Think about one thing that you just absolutely love. Most of us can think of at least one thing we put our hearts and souls into day in and day out. For some Trinity students and faculty, that thing is music. Musicians at any age share a love of performing and many have big dreams. Senior Philip Truman started playing the drums when he was 11 and just recently started playing guitar. He said, “ Playing an instrument, especially drums, has been great stress relief. It lets me focus on something else for as long as I want. It also lets me express any emotion I’m feeling depending on what genre I play.” What inspired the musicians to start playing? Senior Gavan Baker, who began playing drums at age 10 and guitar at 14, said, “I was a really big fan of old bands like AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, so that really inspired me. But also my dad played guitar when he was a teenager, so he always had a guitar around.” Senior Matt Powers said, “ I’ve been influenced by many artists, but my primary role models are probably Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and David Gilmour.” Some students and faculty have even started their own bands. Bryan Oberhausen, whose band Belladonna has performed in front of crowds averaging about 50 people, said, “ Playing to larger crowds is definitely more fun than playing to smaller crowds because it has a lot more energy.” Mr. Jason Daniel, who is in Trinity’s faculty band, Off the Record, said, “I like both. I play solo sets at restaurants, and that’s fun. It’s more fun to play in a band because even if the crowd isn’t into it, you’re still working together.” The Trinity musicians enjoy playing for various reasons. “It’s the creativity and self-expression,” Daniel said. “It’s something everyone understands — it’s a universal language.” Truman said, “ I like the freedom in playing an instrument. I can pick up my guitar or my drum sticks and play anything I want. It all depends on how much I want to push myself. I can play any genre I want, whether it’s funk, progressive rock or pop. ” “ I love playing music because it’s just so relaxing,” Baker said. “I’ve been going through a lot with some family stuff and college deadlines, so to just be able to escape it all is definitely amazing.” Some of the musicians said they have hopes of big performances in the future. Oberhausen said, “The two places I want to play at the most are London’s Brixton Academy and The Reading Festival.” Baker said, “My dream would be for me and Tyler (with whom he has started an acoustic rap project) to be able to play on the SXSW festival or at the Vans Warped Tour.” For Truman, “playing at the Yum! Center would be a blast, mostly because that’s where I saw my favorite band, Rush, perform.”