Evan Farrenkopf, a Computer Science and Music major is from Columbus, Ohio. In music, he emphasizes jazz guitar and produces Pop, R&B and dance.
Farrenkopf, when not in the lab coding, making music and performing, gets chores done around his place and eats good food, along with going to the mountains and hiking.
Farrenkopf got involved in music from a young age with his dad being a musician, which ignited the first spark in his career. He picked up the guitar when he was ten years old, using his older brother as inspiration. He went on to DU because of the recording and production program.
“I really loved music and producing music,” Farrenkopf said. “My brother was eight years older than me, and he started showing me a couple of chords and riffs on guitar. My parents got me a guitar for Christmas, and I started playing it.”
In high school, Farrenkopf played the trumpet, which requires a lot of air and breathing support. He wanted a challenge and to be able to take his skills to the next level, and one of the ways he could do that was by joining his high school jazz band.
“I started playing trumpet, but the band needed a guitarist, so I quickly learned about chords,” Farrenkopf said.
Practicing the trumpet helped him with reading music, playing melody lines and being an effective prominent voice in an ensemble. The guitar helped him understand the structure of chords, harmonies and visualization through music.
Being a dual instrumentalist is difficult, but he had support from his high school concert Jazz band director Jessica Snegriger, who he began learning from at age 11. Tastefulness of music is listening to what is happening around you to fit in with the instruments around you.
“She was a positive role model and taught me the basic things I learned about music and knowing what to add to the sound as well as how to do it” Farrenkopf said.
Farrenkopf expressing his music is a new thing he has learned from other people, which inspires him to make it based on his own emotional attachment to a song.
“If I feel a particular emotion, I pick up the guitar and write it,” Farrenkopf said.
Producing is a hard skill to learn in an industry with billions of musicians conquering the landscape. When Farrenkopf was in high school, his dad came in clutch with his own recording studio.
“My dad let me use the digital audio workspace, and I started making beats with logic and making my own songs as well as recording, and the computer was an instrument to help me with the process.”
“Holy Hours” was a song produced by Jeremey Mock and written by Isabel Ashton. Farrenkopfs guitar skills contributed to the song’s tastefulness.
Finding a way to be happy in what you’re making and doing in the music industry is a personal battle for musicians.
“It’s easy to get bogged down in monetary success and see how big your audience is, but that only takes you so far. You have to have pride in what you are playing as well as learning and growing,” Farrenkopf advises.
Farrenkopf wants to spend time with his instrument and strive to become more fluent in the guitar and expressing his ideas.He looks forward to doing that through listening to music and thinking analytically about how he can improve.
“Good musicians look forward to having a way of using their instrument as their own language and being clearly able to express their ideas in just a creative way unobstructed, and especially important in jazz improvisation and creating moving emotions to listeners,” Farrenkopf said.
When audiences watch Farrenkopf, it’s all about dancing, grooving and writing. Farrenkopf performs as he has practiced, which makes his performance a perfection.
“I want the audience to feel what I’m feeling,” Farrenkopf said.
“Like-Minded” was written by Eric Melody, and Farrenkopf’s role in “Like-Minded” by Eric Melody was to pick up the cool guitar sample, and add textures in order to drive the groove alongside the harmonies.
The song is nostalgic and reminiscent and the color purple – not sad, not happy, but in the middle ground.
As Farrenkopf continues his education in music, he reminds himself to take a break from time to time. It’s supposed to be fun and what he is passionate about, but consistently practicing and assignments can be a lot of pressure.
“Take a break from music, and there is so much you can do to find inspiration, and sometimes you can hit a wall, so take a breath and focus on yourself,” he said.
Farrenkopf is now more into Pop & R&B music, but the most valuable tools and knowledge he can gain in music is in improving theory in the future.
