ExF: Inside the Creative Process
Expressions of Faith
Welcome to Expressions of Faith, a series where we are highlighting the artistic and creative endeavors of students in the Christian community on Cornell’s campus. Today’s piece is an interview with graduates Rebekah Jones and Daniel Massillon who collaborated on a song called “Meet Me Here” during their last semester at Cornell. You can find links to the song and their individual SoundCloud accounts below.
BY REBEKAH JONES AND DANIEL MASSILLON
1. What is it that you do and how did it start? What led you to the decision to share it with a more public audience?
Daniel: “I write, sing, record, and produce songs across a variety of genres, primarily in R&B, Hip Hop, and Indie Soul. I was first exposed to the beauty of music in church. I started singing very early on in grade school and playing piano around the same time. I think God really showed me grace by introducing me to music in a community that used it to glorify Him. I didn’t really know how to record and produce until I was in high school. When I was learning to produce music in high school, I had to have a Soundcloud account where we shared the various beats or songs we were assigned to create throughout the course. So, I feel like the choice to share my music started out being made for me. It was in my senior year of high school that I made the decision to release a record as an independent project out of an overzealous urge to express myself and my feelings. Since then, I’ve been very apprehensive about sharing my music publicly because I didn’t think it was “good enough.” I think most recently, I started sharing it again out of a place of conviction that God didn’t give me these songs and ideas just for myself.”
Rebekah: “I've been writing music for as long as I can remember. On my worst days, when I was super dramatic at like age 6, I’d get super mad at my mom or something, and just write. Something about putting everything to lyrics and chords was so healing. It was a time to process, to be emotionally vulnerable. But, I think before God really took hold of my heart, I don't think I really had something significant to write about. Now, I look back on those years and I thank God for being able to express myself like that, yet I'm glad that I never had a public platform or publicly tried to share my work because there wasn't much to say. On the other hand, now as I’m stepping into this abundant life, seeing God's goodness more and more, there's just something to sing about. There’s a passion that I hadn’t experienced prior, and it's honestly a blessing if every song points to His love. I like to share music because there's power in truth and there's power in honesty, and the message of the Gospel is the best truth to ever be proclaimed. There's purpose behind the music, and that's the purpose of sharing for me.”
2. What is it about music and songwriting that attracted you to pursue it, and how has doing it impacted your faith?
Daniel: “I’ve always loved making music, I can’t give you one specific reason why it’s so attractive, but I know that my soul is drawn to it. Drawn to the connections that are formed between emotion and sound. Drawn to the flutter of creativity that goes into creating a melody or writing a verse. Drawn to the intelligence that goes into recording and arranging and mixing different elements into a final track. It’s an intimate thing. Music also connects to a person in a way that transcends the conscience. You don’t have to focus on a song to feel it and that's powerful. It also demands a lot of vulnerability and that’s where my faith becomes engaged in the whole process… My faith in God requires me to be vulnerable with Him about what I’m thinking about, how I’m feeling, what my circumstances are and music gives me the chance to do that with little resistance. My faith in Jesus and resultant relationship with God dictates a lot of the perspective that I write from in songs. I think earlier on and throughout high school, I wrote music to cope and release what I didn’t feel comfortable saying out loud to another person. So I would write about insecurities, being depressed and being brokenhearted, out of despair more than anything else and I don’t think that was very life-giving. More recently, as I’ve grown closer in relationship to God, rather than steeped in religion, I’ve started to create songs from a more reflective place and with a lot more hope. My faith has also made songwriting and producing another form of prayer where I get to communicate with God. So many songs for me start out with something that I said in a prayer or something that I sensed was speaking to my heart in a quiet moment or while reading the word. It’s also made way for a wide variety of huge opportunities to minister whether that be in church, or campus ministry, or a conference.”
Rebekah: “Music is universal. It doesn't matter where you are in the world, there is something in the melodies or something in the lines, something in the chord progressions that people just really identify with. It's one of the best gifts that God has given us on this earth, in its ability to harness pure expression and bring people together. One way I think it's impacted my faith is that it increasingly shows me the purpose of sharing the hope we have within us. I mean, there are so many songs in my life that have just spoken to me, albums that have really gotten me through particular seasons, so when those things are truthful in that they speak to broader questions of the human condition or push us further towards His glory and real satisfaction, then we grow. It's also really humbling to acknowledge the fact that all of the works of our hands will one day turn back to dust. The only thing or name that will be left standing is His. In some ways, creating reminds me of my mortality, you know, that I'm just one human being on this Earth, and He chooses to use me and my gifts as one of His many instruments. It's only His truth that gives any real power to the art”.
3. Can you give us a glimpse into your creative process?
Daniel: “I take inspiration from a lot of different sources when it comes to catching a vibe for a song. I listen to a lot of different genres. The core of my music is rooted in R&B and Hip Hop, but I appreciate elements of jazz, rock, indie soul, lo-fi, acoustic folk, and electronic music. For me, the process can start off with a lot of different pieces. There’s a lot of producers who have a set path of starting with a specific instrument group, but I really go with whatever grabs my attention. That could be a melody, that could be a lyric phrase or a really good sound patch. From there, adding different layers is just a matter of articulating what I hear in my head. The most exciting part for me is the initial moment when I find what “sounds good.” It’s the moment when a loop is playing and I’m just freestyling on the keys with a sound or drum kit and all of a sudden there's a 4 note sequence or a certain chord progression that just fits in really well. In those moments, I’ll talk to God and be like, ‘Thank you for that, I appreciate you working that out for me right there.’”
Rebekah: “I think my favorite part of the songwriting process is piecing together “the concept,” and when I say concept, I mean fleshing out how I can best express this feeling that I'm having or this predicament that I'm going through. Sometimes when it comes to faith, because this is such a complex walk with the Holy Spirit, there’s so much agency to creatively express and illustrate what’s happening, how we’re feeling, or how we hear God speak. God gives us passions that are just so tangible and overwhelming. Joy. Peace. Hope. There’s so much to praise him for, the best part of the process for me is just thinking about how to articulate it in a particular project.”
You can find links to each of the artist’s individual SoundCloud profiles below:
Daniyyel (Daniel):
Jonesy (Rebekah):