Of the many services offered at Southern Oregon University, the newly established Digital Music Production Group is undeniably a revolutionary inspiration to music lovers and producers alike.
The club held its first inaugural meeting in the SU Diversions on Monday evening, providing a variety of snacks, drinks and enthusiastic conversations regarding the music industry and future innovations of the club.
The club was created by SOU student and distinguished digital music producer, Adrian Olesnyckyj, who has been DJing and producing music since 1997. Quitting his job in New Jersey to purse his dreams through SOU’s music business program, Olesnyckyj, 32, has continued to find inspiration in mainstream musical figures such as DJ Premier, Timbaland and Dr. Dre. His perseverance has led to moderate success since 2006, with over 35 of his tracks placed on mainstream shows, such as “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.”
The idea behind the club is to get people together to share techniques and help each other improve. “You can’t argue with taste,” he said. According to Olesnyckyj, anyone who has a love of music can play a huge role in sharing their opinions and helping each other grow. “Two heads are better than one,” he added. The group welcomes anyone who produces, loves, or creates music to join.
“This is such a specialized interest, its hard to find people to talk to about this,” said Zach Reutlinger, 35, an SOU senior, minoring in music with a passion for digital music production.
Between learning each other’s music influences, techniques, and styles, Olesnyckyj, Reutlinger and Zach Edwards, 23, an SOU senior and digital music creator, discussed prospects for a future agenda for the club.
Among ideas for making tracks and collaborating their individual works was the idea of holding a concert fundraiser in which DJ Jazzy Jeff from the “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” would be present. Olesnyckyj is currently petitioning to bring the well-known DJ to Ashland.
During the meeting, Jesse Rapport, the Team Development Chair of Relay for Life of Ashland, presented the possibility to the group of DJing or performing their works at Ashland’s Relay event in May at the Raider Stadium. The group was thrilled by the opportunity and agreed to support the community through their artistic talent.
Olesnyckyj has had additional experience in using his aptitude for fundraising programs, DJing for a Valentines Day dance organized by the Exceptional Children Club last week in Ashland, a club oriented towards organizing events for children of special needs. One of his favorite aspects of being DJ was “seeing kids that aren’t concerned with being cool, but just feeling the music.”
Such a message is inspirational enough to encourage digital music to jump from the studio to larger public events, which is a major goal of the club. Both Edwards and Olesnyckyj will be showcasing their musical talents at the Chili Hoopla this spring, an event that attracts a variety of local talent.
On that note, the club encourages anyone interested in taking their passion to the next level and pursuing their dreams to drop in during their monthly meetings, or get in touch with the Digital Music Production Group on Facebook, where many plans of action will be decided cooperatively.
This group sounds amazing. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.