Posted by Gia Vaccarezza
The college's campus is home to many talented students. Matt Gaydar ‘14 is no exception. He recently released an album on iTunes, "Tastes Like Wintergreen."
Gaydar's debut album features nine tracks that focus on acoustic guitar, indie-folk melodies and catchy lyrics. Gaydar has been playing guitar since he was in fourth grade and started singing during his sophomore year in high school.
At the end of his high school career, he made the decision to compile all his songs and write new ones in hopes of creating an album.
While his first attempt did not succeed, Gaydar realized over winter break that he had written more songs during his time at the college and recorded them in his basement. He then distributed his album to the iTunes store and TuneCore.com.
Having done a project during his first-year seminar on how music labels for upcoming artists are no longer necessary for an artist's success, he was confident in his endeavors.
However, he still had to go through the strenuous and stressful process of copyrighting each song.
Gaydar attributes his inspirations to musicians like YouTube sensation Jeff Pianki, Jeremy Messersmith and The Tallest Man on Earth.
When Gaydar first encountered Messersmith, he was taken by the fact that Messersmith is not a high profile musician who enjoys playing locally and interacting with his fans.
The name for the album came about when Gaydar needed one more song and quickly wrote the title track, "Tastes Like Wintergreen."
He described the process as natural. "To me, songwriting comes from the five senses," he said.
The rest of the tracks have a mix of MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) tracks and Gaydar on the guitar, piano and melodica. The album also features tracks that he previously recorded with his high school friends.
So far, the album has received good reviews from the listening community.
In an iTunes review of the album, a sideline critic wrote, "This freshman album from 19-years-old Matt Gaydar captures the diverse talent of this young artist."
Gaydar won't know the financial benefits until two months after the album's release date, but so far he has been content with getting feedback.
As for future recording plans, Gaydar looks to record another album this summer that features more collaboration with friends, more female voices and other instruments.
He looks forward to seeing how fast he can "crank out the next one." Gaydar's current album, "Tastes Like Wintergreen," can be found on iTunes for $8.91 and features album artwork by Gabriella Carboni '14.