Loveland alumni Adam Paddock (’18) has been making a splash in the music scene; releasing his first single onto all music platforms in August 2020 and releasing a single every month since. “My musical background began in 5th grade with learning trumpet and evolved into playing baritone and trumpet in the choirs all through high school. I picked up the guitar and piano along the way, as well. I joined Loveland By Request my senior year of high school and had the incredible opportunity to be the male soloist for the year on our rendition of “Backyard Party” by Ole Borud.”
In high school, Paddock enjoyed band but kept his music identity mainly to himself. “At multiple points, I was first chair but rarely put any identity into that, due to the rigor of playing baseball and soccer for the school and travel baseball on a club team. My junior year, my best friends convinced me that I had no excuse not to try out for showchoir, despite my best efforts. I did not know I could sing and I certainly knew that I could not dance. Through the audition process, I found that I was capable of performing and fell in love with the shows, new skillset, and (mostly) the community of people who encouraged this leap of faith.”
In July 2020, Paddock posted a video on the popular platform TikTok. Captioned “when you have a baseball game at 7[pm] but a choir concert at 8[pm]”, the video showcased Paddock singing a solo from Shawn Mendes’ song “Stitches” in his baseball jersey. As of today, the video has 2.7 million views and over 632,000 likes. Following this attention for his voice, Paddock used the platform to announce his first single “Milky Way” (with MOSES) which he released on August 7th 2020.
As a current junior at The Ohio State University, Paddock is studying strategic communication with minors in music and Spanish and continues to record music in his dorm, after most of his current pieces were created near the end of his sophomore year. “Towards the beginning of quarantine, in early 2020, the rugs were being redone at my house and I convinced my dad to allow me to use the old carpet, in the portion of the basement that is unfinished, to create a studio. I threw the carpet on the walls, ceiling, and floor and the soundproofing was astoundingly better than anticipated. I got to work with the studio equipment that I had and began producing rough versions of the songs that you hear today… Now that I am at school and don’t have the luxury of my soundproofed space, I use my single RA room at Ohio State to make music. I ‘soundproofed’ the room with $1 carpet squares from GoodWill and no one would ever know.”
“My musical process is on the forefront of the wave of many self-produced artists. I write, produce, and play most instruments on each track and the road to understanding this process came with much trial and error. I have written every song released thus far alone but there are a handful coming in 2020 that are co-written. I find inspiration in my writing from some of my experiences, some extravagant experiences that I dream in my head, or simple lines and phrases that come and go through the circles in which I run. Once out of the writing stage, I enjoy producing with friends’ presence for instantaneous feedback. I enjoy the presence of those who do not know the inner workings of production because they don’t care how the mix sits or the sibilance of some words slice – they just care if it sounds good.”
“Paddock makes alternative chamber pop records driven by gripping vocal layering, riveting lyrical intention, and genre-bending instrumental arrangement.” On Friday, December 18th 2020, he is dropping a three part release of his song “Tattoos” which will include a studio version, acoustic version, and a voice memo version. Paddock is planning on releasing his first EP near the beginning of 2021 and has planned more collaborative singles before then.
Search for ‘Adam Paddock’ on all streaming platforms or @adampaddock on instagram, facebook, twitter, and tiktok.
Note from Claire Beseler:
Adam and I overlapped in high school for a year and although we never talked or met, I heard whispers of him throughout the school. I was very excited to see him all over social media with his music success. While writing this article, I listened to all of Adam’s music on repeat and I’m not quite sure how to explain it but it made me feel happy, hopeful, content, anything you would hope for in a song. Best of luck to Adam! His music is truly special, and I look forward to listening to what he creates next.
