It is very rare that we see musicians having an all-around talent in their profession.ÿ They either sing, play drums, guitar or keyboard. But in the case of Andrew Reyes, a 19-year-old math major, that’s exactly what he is; an all-around music phenomenon.
ÿReyes’ music career started when he was only 7.ÿ He played the bass and drums, then after his brother bought him a book of guitar chords, he became interested in acoustic guitar.
Ever since he was little, Reyes has always been active in his church.ÿ He currently plays for his church ministry which has helped him evolve his musical abilities.
But not only does Reyes have the abilities to sing and play instruments, he also records his own music.ÿ There is a process to the way Reyes composes the music which is not an easy task.
“What I usually do is I start fiddling with the guitar,” Reyes said. “I try to come up with a melody.”
After he is done figuring out the melody, he usually does a little soul searching for the lyrics.
“When I’m inspired, I usually think of positive things to base my music around, then once I start doing the lyrics, it just flows from there. Then I record it into the computer,” Reyes said.
Reyes’ music is often positive because that’s the kind of person he is.ÿ Friends say that Reyes is kind to others and unselfish.ÿ Bass Guitarist Arland Gaskett said one of Reyes’s strong attributes is that he is always willing to lend out a helping hand.ÿ
“Outside of our band, whenever we need help with something, (Reyes) is always there,” Gaskett said.
Whether it’s helping with homework, or assisting with chords and notes, Reyes is always there.
Since he is a full time student, he rarely has time to practice at home by himself.ÿ Homework has dominated most of his spare time. The only time he gets to practice his music is with his pop/punk rock band called, Suckerpunch 405.
“We’re called Suckerpunch 405 because suckerpunch sounds cool, and 405 because that’s the route I take to practice which is the 405 Freeway,” Reyes said.
His band gets its style from the group Blink 182. Since his first passion was playing the drums, that’s what he plays in the band, along with being a backup singer.
“We usually perform at Torrance New Life church off Sepulveda Friday nights, so it is important for us to always carry our identity which is being a Christian,” Reyes said.
The challenges that are presented in front of Reyes are not having enough practice time with his bandmates being busy as well.
“It’s tough because we all go to school, they have work so it’s hard to schedule practice, so we aren’t able to build any momentum,” Reyes said.
ÿAs a student, Reyes is a math major and he plans to transfer to UCLA andget a bachelor’s degree to be a math professor.
“I’ll be consistent, I’ll never give up because if you love to do something, stick to it, be true to yourself,” Reyes said.ÿ Reyes’s band, suckerpunch405 can be seen on myspace.com/suckerpunch405.
