Walk into Andy Polk’s bedroom on the top floor of his house and you’ll find several of his friends hanging out on the couch and clothes scattered all over the floor.

Polk, a junior international relations major, has completely transformed his closet into a music production studio with speakers, a microphone, his guitar and, of course, his laptop. If he closes the closet door, the room practically becomes soundproof.

“We don’t know where to put our clothes yet,” Polk joked.

Polk treats his closet studio like a workshop. He explained that he’ll often start the entire process by writing a chord progression on his guitar, and then translate it with new sounds through the computer.

Polk then creates a beat and develops it before he adds a vocal. He said the arrangement is the fun part because he gets to make his own sounds, but mixing and getting the levels right is a struggle.

Sometimes Polk does vocals himself, and other times he finds a friend to be featured on his tracks. In his earlier work, he approached the vocals by freestyling, and if he liked how the lyrics sounded, he’d keep them. Currently, for Polk’s new collection of songs, he has been writing lyrics beforehand. He wants to develop a common theme for the vocals in his project.

On a regular day, Polk will have several musically-inclined friends hanging out in his room. He said that he always chills with them for a little, gets an inspiration and then heads into his studio, and then after a while pokes his head out to play them his newest creation.

Jay Rose and Jayson “Jay Mo” Molina frequent the hangouts. The three artists have all been friends since freshman year, and became close after discovering they all have a love of music in common. Rose and Molina are strictly vocalists, writers and rappers.

According to Rose, the three friends all bounce their ideas off of each other for motivation, creating a friendly competition. They also each have their own projects going on, with their own distinct styles.

Rose already has at least two EPs produced, available on SoundCloud, where they have thousands of listens — some tracks even over 10,000. Molina is known to be featured on Polk’s tracks. At any given time, the three friends can put on a beat and circle around to freestyle, bouncing off each other, without messing up once.

Polk, Molina and Rose were inspired by Syracuse alumni Drew Taggart of the Chainsmokers and the musical success the DJ achieved rapidly after graduation.

“(The Chainsmokers) being in relatively exactly the same position that we are in right now, it’s very inspiring to me personally,” Molina said. “Seeing them come back here last year, and the love the school gives them, it’s really dope.”

Polk said that with the free champagne and the private jets, being a superstar would be great, but it’s not his ultimate goal. To him, it’s all about creating music that people like and can hang out or party to.

“Just like, spread good vibes, set an atmosphere, and bring a place of people together.” Polk said of his goal as an artist.

A lot of Polk’s style draws from techno music, because that’s what he grew up listening to. He’s now dipping his toes into the hip-hop realm, thanks to Molina and Rose’s influence. The combination of the two creates Polk’s own unique sound.

Polk’s first gig was his freshman dance in high school. By sophomore and junior year, he was performing at Pacha, a nightclub owned by Eddie Dean, a music mogul who brought electronic music to New York City. By the age of 16 he was opening and closing for big named artists such as Laidback Luke, Hardwell, Porter Robinson, and just this last semester, Datsik.

Polk also spins at Syracuse parties, and over the summer he performed at a party on a yacht with a music group now called Loophole. His music is available on Spotify and SoundCloud, and for purchase on iTunes.

When asked about his future plans, Polk responded with a playful smile and a joke: “Oh, I have a very well thought out plan, about everything that’s going to happen within the next five years. But if I told you, I’d have to kill you.”

Published on September 13, 2016 at 8:33 pm

Contact: lmeyers@syr.edu