Making music is a passion for incoming Mascenic Regional High School senior Noah Rogers.
“Music is a great thing, because it’s something most everyone can enjoy,” said Rogers, 17, of New Ipswich. “It always seems to be saying something even when it doesn’t have words. You can usually listen to a piece of music and say, ‘Ah, this is sad.’ It’s interesting how much you can communicate with so little.”
Rogers plays and produces music under the stage name of “51st Citizen.”
“It has a sort of neutral feeling to it. You can’t really guess the content of the music based on the name, and I liked that,” he said.
He draws inspiration from a variety of styles – the alternative rock group Soul Coughing, hypnagogic pop and vapowave pioneer James Ferraro, and composer Iannis Xanakis, a post-World War II composer considered a revolutionizer of 20th-century classical music to name a few.
“Even though I might not understand it all, it still draws me in and makes me curious and excited,” Rogers said of Xanakis’ music. “I like music that I can’t quite understand sometimes. It’s an opportunity to learn.”
Rogers, who plays acoustic guitar as well as producing electronic music, started to pick up the skill due to his passion for listening to music and wanting to emulate some of his favorites. He’s also begun to take classes in music production and recording.
It’s something he’s learning as he goes, he said, and has increased his interest in electronic music.
“It’s something that can be limited by the amount of equipment you have, but even if you have a laptop that’s just sort of OK, there’s a lot you can do, particularly with electronic music,” Rogers said.
Rogers said he’s tried his hand at writing his own lyrics and singing – “I try at least,” he joked – though he admitted it’s not his strong suit.
“It’s definitely something I want to improve at,” he said.
But sometimes, he said, it’s a fun challenge to try out new things and styles that aren’t your strengths – he tries out the occasional jazz tune, despite it not being in his wheelhouse, for example.
Rogers has played live at the New Ipswich Harvest Festival in the past, but said there was a dearth of opportunities for him to get on stage – so he decided to create his own.
Rogers came up with the idea of holding a concert, mainly of fellow student musicians, and selling tickets for the event, which came to fruition in May held at the Jaffrey VFW.
“For the longest time, I wanted to perform. Eventually, I decided, ‘Why don’t I just organize something,’” Rogers said.
Dubbed “Cretefest” – a play on “concrete” and a nod to New Ipswich’s thriving construction community – Rogers and a handful of other musicians put together a set.
They managed to turn a small profit, which was split among the performers, but Rogers said more than that, he was just happy to have the experience of getting on stage. That’s one of the things he likes about music, he said – its ability to forge connections.
“It’s nice to be able to put on an event like Cretefest, where if someone wants to express something, they have the ability to do that,” Rogers said.
Rogers, who is a top-ten student at Mascenic Regional High School, said he’s still considering what he would like to do after high school. College is an option, but he has a wide range of interests, and if he is bound for more schooling after graduation, he said he doesn’t know yet what he might study.
“Part of me wants to go for philosophy or literature, but it doesn’t have enough real-world applications, so maybe something in the STEM field,” Rogers said.
Rogers said he particularly enjoys literature and delving deeply into works. He’s currently going through the catalog of works by Irish novelist James Joyce, who is best known for his landmark work Ulysses, a novel which parallels the experiences of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, the short story collection Dubliners, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Finnegans Wake.
“It’s not always easy to get into, but the challenge is part of what makes it enjoyable,” Rogers said.
Rogers’ father, Ed Rogers, owns an engineering firm, and Rogers said he is interested in computer science and has “dabbled” in programming, but also enjoys reading and researching literature and philosophy.
Going into his senior year, Rogers said though he’s not sure what’s in store for his future, music will continue to be a passion for him.
“I will continue to make music as far into the future as I can see,” he said.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.