Ashton Dyson is a junior at Shadow Ridge High School, a Best Buddies Club Vice President, editor of the Shadow Ridge announcements, and so much more. But outside of school, he is a musician on the rise with the names Saint Louie and Fkacozyinn.
Dyson started creating music back in quarantine when there was nothing to do but to create.
“I think I reached a point in my life where I wasn’t doing much to create or have much of an outlet for what I was feeling and that was a huge issue,” Dyson stated. “I had an experience with music before, but I never tried creating works of my own until quarantine started. Being stuck inside with nothing to do, led me to start creating as much as I could allowing me to process my thoughts in a healthy form.”
Dyson’s favorite part of creating music is creating the song and seeing the story come to life.
“My favorite part about being a musician is the mere act of creating. I don’t want to sound too philosophical, but the thought that I could create a song out of thin air that has never been heard before is astounding to me. I have full control over everything when it comes to my projects and that’s something I am very serious about at all times. Even if I don’t write a song one day or I’m in writer’s block (which isn’t often), the act of me sitting down with my guitar or at a piano and just playing anything is wonderful.”
Dyson can play two instruments, but his best is the guitar.
“I am most skilled at guitar and I write most of my songs on it. I am also fairly decent, maybe mediocre at playing the piano. However, my favorite instrument to play is the bass guitar. Granted, the reason for that could be attributed to my idol worship. Tyler Joseph, Dallon Weekes, Kim Deal, and Kim Gordon were all crucial figures in regards to my passion for music and they are all known for playing bass,” Dyson stated.
Though he loves the bass, it can be quite a challenge to write with it.
“Playing and writing on bass, however, requires an entirely different thought process, at least to me. Guitar and piano are fairly easy to pull a rhythm or a melody out of, but a bassline’s rhythm/melody can change an entire song and require a bit of fighting to pull out something good from it. It’s really challenging, but that’s why I love it.”
Creating music is hard work, but there are two easy ways to help boost that skill set. Continuing to write, even if the song sucks, and listening to other artists.
“I am a fairly new musician who isn’t fully confident in my skills. However, I would say that my biggest piece of advice can boil down to two things: Keep listening and keep writing. Writing songs is not an exact science and there is no way to get better at it without simply doing it. Even if the song absolutely sucks, you need to keep writing something. I’ve written roughly 80 songs within the past two and a half years, and that’s not including all of the ideas I’ve started and put down. I’ve only started making music that I would truly want to listen to in my own time within the past year. So, just keep writing,” he said. “Another thing I would say is to listen to as much new music as you can. Listen to music outside of your genre. Some of your best ideas are often drawn from things you aren’t familiar with. I primarily make rock and singer-songwriter type of music, but most days I find myself listening to Ryuichi Sakamoto (classical/impressionism) and underscores (electropop/hyperpop). Lauryn Hill (hip-hop), and Porter Robinson (dance/electronica). Having the knowledge of what other genres do and incorporating them into your skill set, breeds some of the most unique pieces of music imaginable. Lastly, I cannot stress this enough, have as much fun as you can with music. It is YOUR music after all!”
To see and hear more of his music, Dyson can be found on Spotify under the name Saint Louie along with his Instagram accounts @saintlouievhs and @Fkacozyinn.
