Sebastian Gardenhire’s fingertips hovered above his musical keyboard. Staring at a blank computer screen with headphones covering his ears, he waited.
He waited for the inspiration to come, but the time passed too slowly and he grew impatient. Suddenly, he pressed his middle finger down, releasing the musical note from his keyboard, through his computer and into his ear. Like wildfire, his fingers scanned the keyboard, putting pressure on the black and white keys as he built the foundation to his next song.
“If I waited to get inspired I would be sitting here all day,” Gardenhire said. “I start messing around and continue playing different melodies until I find one that really inspires me, and I stick with that one.”
Working from his 13 foot by 10 foot bedroom, the 21-year-old transfer student composes and sells his music to be used in indie videogames, a task that he hardly considers work.
He finds peace sitting in his swivel chair at the foot of his bed and making music after a day of classes and homework.
Gardenhire has always been a fan of music, playing the classical violin since he was 10 and picking up guitar later in life. However, music isn’t his only passion. He loves videogames.
After getting into the hobby of playing independently made video games, he knew he wanted to pursue a career in animation and film. That inspired his pre-art major, and his obsession began.
His Wii is collecting dust though. Gardenhire doesn’t play the games nearly as much as he used to; a lot of his time is spent on developing music.
“I forget that I’m even a gamer sometimes,” he said. “I am constantly editing and rearranging the music so the game designers get what they want. When I was making music for myself, it was a lot less stressful, and I wasn’t racing against the clock.”
Gardenhire started creating his own music two years ago. His passion in playing video games pointed him down the road to music production. The music used in video games inspired him to buy a keyboard and start playing.
With the keyboard attached to his computer, he can replicate almost any instrument.
Gardenhire began by making an album of his music and releasing it on his bandcamp profile. He made this to advertise what he can do and attract potential employers.
He relied heavily on social media to spread his album and get attention as well as sending out mass emails to independent game developers. It was through his email that he landed his first two clients and continues to get offers for work.
Doug Schieber has been friends with Gardenhire for five years. Most of the time they spend together Gardenhire has either a controller or his guitar in his hand.
“It’s crazy how dedicated he gets into things,” Schieber said. “Everything he does he puts 110 percent into, even if he’s terrible at it. Luckily, he’s not terrible at making music, and he really takes criticism to the heart and puts it into his next song. I’ve never met a more dedicated person.”
Schieber is one of many people that Gardenhire turns to for guidance and feedback concerning his musical tracks. He consults the person he is working for, his close friends and family and the advice of complete strangers.
Between classes Gardenhire asks students to take time and listen to a track. He approached a girl scrolling through her phone and asked for some feedback on something he made. She agreed and was ripped away from her Twitter feed and emerged into Gardenhire’s world.
Beats snaked through his white headphones connecting her ears to his iPhone 5. He watched as her head bobbed to the fast paced sounds of violins and pianos filling her ears.
“It’s really good,” she said. “It’s something I would work on homework to if I was trying to get it done quickly, or if I was doing something important.”
“That’s a better reaction than I usually get, most of the time it’s a simple ‘that’s nice’ or something really simple,” Gardenhire said. “Sometimes I’ll get a gem that really gives me advice, but most students don’t really care.”
Gardenhire is still sending out samples of his work and looking for more projects to get started on.
His love for the work he is doing does not leave him blind to how things work. Before he signs onto a project, he constructs his own contract and works with game producers to work it out together.
“It can get stressful, but making music is my favorite thing right now,” he said. “The fact that I am getting paid for it is just a bonus.”
