is the thing that brings her peace and keeps her grounded. Amidst the chaos that comes with her busy schedule full of classes, study time, and personal life, her love of music remains a constant…“I can say confidently that up on the stage is my favorite place to be”.
Anna’s biggest piece of advice for other aspiring musicians is to stop comparing yourself to others. She says if she could tell her younger self one thing it would be to stop being so hard on herself. Pursuing music, like other aspirations, is not easy. There are a lot of ups and downs, especially when you are balancing artistic goals with academic ones. It's hard to find your focus and keep things consistent, but as long as you are working towards something that is what's most important. Building confidence is vital to success in any area, especially in music. She says,
“Stop comparing yourself to others because there will always be someone who is better in some way; the only thing that matters is that you’re enjoying what you’re doing. Something I’d like to tell other aspiring musicians is to just keep going! Success in music is so, so subjective. If your success looks like posting a cover to your private story, then chase that. As you go along on your journey, you will learn what you aspire to be, and there are absolutely no deadlines or expectations for you to meet. Go at your own pace and don’t give up! It’s so easy to give up, but it’s so fulfilling to push through and accomplish what you want. As my father always tells me, “do what is right, not what is easy“.
Anna is planning to release a mixed-genre project soon so be sure to keep an eye out for updates on her social media. Thank you Anna for your time and we can’t wait to see what you accomplish!
Written by Zoey Frederick, Photography: Meagan Bolds, Social Media: Sara Hartung