Student cohesively blends genres to make fluid self-produced music

Student cohesively blends genres to make fluid self-produced music

Singer/producer Thomas Crowley draws from the realms of electronic music and R&B, while his live sets resemble traditional hip-hop performance, with backing tracks playing behind his vocals.

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Third-year economics student Thomas Crowley will perform at the Fowler Museum on Wednesday. He said his style ranges from R&B, hip-hop, electric and pop, which he said provides him with opportunities to be open to collaborating with a number of other artists. (Courtesy of Nate Watters) image
"The sounds of many instruments come together to create Thomas Crowley’s live spectacle – but he takes the stage alone.

The third-year economics student said his music style drifts between R&B, hip-hop, electric and pop on each track. The instrumentals and vocals in these songs are produced all on his own, and Crowley said he plays them as backing tracks on his computer when he performs them live. For his upcoming show at the Fowler Museum on Wednesday, Crowley said in addition to relying on his original music, he will also try to engage with the crowd to entertain them.

“Where my music is at right now, it really does make the most sense to just have my tracks playing in the background and then really focusing on crowd interaction and my voice,” he said. “I’m kind of always open to the idea of shifting around, but right now I have my computer and it’s kind of like that’s my band.”

Working on his own, Crowley said he has been able to be flexible in changing the genre of his music. Many of his tracks merge several different styles, but he said he tries to keep his mind open to any spontaneous changes to his sound. As a musician – especially when surrounded by many other college-aged artists – Crowley said it is important to keep his genre fluid so he can be open to collaborations with other artists."— Brooke Cuzick, Jan. 27, 2020

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This post is an excerpt. Read the full article on the Daily Bruin website.

 


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