Hi, my name is Salia. I’m a senior majoring in English at Queens, after 6 years of off and on school I will finally be graduating in the fall. I was working in film production as a camera assistant and editor since I was 14 and had trouble deciding if I should continue that or get a degree.

My music taste has changed so much over the years. In high school I thought it was lame to like what everyone else did so I refused to listen to popular music out of principle. I would listen to oldies like Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin, then I fell in love with Otis Redding. OKGo has been my favorite band for years; they’re the ones with the crazy music videos like the treadmills back in 2006. They have the best live show I’ve ever experienced, and I’ve seen them a few times. Amy Winehouse is one of my favorite artists of all time and I want to make music like hers.

I play a few instruments and I just got into making music with a MIDI controller (musical instrument digital interface) below is a picture of my minilab midi. It’s a whole new experience and helps me appreciate the art of music composition on another level. Taking this class was a no brainer for me, if I can connect to music in another way I have to.

Something else about me is that I struggle with bipolar disorder and I think it’s something that has driven my creative and artistic abilities my entire life. Music has been one of the best and worst tools for dealing with my illness. There was a time, that I’m still working my way out of, when I would only listen to podcasts because music makes me feel so intensely that it will cripple me. I don’t mean that in an over dramatic way, I mean it in a very serious way. There is a tie between mental illness and art that has been known for years. It’s something that I can certainly feel deeply.