by Daniel Olert
I think, at heart, I was always a musician. I would always have a tune in my head and would spend my free time messing with an instrument or audio software. My heroes where rock stars. However, as I grew older, I felt pressure on myself – from both myself and from others – to fit into a certain expectation.
I wanted to live up to those expectations, so music became secondary. I pursued a degree in engineering to live up to those expectations, but I never felt like I fit in. I continued my musical development after classes as an outlet, but it wasn’t enough. Upon graduating, I realized that there was a difference between who I was trying to be and who I actually was, so I began a musical journey of finding myself.
Listen to the album while reading the text.
A Musical Journey
Like any journey that one does not know how to complete, I found myself wandering and experimenting. I tried different genres, learned more instruments, drew from multiple sources of musical background – from classical to jazz and blues to electronic dance. It mirrored my own growth, including identities, dead ends, and mistakes.
But I was an experimenter and I made progress by critically trying new things. In my compositions, I had the singular goal of capturing and expressing experience through sound. I wanted to make music that tells a story that anyone can understand, without need for words or genre borders.
Living the Dream
After some time and effort, I saw my ideas come to life as a tangible project. My first couple projects are a story about this growth. From there I branched out – and reached out. I have come into contact with local music projects, played in bands, and performed live. The journey took years, and, even though I have a day job, I can finally say: I’m living the dream!
Furthermore, I can say I am becoming the person I should have been all these years. There’s still more for me to discover, but it feels good to have come so far. I urge everyone who has a passion and dreams to pursue them without fear. Perhaps you can find your personal destiny too.