Passion: a strong liking or desire for some activity, object, or concept. For senior Justin Seo, his passion is making music. In four months, Seo has already produced seven singles, mostly in the Rhythm and Blues genre.

Said Seo, “I just wanted to produce music since I was young and I wanted to start it before it was too late, because I’m a senior now.”

Inspired by artists such as South Korean rapper Dok2, Seo started working on his passion, using beats from Youtube due to inexperience with beat production. Later on, he began learning how to produce by starting off on GarageBand which was preinstalled on his MacBook Pro, and moving on to Logic Pro X, trying various different types of software with plans to transfer to another software called Ableton.

Seo first got introduced into the music industry by one of his middle school friends, who also produces music. Said Seo, “He helped with my first single. I didn’t know anything about mixing, mastering, or even recording. He’s the one who got me into music, if it weren’t for him I don’t think I would be doing music right now. And he did some features on my SoundCloud songs. His name is LUVE.”

Seo learned the basics of music production from his friends who had the experience, even gaining the chance to record his first single “WE BE ROCKIN 30” in their studio in Korea. With this experience, Seo was able to get the gear he needed to go off on his own. The microphone he uses is the MXL 990 condenser microphone with an Audient iD4 audio interface. He got the idea to buy this equipment after seeing the Youtube videos of those he watched using them as well.

Producing music has also improved his mental health. Said Seo, “2020 was a very hard year for me, I always felt depressed […] and had a panic disorder, which made the days difficult. But when I heard music, I really loved it, so I kept making music and it’s been more healthy for my mental state.”

Said Seo, “I think most of my music is R & B and boom-bap, but it’s not like autotune and stuff. I feel like hip hop and the music is a trend and you need to follow the trend.”

Seo enjoys listening to R & B type beats rather than artists who use autotune to amp up their voices, and gets inspired to attempt and create his own type of R & B music. Along with collaborating with his friend on his first single, they have also worked together to produce more songs, with his friend applying for a school that primarily focuses on music production. Seo however, does not plan on pursuing music production as he is thinking about majoring in Computer Science.

When asked about advice he’d give to those who want to or are currently getting started in the music production field, Seo responds that he is unable to due to the different variety of genres that others may want to pursue that are different from his. However, he recommends those who are looking for any personal advice to contact him through social media, with his Instagram being @o_ttiz and O’ttiz on Soundcloud.