A&E Editor
The typical dorm room consists of a few simple things. It has a bed, a dresser and desk; nothing more than that. After years of purchasing and gathering, Adam Sickler has created a full-blown music studio in his typical Reed Hall dorm room.
“I have a lot of instruments in there,” said Sickler. “I have three guitars, a ukulele and a piano. An occasional drum set makes it in and some harmonicas. [I also have] a clarinet and a sax. I like to have a lot of different instruments that you can use to get all the different sounds when you’re recording.”
Sickler has been collecting gear and instruments for several years.
“I’ve invested a lot of money in gear,” Sickler said. “As far as the actual instruments go, I’ve probably spent over five or six thousand for all of it.”
While Sickler has invested a lot in all of his gear, he also has the benefit of having a younger brother majoring in Music Industry at The College of St. Rose.
“I got $1,500 worth of gear from him because he can’t use it at his college. For some reason, what he uses at his school isn’t compatible.”
Sickler also got lucky when it came to investing in a new MacBook, which has all the essentials to make very high quality recordings.
“Last year, I was living in Massasoit as an R.A. and one of my residents apparently cracked his screen and his parents bought him a new MacBook Pro. So he threw the old one out and I just saw it and was like, ‘Do you want this? I feel like this shouldn’t be in the garbage.’ So I fixed the screen and now it’s mine.”
With all the essentials to put together some great pieces, Sickler is struggling with the stresses of school and work, so writing and producing music has been put on the back burner. Sickler’s main goal this year is to start writing more songs.
“I’ve been at quite a stand still for some time.”
With all the gear and instruments to create a great demo, Sickler currently isn’t sure if he wants to focus on a solo demo or do a full band demo with his band, Waking the Neighbors.
Sickler has been messing around a lot with the equipment, but no solid projects have been completed yet.
“Ultimately, what it comes down to is I have all the tools that I need to do everything; I just need to get into the zone.”
While Sickler isn’t quite sure what to do with all of his gear yet, he does credit his dream to go to Berklee College of Music next year as his ultimate motivation.
“When everything just gets too tough, music is always the thing that I go back to,” Sickler said.
While Sickler’s main goal right now is to finish up his senior year and pick up a degree, he clearly has far bigger dreams and aspirations after his time is up here at SC.
“[The gear] has given me the motivation; I just need something that will give me the follow through.”
Gabby DeMarchi may be reached at gdemarchi@springfieldcollege.edu