This year MHS has gained a handful of new students you may have noticed. One of these students is Ridley Ehrman, a junior at MHS.
Many people have hobbies, such as drawing, sports, clubs, activities, and more. Ridley’s happens to be making and producing music.
“I’ve been around music my entire life. My parents are super big music people and I mostly got into singing since I’m one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and we sing at our meetings. My oldest brother Drew was also super into music and learned a few instruments, so when I was around 11 we started performing at coffee shops. That’s really when I fell in love with it,” said Ridley.
Ridley’s older brother Drew has played a big role in getting Ridley into music.
“I started making music right before COVID-19 after helping Drew make some songs. I was absolutely clueless but it was a way to pass the time. Now about 6 years later I’m still pretty clueless,” said Ridley.
Making and producing music is a very complex skill that most people choose not to learn, especially not to teach themselves, Ridley is an anomaly to this idea and finds joy in the creation of music and learning about creating.
“My current goals are around improving the quality and using more physical instruments instead of solely producing digitally. I would absolutely love to do a fully live album with all real instruments but as of right now, that’s not in the cards,” said Ridley.
Making music is a very creative hobby that requires a large array of skills. It is often an extension of the artist.
“I love being able to convey a feeling through music. I don’t think music is worth it if you don’t put some emotion into it or make it personal somehow. You can definitely tell when someone isn’t really into what they’re making. I’ve never written a single lyric that I didn’t think was important. I write when I’m happy, when I’m sad, when I’m super hyped up. But I always try to make it real,” said Ridley.
Ridley has released two albums, his first album was released in 2022 titled New World, and his second was released last year, 2024, and is titled Solo. He has also released singles, World’s Fallin Apart (2022), Fourth Dimension (2022), Freshman (2022), Hole In My Heart (2022), Vista (2023), and Care (2024).
“Solo is definitely my favorite [album]. I wouldn’t consider any of these albums official or anything since I still don’t really know how to master them. But Solo is the first project I made that really connected every song and, I feel like for being unmastered and only my second full project, it came out really well,” said Ridley. “[My favorite song I have made is] probably my single Vista. While there’s some stuff I would definitely change about it I think it’s a super well-rounded song that demonstrates the kind of sound I want to have.”
Finding creative inspiration is very helpful on any front, especially in music. Ridley takes inspiration in his music from many different artists.
“I like to take inspiration from as many places as possible. Right now Daniel Caesar, Tyler the Creator, Frank Ocean, and Far Caspian share a lot of the production style I’m trying to imitate. I’d say people like Kendrick Lamar and Bono have made me more inclined to put thought into my lyrics. And artists like Ryo Fukui, Miles Davis, and Haitus Kayote helped me to be more creative and put feelings into my music,” said Ridley.
Although Ridley is very talented in production he does not plan to pursue it as a career at this time. Despite this, he still puts a great amount of effort into his work which shows and has hopes to improve even more.
“The main thing I want people to know is that I’m still learning a lot. I hope it’s visible through my music the progress I achieve. Also, I love constructive criticism. The only way I can improve is by knowing what to improve so I totally encourage it. My goal isn’t to get famous I just want to display my art to those who appreciate it,” said Ridley.
Go give his music a listen on Spotify, Apple Music, etc.! We are big fans at the MHS Auroran!
