Feature Final

Christopher Petts is a freshman at Morningside if you see him around campus, however if you get to know him you will find out that he is much more than that. He already has a foot in the door when it comes to his future career. A career he hopes is going to be in the music industry.

He has his own music album on Spotify, he plays the trumpet, French horn, baritone, bass guitar, trap set percussion, and he is able to make music on his computer. He also has a very introvert personality, for example he doesn’t go out at night and prefers to lay in bed.

His father is a pastor which lead to many moves in his life. That is not a problem for him as he had music to help him cope. However, he does have some set backs when it comes to having a religious family, for example he wasn’t allowed to listen to any kind of music other than Christian music. His brother was listened to country music while at college, and his parents found out and took the radio out of his car. He discovered he was good at music at the end of 10th grade, when he realized that he was good at band and understood music. Over the following summer he began making music and started doing as much music related activities in school as possible, whether that as band, choir, or a music theory class.

When he heard different music for the first time at school he fell in love and decided to learn more about it and found out he was good at it. He then decided that it made sense for him to try and make music.

He gets his inspiration in random spirts throughout his days, in particular when he is bored. His surroundings in particular his song “Depths of the Rain” was inspired by the sounds of hearing rain downpour on the roof of his house. This sound sparked the melody of the song and represents the feeling and mood he felt at that time during the flash flood. He also pulls inspiration from life experiences, for example he tried starting a band in high school and showed his band mates the process of making a song and the intro of that song came from his feelings in that moment.

He already has released “illusion” on Spotify consisting of 10 songs. When asked about the meaning of this name he said it is because he feels like most people who are artists hid themselves behind some pop music and don’t want their fans to see the real them.

When asking other people about Petts’s music they say that it isn’t necessarily their go to music however it is something will listen to and don’t mind his music. However, it is also a shared thought process that Petts wouldn’t be Petts without his music and that as a way to let some of his feelings out.

His parents who are very strict have heard his music. While they do not enjoy anything other than Christian music, he says that they are okay with his music overall as it is just instrumental music and does not do anything they wish didn’t happen. Some of those things are swearing, sexual lyrics, and it wasn’t against scripture. They do support him and his music making skills, so long as he stays within those guidelines.

His music is similar to two musicians, Adam Young and the Jelly Rox . Adam Young is the man known as Owl City, The Jelly Rox, which is a one-man project by performed by Matt Langston. These two men influence Petts’s music because they are the first two big artists that he listened to when he first discovered music, and broke out of his parents’ bubble. He really liked how they used instrumentation and lyricism. He really enjoyed how they make a story into music, for example he named off Owl Citys older hits Hello Seattle, Good Times, and Fireflies.

Petts roommate Eric Wells he said that one big thing about Petts is that he is always laying on his bed considering more opportunities for his music, thinking of new ideas for songs and listening to inspiration. Another one of his friends is Dalton Van Briesen who also mentions how big music is in Petts life saying that “Petts is one of the coolest guys I know, on top of his abilities in the musical realm. It is definitely the coolest thing he does and one of the best things about him.”

In the future he hopes to release a new album with new songs. He is always trying to buy new gear and new setups. He hopes in the future to be in a music studio, and helping create songs and produce them. He really wants to help other musicians for as long as he possibly can. He hopes to be a songwriter for Hollywood. He doesn’t care if he is going to be a well known writer or a ghost writer, he just wants to make music people will enjoy. He explains that he would like to be more of a Studio DJ when he finds a career rather than being a Live DJ. He explains that difference as he doesn’t want to be the personality on a radio station, he wants to be the guy that writes the music for the radio stations.

To hear some of Christopher Petts’s music, you can find his album here https://open.spotify.com/album/61CIXhg484C0AvGdWljN9N

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Alex Watters Interview

What has Morningside College done in the last 10 years for handicapped students? Alex Watters has said they made progress but they also have lost some. Alex Watters is a first year advisor for students at Morningside College, and was once a student here. He also happens to be paralyzed with limited ability in his hands and control over his legs.

Alex said in his first semester here there were 2 places on campus that were wheelchair friendly, which was first floor of Roadman Hall, where he lived, and Olsen Student Center where they put in a ramp for a handicapped entrance. Since then they have made many more buildings easier to access for the handicapped, however there are still some challenges surrounding the campus for wheelchair bound students and faculty.

One such obstacle is that Lewis Hall is not wheelchair accessible. Lewis Hall hosts the admissions department, office of the registrar, business office, and where President Reinders’ has his office. One thing that he does praise Morningside College for is that everyone is always willing to be accommodating, however he still says that just because they are accommodating it is not about them being accommodating, but the students feeling included and not a hinderance.

The Life of a Cutler

Steven Cutler is a student majoring in mass communications at Morningside College. He chose to come to Morningside because of the mass comms department and the opportunity to continue his sporting career. He is from Colo, Iowa and lived on a small family farm. This family farm has been on his dad’s side of the family since his grandfather, his mother’s side has lived in Council Bluffs. When he attended high school at Colo-Nesco High School, he participated in a number of sports including Baseball, Basketball, track and field, and cross country.

Here at Morningside College he participates in Track and Field and Cross Country. In his spare time between homework, practice, class, and meets he enjoys watching Netflix and sporting events. His favorite sporting events are baseball, basketball, boxing, and football. His favorite teams are the New York Yankees, Kansas City Chiefs, and Iowa State Cyclones. He likes the New York Yankees because his grandfather was a big fan and it has been passed down through the family ever since, he is a Kansas City Chiefs fan also because of family. He is a big Iowa State fan because he grew up 16 miles from the campus and regularly attended sporting events on their campus.

One memory that sticks out in Steven’s mind was that when he was 12 and at a campground with him family while camping, another young boy came up to him and threatened his life. Telling Steven that he was going to kill him with a Swiss army knife and a BB gun he brought along.  His favorite color is green because it is the color of John Deere which is the farm equipment his family owns and uses on their farm.