At just eleven years old, freshman Farah Goods was gifted her first guitar from her father, opening her up to a whole new world of writing, playing, and producing music and changing her life entirely.
Farah Goods has been surrounded by music since birth. Her dad is a musician in a band, and her cousins, aunts, and many relatives are all musicians. Inevitably, Farah found herself deeply interested in music and singing when she was around seven years old. After lots of practice and experimentation, she released her first song in 7th grade, called, “Not Important.” Now, she looks back at her old song and appreciates how much she has improved since she first started.
Farah has spent her whole life experimenting with music, whether that be with instruments or the production of songs. She began producing music when she was around ten years old using a software or digital audio workstation called Logic Pro. Her room is her “studio,” which hosts her recording setup. Her room has a desk, complete with two large speakers, microphones, a booth area, guitars, a bass, and what she described as “everything [she] needs.”
Farah mostly taught herself how to record and produce music, but when she had questions about how something worked, she would walk downstairs to ask her father. Her dad has been her number one supporter, encouraging her to compose, record, and share her music.
She was extremely nervous about performing and publicly releasing music at first, but now she has become more confident in herself and sharing her music. Sometimes, she opens for her father’s band, a jazz-fusion band called Connected. Farah said that after her initial nerves, performing feels “really good.”
Farah is never limited to one thing, whether that be in terms of instruments, genres, or topics. She plays piano and guitar and has experience playing drums. However, most of the instruments in her songs, besides vocals and guitar, are from digital software.
In terms of genre, Farah doesn’t like to confine herself to just one. If she did have to label her music as one genre, indie pop would be the most fitting. Her music and style take inspiration from some of her favorite artists, such as Frank Ocean, Omar Apollo, Finneas O’Connell, and Timberland. She is also heavily inspired by Willow Smith and admires how Willow made a name for herself and never confines herself to one genre.
Farah’s hobby of writing and producing music allows her to process her experiences and appreciate them. For example, her song “All We Had” helped her work through a situation where she felt lovesick and that her feelings were not reciprocated. In the six long months it took for her to write, record, and produce the song, she was able to express herself and work through her feelings.
Senior Ava Derby is Farah’s classmate and fellow chorus member. Their chorus class had a listening party after Farah released her recent EP. “Farah is one the most talented and musically oriented people I know, and her new album is so well done. I love the ethereal feel of it; her style is so cool, and I can’t wait to hear any new music she comes out with,” said Ava Derby.
In terms of producing music, she believes that change is always fruitful and the initial product will sometimes be vastly different from the final product, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.
“I wish I would’ve told myself to not be afraid to change things…don’t be afraid to flip things inside out and steer outside of what you have already created. Nothing is ever finished,” said Farah.
In the future, she hopes to collaborate with other musicians. Farah believes that there are so many talented people at Hackley who she would love to work with.
Farah hinted at a possible album release within the near future. She is working on many songs and really loves all of them; she can’t wait to share them publicly.
