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arts & culture
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KANSAN.COM | THURSDAY, NOV. 3, 2016
Aries
(March 21-April 19)
Career opportunities have you hopping over the next two days. New income is possible, or a delightful discovery. Listen to a female's advice. Visualize
perfection.
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
Plan a trip today and tomorrow. Enjoy study and research. Dream big. Plot your itinerary, and map the route. Explore and discover the perfect situation.
Gemini
(May 21-June 20)
It's a good day to close a deal or sign papers. Make sure the numbers balance.
Discuss shared finances,
and include passion in the
Cancer
(June 21-July 22)
Work with a partner, and negotiate to refine the plan. Don't be afraid if you don't know how. Talk about what you want. Listen and
Leo
(July 23-Aug.22)
(July 23-Aug. 22)
Provide excellent service without pushing yourself too hard physically, mentally or emotionally. Start from a point of balance. Share your talents. Do what you
Virgo
(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
Rely on each other for emotional support. Share generously with someone who needs it. You're magnetically drawn to someone attractive. Create art, fun
and beauty.
Aaron Goldstein/KANSAN
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
(Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
Home and family take priority. Plan your projects before making a big mess.
You have what you need.
Organize your efforts.
Cook up something delicious
Sterling Reynolds, a freshman, spends much of his free time producing music. His music has roots in hip-hop, as well as in lounge-style music.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
It's a time of intense learning. You're especially brilliant for the next few days. Write, research and broadcast your findings. Be vocal about what you
Sagittarius
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
Things are coming together. A new source of revenue appears over the next two days. Discover another way to save. This is the fun part.
is the fun part.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan.19)ake
(Bet. 22-Jun. 19) take charge to produce the outcome you want. Enjoy a confident two-day phase. Polish the presentation, and make beauty a priority. Create a win-win situation.
Aquarius
(Jan. 20-Feb.18)
Get into thoughtful planning mode today and tomorrow. Find a quiet place to plot your next steps.
What can you delegate?
Share responsibilities and
benefits.
Pisces
(Feb. 19-March 20)
Collaboration coalesces in beautiful ways over the next few days.Hold meetings, and have a blast at social events and parties.
Create beauty together.
Harmonize.
Student develops own genre from his dorm
▶ OMAR SANCHEZ
@OhMvSanchez
With a keyboard, a mic, studio monitors and speakers ready at his disposal, freshman Sterling Reynolds, a Leawood native, gets ready after a long day in class to produce his music within the tight walls of his dorm room in Self Hall.
"It's all for trying to make it someday," he said. "A lot of times throughout the day I'll try to finish my homework, finish studying and then from about 10 p.m. to probably 2 a.m. I'm working on my music or doing something related to music or art."
Reynolds, a business major creating under the name "sterling.," decompresses at night by working in his Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) and juggling beats and voice tracks with Ableton, a music production software program. It's a routine unlike most, he said. When most people sleep, he grinds.
In August, Reynolds released an eight-track album, "Comets," on SoundCloud. The longawaited day came after nearly a year of working
tirelessly toward some semblance of perfection.
"I wanted it out by June. That didn't end up happening, because I'm a huge perfectionist," he said. "If something didn't sound quite right to me or didn't sound like I was being true to myself, I would scrap it and just start something new ... I probably went through 30 complete songs before picking those eight at the end."
Reynolds said Lil Wayne's "A Milli," Daft Punk's "Something About Us" and Drake's "Club Paradise" are his roots, although he said he considers Frank Ocean his biggest influence.
Growing up, his older brother Collins introduced him to what would be Reynolds' musical palette.
"All three of those are different from each other, but they're all really wellwritten or have really good production behind them," he said.
Reynolds said he tries to make sure his instrumentals take the best elements of the genres he loves, and blends them into one specific thing that is its own genre.
But, he said, "at the same time it is something that can not be defined in a
genre."
The concept of "no genre" is important to Reynolds. While he primarily infuses elements of hip-hop, electronic and jazz into his music, like the use of southern rap-esque drum beats and distorted synths popularly heard in EDM, there is a powerful and distinct sound that comes from remaining ambiguous, almost coaxing his audience to dig deeper.
While Reynolds is proud of "Comets" as a final product, he proudly admitted to his musical shortcomings.
"Moonlight," one of the 30 tracks he worked on for the album, didn't make the cut due to its simplicity and lack of definition.
"I wasn't pushing myself at all," he said. "Then, actually, I took a break for the project after this for about a month. Because I finished writing it and I kept listening to it, and I was like, 'This isn't me and I need to take a step back, take a break. Because I'm trying too hard to do all this different stuff and try to be something I'm not."
Reynolds works predominately as the producer and singer in his music. He began working on "Comets" last November,
based on a fascination with one single lyric he wrote his senior year of high school: "Watch for the comets as they fall from the sky."
With that, Reynolds was off to the races. "Comets" became an introspective passion project that pushed him to improve as an artist after working with collaborators such as fellow producer Brooks Brown and Sam Brown, a friend from high school.
"The title track 'Comets,' that was like the biggest one that we had been working on up until when the project was released," Sam said. "He was having problems with the vocals and melodies and all that, so I gave him some ideas, especially with the bridge part."
I really wanted something that would represent me as an artist and something people would really enjoy."
Sterling Reynolds Freshman musician
done in his basement studio in Leawood during spring break earlier this year, with the two bouncing off ideas night after night until they came close to what they liked. This came around the same time Reynolds worked on another song that wouldn't make the cut.
Most of this work was
"It was a really long process," Reynolds said. "But because this was my first main project out as sterling., if I was going to put this out at all, it was going to be as best as I am. I really wanted something that would represent me as an artist and something people would really enjoy."
Reynolds said he's looking to perform in the future at open mics across Lawrence and the Kansas City area. In particular, he hopes to return to The Bottleneck.
About two years ago, Reynolds performed at The Bottleneck. But this was a premature introduction, Reynolds said, as he still hadn't pinned down what sound really represented him.
"This is the dream for me. I'd love to get to the point where this could sustain me, and where it'd a realistic option for me," Reynolds said.
Aaron Goldstein/KANSAN
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