Familiarize Yourself

I decided that I wanted to go to Columbia College for two reasons: one was that it was the best school to further my education about the music business and two because the students there are motivated and talented beyond my imagination, which I find really exciting. Since transferring last fall, I’ve been nothing but amazed with my peers and the art they are capable of producing. This week I had the opportunity to discover and interview sophomore and multi-instrumentalist, Seth Engel.

Enjoy.

FYW: Where are you from and what brought you to Columbia?

Seth: I’m from a small town called Narberth outside of Philadelphia, PA. I came to Columbia after my friend Melissa suggested it. I checked it out and wound up not only really liking the school, but the city of Chicago as well. I’ve never felt so at home before, and I don’t intend on leaving anytime soon. Ideally, I’d like to be able to play music for a living, so I’m hoping my training at Columbia will lead to such a career.

FYW: What do you think of Chicago’s snow?

Seth: I like the snow way more than I thought I would. The first three weeks of snow last year were awesome, and I’m hoping this year will be great as well. In Philly, it snows, but nowhere near the level Chicago gets. It’s cool being in a different winter environment because it inspires me in different ways than I’m used to.

FYW: When did you start playing music?

Seth: I started playing real music in 2000, but I picked up a guitar in 1999 and started making up chords and writing songs with lyrics. In 2001 or 2002, I picked up drums, and every couple of years after that, I’ve picked up something new. I’m self-taught on almost all of the instruments I play.

FYW: Which is your “main” instrument and what attracts you most to that one and its sounds?

Seth: I’d say my main instrument is the drum set. I’ve always been a very rhythmic person, which is probably why I like guitar tapping so much. I’m usually tapping on something wherever I am, whether I’m walking down the street or in my kitchen.

I like the drum set specifically because of how many sounds you can get out of it, and the extremely large palette of emotion I can convey through volume and tone. I’m really interested in ideas, more than instructions.

When I was in high school, I used to get drum lessons occasionally from a guy named Pete Angevine (who is still one of my biggest influences as a drummer), and instead of teaching me fills, he’d give me ideas for fills. I like leaving things a little loose, open to interpretation, and challenging myself with drums.

FYW: What are you biggest struggles and triumphs with being a musician?

Seth: One of my biggest struggles as a musician is finding the line between obnoxious promotion of my music and not enough. I personally can’t stand when a band spams me or writes to me constantly, imploring me to buy whatever they’re trying to sell. If it’s free, is it okay to ask people you know vaguely or who are just your MySpace friends to download your album? It’s hard to tell sometimes whether people like what I release or if they’ve even bothered to listen.

My biggest triumphs have definitely been making fans that I don’t know personally, and having some write to me from other countries. A guy from Japan wrote to my band Like So this summer and told us how much he loves our music… it was pretty surreal. Also, this dude from England found out about Options and asked me to notate one of my songs in tableture, which was really encouraging! He’s put a bunch of my stuff on his blog, which I think is totally awesome.

FYW: What are you listening to lately? And who should we be familiar with?

Seth: Sex In The Kitchen by R. Kelly will not stay out of my head for more than a few hours. It’s a really funny song, although I’m not sure if that’s how he intended it to be… Really, listen to it sometime and read along… laughter will ensue!

I’ve been enjoying Snowing‘s 7″ a lot, lately. David Bazan‘s new record is absolutely mind-blowing, and I’m going to see him this Saturday! I got really heavily back into James Taylor for the first time since I was a kid, and I’ve been enjoying quite a lot of Van Morrison lately.

You should be familiar with my friends Richard Def & The Mos Pryors, because they’re awesome and don’t really sound like anything I’ve heard before.

For more on Seth Engel check out sethengel.com!