When thinking about senior seminar projects, most would envision long papers and hours of research in the library. But for senior Andrew Hopun, this is not the case. Instead, he and sophomore singer-songwriter Jon Harrison are co-producing Harrison’s debut album, “Leveled.”
Harrison and Hopun have been working together since November 2012. They met through Intervarsity’s men’s youth group and started casually producing songs together. Later, Hopun asked Harrison if he could produce an entire album for his senior seminar project and became Harrison’s manager.
Harrison is excited about this chance to get his music out to the world.
“I’ve been playing guitar for 10 years and singing and writing songs for about seven years,” he said. “I couldn’t say no to free recording time and this amazing opportunity.”
The two have been working on the album since January. Harrison said his inspiration for his songs came from his life in college.
“Every song focuses on an aspect of my life when the world became real,” he said. “I’ve seen that the world has lost its innocence. It’s not just breakup songs. It’s about betrayal, challenges and life in general.”
So what should fans expect from Harrison’s album? Harrison described his album as “very acoustic-ey.”
“It’s like an acoustic singer-songwriter album with a rock element,” Hopun said.
The two have high hopes for the album.
“We want to take this album as far we can,” Harrison said. “We have really good stuff. I know that deep down.”
Hopun arranged the production of this album through the help of an online international funding website called Indiegogo.com. Through Indiegogo, friends and fans of Harrison and Hopun can donate money to help pay for their album production costs.
“We need $3,000 to fully produce the album,” Hopun said. “The proceeds will go towards production costs, CD duplication, T-shirts, photography and copyright expenses, et cetera.”
So far, the two have received $2,523 out of their $3,000 goal. The last day to send donations to their Indiegogo site is on April 22.
The album has a predicted release date in early September and will be available on iTunes and Amazon.
After graduation, Hopun, as a music production and recording arts major, wants to go into artist development and management.
“I want to help artists grow into their full potentials,” Hopun said.
Harrison plans to continue doing what he loves: writing and playing music.
Donations can be made through Jon’s website, jonharrisonmusic.com.