Musician Spotlight: Gwen Levey

Aishwarya Venkat

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Aishwarya Venkat, In-Depth editor
February 18, 2010
Filed under Arts

With a pink scarf imprinted with black musical notes, and a wooden acoustic guitar named Iggy, freshman Gwen Levey is one of the most recent musicians in AHS’s vibrant music scene. Independent, confident, and melodic, her songs capture the beauty of figuring things out and making sense of an ever-changing world.

Levey is somewhat of a self-taught musician. “When I was five years old, I taught myself how to play the piano, and I started teaching myself guitar in late August last year,” she said.

But one of the unique things about Levey’s music is that most of it is original. Her passion for songwriting arose from an early age. “My first song was “Hush Now,” that I wrote when I was six,” she said. “I have written about 40 songs now, and I recently produced my first demo. My uncle, who has a recording studio in New York, helped me record it.”

Levey draws on her everyday experiences to write her songs. “I understand that everyone, including me, is still trying to understanding their world,” she said. “Artists speak to people. They talk to them, convey the deepest of their emotions, and put into song what they’re feeling. My songs mostly revolve around love, understanding and a variety of other emotions that anyone can connect to,” she said. Her musical idols include Norah Jones, Alicia Keys and Taylor Swift, to name a few.

The songwriting process has its own appeal for Levey. “Sometimes I write my songs in a day. It’s almost impulsive—I can sit there and the words just flow,” she said. “Once I write something down, it’s done. I can’t change it. So the writing process for me is very slow and very thoughtful. Even if it is one word, a phrase or an emotion, I am emotionally attached to it,” she said.

Friends and family have been more than supportive of Levey’s musical pursuits. “My parents are the most supportive people ever, and they’ve been there for me through everything—all my musicals, plays, chorus concerts.. just everything,” she said. “My friends are all really helpful. Within two days of posting my first song on Youtube, I earned 300 video views, which was very satisfying. Many of them also came out to attend the STAND benefit concert and my Flex presentations, which was great!” she added.

With such talent, Levey hopes to make a career out of her passion for music. “I aspire to get to a point in my career where I feel like anyone can connect with me through a word, a song, or a phrase,” she said. “I’m always trying to improve my sound and my songs, and I hope that one day my dream will come true. Hopefully I can make it!” she said.

For more information about Gwen Levey and to listen to her songs “Picking Up the Pieces” and “Crazy for You,” become her fan on Facebook!