Many high school students can relate to the feeling of being an outsider. Sophomore Ace Perez’s new song “Alien” is based on fiction while still addressing a topic many of his peers experience.
From a young age, Ace has always loved music, especially rock and roll. Whether he was in the car or at home, he always had a playlist rolling as he went about his day. At just four years old, he got his first guitar and started taking lessons at Concordia Conservatory, a local music school in Bronxville.
Last summer, Ace decided he wanted to write a song. He was walking his dog, Murphy, and looked up into the sky to see the blinking lights of an airplane. He remembered that as a kid, he used to look up into the sky, thinking they were UFOs, which inspired him to write a song about aliens.
He spent the summer attending a music camp, where he collaborated with the counselors to create his first song. This camp was held at the same local music conservatory where he first learned to play the guitar.
While writing this song, Ace aimed to combine an element of fiction while still making it something relatable. On the outside, the song may seem like it is about aliens, but it is actually about alienation, and what it is like to feel like an outsider, something many teenagers can relate to.
Ace hopes that he will serve as an inspiration to other young aspiring artists. “My song isn’t isn’t Mozart. You know?” said Ace. “Songwriting is a lot more accessible than people think it is.”
“Alien” made its first public appearance at the Spring Coffeehouse. Accompanied by sophomores Pierce Roc-Sennett and Mai Malkiel on drums and bass. Ace poured his heart out in Diller Hall, demonstrating the time and effort he put into creating this song.
“I hope that getting up there and performing as another student will empower people to write their own music,” said Ace.
For Ace, the hardest part of the songwriting process was doubting himself. “When you have moments where you’re questioning yourself, questioning your own creative process, you gotta trust yourself,” said Ace. “You know that this song is good, and you just push through and finish it, and the finished product sounds pretty dang good.”
In the future, Ace hopes to continue to write songs and hopefully create an album to release on Spotify and other platforms. While Ace doesn’t want to professionally write music, he hopes that it will always be a part of his life.
