What is the soundtrack to a global pandemic? To students Nigel Richards and Kyson Wakefield, it would be their own self produced music.

     Nigel, who goes by ORV as his stage name, and Kyson, who’s a producer,

both used isolation to their advantage as a time to record music and videos. Countless hours have been spent in Kyson’s home studio recording music of all genres ranging from rap to alternative rock. 

     Mostly everyone can agree in unison that living during the stay at home order was an abnormal time. From the early virtual learning to watching countless shows on Netflix, we were all looking for some kind of escape. Nigel and Kyson’s escape happened to be pouring countless hours into making music.

“Because of the way school ended, I’ve been in a more creative mindset because I’ve been living my life,” Richards said.

Kyson felt the opposite way about the world around him at the time. “There’s just been a lot less collaboration and inspiration. I’ve definitely adapted, but it’s not the same,” Wakefield said.

 The duo worked tirelessly from Kyson’s home studio.

“My best friend in the whole world, Kyson Wakefield, he’s got a home studio,” Richards said.

The duo instantly clicked in the studio and built off of each other’s creativity.

“I have a studio set up in my house, so it was convenient for me to record and get in the zone,” Wakefield said.

They managed to record many songs such as Nigel’s single, WUPO, while drawing inspiration from different genres and especially from each other.

“I’ve never seen a more creative person in my life, he inspires me bro, The way our mind just clicked together is amazing bro,”  Richards said, in reference to Kyson.

     The isolation aspect of quarantine differed between the two in ways to creatively express themselves.

“Since we’re in a pandemic, I feel like I’ve been able to make more music that I like and enjoy without being judged. I have more creativity to do what I want without people being like ‘no you’ve gotta make it sound like this’ or ‘you’ve gotta do this and you’ve gotta do that,'” Richards said.

The seclusion made the two feel as if it was Kyson and Nigel vs the world. They both built and learned off of each other to become better in their own crafts while making music they wanted to create.

“I feel like me and Kyson are on the same brain waves. We think the same and we just want to make what we enjoy and what we think sounds nice,” Richards said.

     Kyson felt that drawbacks to quarantine and his musical work.

“Quarantine was a time where I lost a lot of inspiration because most of it comes from interaction with other people,” Wakefield said. It became a struggle of working in a secluded environment. “My creative flow is always a battle between focus and inspiration, and when there’s too little of one it makes it hard to be creative.”

     Music was already being taken seriously from the two before the arrival of a stay at home order. Recording songs became much more than a hobby and became something serious.

“Music is just a rare instance, it can be both a hobby and a lifestyle for me,” Richards said. Music’s released emotions between the two that are difficult to release in other ways other than music. “I wanted to express myself in a more serious way by letting my emotions out through music – I’m enjoying this, it makes me happy.”

Kyson already saw music as a lifelong dream of his.

“There was never a specific moment of realization, it’s just what always been what I see myself doing forever,” Wakefield said.

The duo also used this time to explore numerous genres of music such as rap, alternative rock, punk, and many other genres.

“I could just make rap music but I don’t want someone to look at me and be like ‘Oh Nigel the rapper. If I just made rap music I’d be corny,” Richards said.

They go against labeling their music into one genre. The music they create is universal and taps into different influences.

“Different types of music boils down to different types of people. If you want a bigger audience, diversify your content,” Wakefield said.

The two try to diversify their approaches to music to remove the stigma of being labeled to a certain genre of music.

“If you label yourself as a rapper or ‘I’m in an emo band’ then you’re putting yourself in a box,” Richards said.

Many other artists played a role in influencing their music during quarantine.

“The album I say inspired me during quarantine to be more lm creative musically and want to be unlike the norm when it comes to music is probably ‘After Hours’ by the Weekend,” Richards said.

They also drew inspiration from Lil Uzi Vert Vs The World 2, which was released during the beginning of quarantine. All these different inspirations are seen in the variety and diversity in their music.

     Nigel and Kyson both used this unique time in history to explore their music in depth. They were given enough privacy to create what they wanted to create without facing judgment from people looking in on the outside. They didn’t have to face roadblocks from people closing paths to different sounds with their opinions.

“I think it’s cool because it’s just been me and Kyson and the homies and it just feels like I’ve been more free now during quarantine,” Richards said.