“My favorite thing to do is make music,” said Adam Hinden, subsequently followed by completely improvised piano solo.              

I sat with the George Mason sophomore in his room which also doubles as a homemade music studio. He is surrounded by his intricate set up: a keyboard is hooked up to his two monitors displaying music software, a near-permanent fixture on the screen.

This software looks like an overwhelming mess of buttons, soundwaves, and tabs to me, but it seems to make perfect sense to Adam as he clicks around, rearranging and editing sound recordings with ease. He somehow is able to craft various snippets of sounds into the professional sounding music files that he frequently sends his friends.

The music contained in those recordings can be described as “electronic” or “EDM.” He was first introduced to this genre because it was played on the radio in Mexico, where he had previously lived due to his family being State Department.

Hinden only began producing his own music eight months ago, near the beginning of his freshman year here at Mason. This hobby stemmed from not only the inspiration he heard on the radio, but also from his preexisting extraordinary talents in almost all aspects of music.

Hinden has a talent that many people dream of: almost every instrument you could think of he can pick up and play. He can hear a song once and play it perfectly on the piano, which he’s been doing since seven years old. Spending time with him almost inevitably turns into a jam session.

According to Hinden, he applied this natural talent to his recent passion for music production is a bit unorthodox.

“The way I make [music] is not how you’re supposed to do it. I just kind of do stuff as I go along and figure it out. I teach myself,” he revealed to me.

The very first song he created was a remix of the voice of Mr. Walsh, a GMHS English teacher. It was called “Darcy Step” because the class was studying the book “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen. Originally made solely for the entertainment of Adam and his friends,  the song eventually made its way onto the internet to be shared with the rest of the world.

“A friend liked it and told me to post it on Youtube,” explained Adam. “It was scary at first because I thought that I was going to get rejected.”

However, looking  at his Youtube channel today there are 17 videos uploaded to date ,proving how Adam has grown as an artist.

Two more Mr. Walsh mashups were uploaded, but the series was cut short after the school administration caught word and intervened. Adam was told by the school that he can no longer upload songs about teachers.

After this setback, Adam was at a loss.

“I was planning on just remixing a bunch of teachers’ voices, but when I was told that I wasn’t allowed to I was like what I am I supposed to do now?  So, I decided to make original music,” he explained.  

His first original song wasn’t completed until the summer. Called “Constellations,” it was quickly followed by the songs “September Storm” and “Temples In The Sky.” After their releases and the positive responses, he decided to get more serious about music.

“A friend suggested that I post music on Soundcloud … Now I’m actually more popular on there then I am on Youtube.”                  

Although he initially disliked Soundcloud, the website opened up a whole new world of opportunities for Adam and his new original music.

“A bunch of promotional channels spread my music on all kinds of social and music medias,” said Adam. The channels put it on iTunes, Spotify, Googleplay, their own websites, the radio, and more.

The road hasn’t always been so smooth sailing, though, and Adam has a lot of advice for those who also want to pursue music, but are worried about the possibility of failure.

“Just get out there, because you have nothing to lose. People are going to reject you but you need to keep going. If you send [a song] to a hundred people, at least one person is going to like it” said Adam.

A lot more than just one person likes Adam’s music. Currently, Adams songs have been promoted on over 26 different channels, and have even reached overseas. A radio station in Mongolia contacted him recently, requesting to play his music.

While Adam’s music has been growing immensely over the past couple of months and it has been a source of money, Adam is adamant that the money is not what he’s in the industry for. Adam’s goal is for his music is to spark emotions in people, for his very own fans and followers.

“Music is a language that everyone can understand,” he said. “ It’s something that brings us together as people.”

You can listen to Adam’s music on his Soundcloud and his Youtube channel.