Ever since his grandfather gave him his first guitar in the sixth grade, Chance Bridges, junior in electrical engineering, hasn't stopped playing and recording music.
Three years ago, Bridges launched his own musical project called Balcony View, and recently released his first EP titled Wanderer.
"The music that I make now is not really music in the traditional sense that you'd think of music," Bridges said. "It's more like a sound art."
While Bridges said he sometimes adds vocals to his songs, he mostly sticks to instruments. "I blend together a bunch of different sounds," he said. "They don't really sound like the original instrument playing--it's like a composition in a way that creates a certain atmosphere."
Some of the instruments he can play in addition to the guitar include the piano, violin and banjo.
Bridges' interest in many different types of music has influenced what he plays. He added that in high school, he would attend shows all the time, and through that became interested in a variety of musical genres. Bridges said he listens to everything from metal to hip-hop, and even classical music.
"I try not to discriminate when it comes to types of music. I try to expose myself to everything, and take feelings and styles from certain types of music," Bridges said.
Bridges said he came up with the title of his musical project while visiting the beach. "I was up on a balcony overlooking the beach, and I just thought it would be a good way to describe the general nature of my music."
Bridges played a show in the Birmingham area on March 23, and afterward said he was selling his newly released EP, which seemed to be receiving favorable reactions from the crowd.
"That's the most rewarding part," Bridges said. "Seeing something that I've created actually being released and available to buy. And then being able to perform in front of people and have those people come up and give me a compliment on what I've made."
Additionally, he said getting paid to do something he loves is extremely rewarding. Getting his finished product to that point, however, is no easy task.
"I'm a perfectionist when it comes to my music. My stuff has to sound a certain way, or I'm just going to delete it," Bridges said.
The amount of time it takes to write and record his music varies, and his mood is always a factor.
"It depends on what kind of mindset I'm in," he said. "There are times when I've recorded five songs in five days and they've sounded awesome--but then I'll go entire months without getting anything solid."
And Bridges said he owes much of his success to his record label, Step Pepper Records. "They've really helped me a lot. They made all my shows possible," he said.
As for the future, Bridges would love to be able to tour, instead of just playing shows in the Birmingham area.
Bridges' music can be found at soundcloud.com/balconyview. His next show will be in Birmingham on Sunday, April 14.
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