Senior’s music distributed on iTunes

Ali Miller and Maggie Devine
Staff Writer and Editor-in-Chief

Some people find it difficult to master just one instrument. For senior Andy Weld, this is not an issue. It’s more of a talent. Since junior high, Weld has been writing, playing and recording his own instrumental music.

Weld’s band, Rovan, has recently released a recording on iTunes. Rovan is only instrumental – no vocals.This is his second album, Make Believe; The first came out in fall of 2007.

“[I named it Make Believe] because it doesn’t have any lyrics and you can make believe anything you want when you listen to it. It’s great background music,” Weld said.

Weld said instrumental music is easier to write in his opinion. He recorded all the guitars in his basement and the others at a local recording studio on a farm on the outskirts of Cedar Falls.

Weld said he believes that creating two albums already is a huge accomplishment for him.

“Anybody can get on iTunes nowadays, but to have two albums takes a lot of time, and it’s more of a personal accomplishment for me,” Weld said.
However, prides that his music can be sold online.

“I like it because I can tell people bought it, and it’s a great feeling with a new territory to experience,” Weld said.

The process to get there takes a long time. A main source of Rovan’s promotion came online from MySpace. Weld first put his music up there, and people just started listening. Soon enough, Friend Of Mine Records contacted him and asked if it’d be alright to distribute his CD in Japan, where the label is located.

“I guess I must be more famous in Japan than I am here,” Weld joked.

Some of his inspirations come from bands such as This Will Destroy You, Sigur Ros and Unwed Sailor.

“If you listen to my music, you will here similar sounds between those bands and mine. It’s not mainstream instrumental. Since there are no lyrics, you have to make it more interesting to appeal to the human ear,” Weld said.

Weld said producing everything costs a lot, so after paying that off, there will be some profit.
He also gets paid for doing live shows sometimes, but because he’s a one-man band, it is hard to perform multiple instruments live. Junior Jarek Bakken, Weld’s best friend and drummer plays if need be.

Songs are 99 cents on iTunes under the Alternative genre and will be distributed in Japan.

Class of 2014

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