It’s interesting to think about all of the popular artists today and how they got famous. Many of them began in high school, getting their start producing low-level music in between homework or extracurriculars. The students that walk the halls every day have the potential to make it big. Sawyer Allchin ‘21, for example, is an aspiring musician. Allchin has collectively received over 550 streams for his music on SoundCloud and has an insane amount of potential. 

Allchin has been recording music since his freshman year of high school and has had a passion for guitar since third grade. 

“I first started recording around freshman year,” Allchin said. “I had been playing guitar for a while by then and was finally confident enough to sing so I decided to start writing my own songs.”

Not everyone would feel comfortable sharing their voice with the world, but Allchin said that playing live first has helped quell fears. 

“At first I was hesitant to share my recordings with others but after playing live in a band that fears kind of went away,” Allchin said. “I got an audio interface, which allows me to record my instruments into my computer and some speakers for my birthday freshman year and I have been recording since then.” 

Allchin was also a part of a band called Switch Pit, but the band, unfortunately, went their separate ways a year ago. With the breakup of the band, he has decided to focus more on his individual music career and has released many songs since then. 

Allchin records and produces all of his music himself. He uploads all of his music to a platform called SoundCloud. However, Allchin can’t make money from his streams, he feels that his music is more than just a paycheck. 

“For me releasing my music isn’t as much about money but more because I enjoy doing it,” Allchin said. “On the other hand I can’t argue that making money from it would be nice. I post to SoundCloud because for me it’s the easiest to upload and I like the way they handle their platform. Spotify and Apple Music are cool too but as of right now I just use SoundCloud.”

Due to the pandemic, Allchin has been unable to play live shows and gain an audience. He has been using online platforms to gain coverage and a larger audience. 

“I think the biggest thing I could do to gain a larger audience would be to play live shows to get my music to a bigger audience. But, because of COVID-19 I can’t really do that right now so for the moment the most I can do is promote my music online,” Allchin said. 

Many artists find inspiration differently. As for Allchin he finds inspiration from fellow musicians, such as Mac Demarco.

“Mac Demarco is an inspiration to me because of how he makes all his records in his garage by himself. The DIY vibe is really sweet and shows that anyone can make music; you don’t have to have all the gear or be rich,” Allchin said.  

Other than Mac Demarco, Allchin’s father and uncle have been huge musical inspirations to him by introducing him to artists such as Bob Dylan and Phish. 

Furthermore, Allchin hopes to continue with music, as well as record and release new material along the way.  In regards to plans in the future, he hopes to pursue music in college and shape his curriculum towards a technical aspect. 

“I would definitely want to pursue it as my career, it’s my dream job to make a living off my music. It’s one of the things I love most to do for fun so it would be cool to do it as my job as well. In today’s market especially, a lot of artists build a fan base by having one hit song which has advantages and disadvantages, but if I could expand my audience that would be the best way to make that happen,” Allchin concludes.