By Shel Bandelow<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shawn Graber, a freshman at Hood College, has been making waves as an up-and-coming musician. You may have heard of him already by his stage name\u2014The Volcha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although his stage name may be unorthodox, the meaning behind it comes from family. \u201cMy cousin Trevor was called \u2018The Turkey Volcha,\u2019 and I didn\u2019t really know the meaning,\u201d Graber said. \u201cWhen I got it, I thought it was like a cool thing. and I remember my uncle was telling it to him when we were younger, and I thought, \u2018Huh, maybe it\u2019s something that can run in the family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The name brings back a lot of good memories for Graber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of his music falls under the genres of rap, country, sad pop and even a New York drill song. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to explore areas and see what the people like best,\u201d Graber said. \u201cMore importantly, what I like best. I\u2019ve always had a personal connection to it [music].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He made his first song, \u201cIntro Freestyle,\u201d on his iPhone 12 with headphones.\u201d After that, Graber continued to create music and grow his understanding of music composition with software like Logic and BandLab to record, arrange, mix and polish final mixes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe hate kind of made me what I am now,\u201d Graber said. \u201cI was getting a lot of hate in the beginning of the year. There was a point to the beginning of the year when people were laughing at me and not with me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lately, his newest music has made improvements, and the voices of his haters have died down. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of scary,\u201d Graber said. \u201cI\u2019m not guaranteed to be like this forever, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Artists in the music industry have their fair share of controversy and hate that comes along with fame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Graber stressed the importance of the people in his life who have been there for him since the beginning. Graber shared these lyrics from his upcoming album inspired by sad pop records: \u201cIf you weren\u2019t with me in the Honda \/ You can\u2019t be with me on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The album is set to be released in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For aspiring musicians like himself, Graber shares this piece of advice: \u201cIt\u2019s a mindset. You\u2019re going to hit bottom, just don\u2019t give up. I\u2019m not going to lie, there are points when I still feel like giving up. The next day, I\u2019m like, \u2018Alright. I\u2019m going to pick up the mic again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"