By: Ella Colwell
1. Introduce yourself! What name do you make music under? What genres? Where can we listen?
Hi! I’m Soren, but I make music/DJ as “themonkey.” I make a sorta random blend of electronic music and love to play mostly house and techno. You can find my music on Spotify, Apple Music, and most other streaming services! I have a few mixes on SoundCloud, too.
2. When did you start getting involved with music? Who are your inspirations?
I started making music about 5 years ago now and have been slowly developing skills in the software I use over that time. It took me a while to really get good with it and be able to execute my ideas. The other big part of that development was listening to lots of different kinds of music and absorbing the different components that make them dynamic and rich. I think my ear has gotten better and better and that’s helped me evolve my music a lot. With more and more close listening I’ve developed the ability to flesh out songs and fill in the small details that make tracks fulfilling for me. Some of my biggest inspirations for electronic music are Against All Logic, Jamie xx, Overmono, and Burial.
3. Tell us about some of the recent events you’ve gotten to do with Evergreen Live Music! How can students get involved?
I’ve done two events with Evergreen Live Music (ELM) this year! One was at the Lord Manor show in November and the HCC electronic show in December. They were all super welcoming and made it really easy to get involved, especially with getting to play music and be a part of the events. Generally, the meetings are very chill, anyone is welcome, and people bring their instruments to mess around with after we talk through future events. I’ve been incredibly grateful that they’ve been open to DJing!!! It’s been a ton fun for me to get to bring that farther out onto campus to make it more of a reality. Students can get involved by coming to the meetings on Mondays at 5PM on the third floor of the CAB. If you have any acts or ideas we are always open and creating events is easier than people tend to think — just show up and see what can be done!
4. What can Evergreen do to support students who have interest in music? What do you hope to see happen in the future?
As for what Evergreen can do to support music students, I think it really makes a difference to have campus spaces more available to students. Having full blown shows ready and available to students within the comfort of campus really increases the overall energy and feeling of activity in the community and on campus that I think a lot of people want more of. The more the school can support and streamline the process for bringing events into bigger campus spaces the more I think people will realize the potential for community events and try to make them a reality. The HCC has been a great host for lots of people but I want to see it go bigger. An event in Evans Hall I think would be a big step and I wanna make it happen. I’d also like to see admin or other faculty take it upon themselves to make these events happen and not have it be entirely on students to build the culture and energy on campus. We can do it, but I think as individuals with more power and influence on campus the admin should have a sense of responsibility to bring more music and art to the community on campus.
