Music Review: Justin Voigt Seizes the Day
By Beth Martinson
I was listening to some music, preparing
for this review and one of the neighborhood kids peered into the basement
door. "Nice music. I like it. Who is it?" My young friend summed it up.
The music is nice, you'll like it, but who is it? " It's Justin Voigt,"
I explained. " Oh, I don't know him yet," the music fan replied. Exactly,
yet.
Although a 10-year-old may not know the difference between Elvis Presley and Elvis Costello, he knows that they are both good. He knows that what he hears sounds good, flows well, and makes him want to hear some more.
Above all else Mr. Voigt, who co-produced Could it Be? , with his father, Herb Voigt, and engineered and mixed and mastered this by himself, should be commended for his sheer ability to put together a piece of music with such professional precision. The instruments are matched with the emotional depth of the chosen songs, which are also all written by Mr. Voigt.
What can be appreciated the most from Mr. Voigt's audience is that he sounds like he is actually having a good time. Every song, every track on the CD is oozing with certain freshness and a clear love for music. In this CD, Mr. Voigt combines new material with live versions of his previous CD., Enjoy the Times.
In today's money-obsessed, lawsuit impeded, music business, it's hard to find a performer who still appreciates his craft for what it really is: a creative process. Mr. Voigt's music is not unlike an independent film. It is still untouched by the aggravated hands of commercial industry. It is artwork in its purest form.
Mr. Voigt, who graduated from Milton High in 1999, is a senior at Boston University studying biomedical engineering. "Growing up, music was always a part of my life. Whether it was singing along with the Sesame Street characters, or listening to The Who, something sparked," explains Mr. Voigt. His musical influences include Our Lady Peace and Saves the Day as well as the Dave Matthews Band. However, he has to give credit to his parents, "the single most influential people on my music," who have supported him.
"I think the same as everyone else: I want to be happy, most importantly, in everything that I do. When you look at it, life is just so short, so I think that is why several of my songs have a really upbeat 'seize the day' and 'carpe diem' feel to them," says Justin who explains that if his music career doesn't work out, he will have biomedical engineering to fall back on.
If you would like more information, visit www.go.to/jvoigt or www.cdbaby.com for purchase of the CD.
Week of 8 November 2002 · Vol. VI, No. 11 www.bu.edu/bridge
ENG student rocks out with prof dad’s backup
By David J. Craig
Justin Voigt isn’t your typical young rock-and-roller. There are no signs of arrogance or rebellious posturing. In fact, the BU biomedical engineering student seems so polite and down-to-earth, so darn good, that it’s difficult to imagine him ripping electric guitar solos over power chords.
Justin Voigt (ENG’03) recorded a solo CD in a makeshift music studio at his parents’ Milton home with the help of his father, Herbert Voigt, an ENG professor of biomedical engineering, a MED associate research professor of otolaryngology, and the biomedical engineering department’s associate chairman of undergraduate studies. Photo by Kalman Zabarsky
“I don’t think I ever went through a rebellious period,” says Justin (ENG’03), who has recorded two self-released CDs, the most recent entitled Could It Be? “I always got along with my parents. My family members are actually my biggest fans.”
The positive attitude that makes Voigt seem a bit peculiar by most rock standards starts to make sense when speaking to Herbert Voigt, an ENG professor of biomedical engineering and a MED associate research professor of otolaryngology, who expresses such faith in his son’s talent and in his responsible nature that it seems that Justin probably had little to rebel against while growing up. In fact, the two see themselves as a sort of musical team, with Justin pumping out tunes and his father acting in a managerial capacity: he has lined up gigs, provides aesthetic input, and assists in the recording process.
“My wife and I bought Justin a digital four-track recorder the summer before his senior year of high school as a reward for volunteering in my laboratory, and during the next year a slew of songs poured out of him. It was quite remarkable,” says Herbert, who also is the biomedical engineering department’s associate chairman of undergraduate studies. “I actually told him if he wanted to put off attending college for a year to stay at home to write and record music, that was something we should discuss.”
But Justin, who has been playing guitar since he was 13 but has always considered music merely a hobby, opted to attend BU the following fall to pursue a career in biomedical engineering. Birthdays and holidays still bring new recording equipment, however, turning his attic bedroom in his parents’ Milton home into a virtual recording studio. Whenever time allows during the school year, which is not often, Justin escapes there from his BU residence hall to work on music. This summer, he recorded his latest CD in the attic studio, completely on his own, as he has also taught himself to play drums, bass, and keyboards.
As is par for the course, he says, the recording process did not cause any tension between him and his parents. “My dad and I like a lot of the same music, and he’s someone I always go to for advice when I’m writing and deciding which songs to put on my CD,” he says. “When I recorded my first CD, in a studio in Allston, my dad was there for every cut of every track. He was beside me for almost 50 hours, giving me his honest opinion on whether a take was good or it stunk. It’s great because I can run things by him like he was just another potential listener.
“I joke with my dad sometimes about a biomedical engineering career being something I can fall back on if the music doesn’t work out, but we both know the career comes first,” continues Justin, who is aiming to enter the biotech industry. “My goals with music are pretty simple. I’d just like people to hear my CDs so they know the sorts of things I feel and what I think about. It’s a great feeling when you can do that.”
Although a 10-year-old may not know the difference between Elvis Presley and Elvis Costello, he knows that they are both good. He knows that what he hears sounds good, flows well, and makes him want to hear some more.
Above all else Mr. Voigt, who co-produced Could it Be? , with his father, Herb Voigt, and engineered and mixed and mastered this by himself, should be commended for his sheer ability to put together a piece of music with such professional precision. The instruments are matched with the emotional depth of the chosen songs, which are also all written by Mr. Voigt.
What can be appreciated the most from Mr. Voigt's audience is that he sounds like he is actually having a good time. Every song, every track on the CD is oozing with certain freshness and a clear love for music. In this CD, Mr. Voigt combines new material with live versions of his previous CD., Enjoy the Times.
In today's money-obsessed, lawsuit impeded, music business, it's hard to find a performer who still appreciates his craft for what it really is: a creative process. Mr. Voigt's music is not unlike an independent film. It is still untouched by the aggravated hands of commercial industry. It is artwork in its purest form.
Mr. Voigt, who graduated from Milton High in 1999, is a senior at Boston University studying biomedical engineering. "Growing up, music was always a part of my life. Whether it was singing along with the Sesame Street characters, or listening to The Who, something sparked," explains Mr. Voigt. His musical influences include Our Lady Peace and Saves the Day as well as the Dave Matthews Band. However, he has to give credit to his parents, "the single most influential people on my music," who have supported him.
"I think the same as everyone else: I want to be happy, most importantly, in everything that I do. When you look at it, life is just so short, so I think that is why several of my songs have a really upbeat 'seize the day' and 'carpe diem' feel to them," says Justin who explains that if his music career doesn't work out, he will have biomedical engineering to fall back on.
If you would like more information, visit www.go.to/jvoigt or www.cdbaby.com for purchase of the CD.
Week of 8 November 2002 · Vol. VI, No. 11 www.bu.edu/bridge
ENG student rocks out with prof dad’s backup
By David J. Craig
Justin Voigt isn’t your typical young rock-and-roller. There are no signs of arrogance or rebellious posturing. In fact, the BU biomedical engineering student seems so polite and down-to-earth, so darn good, that it’s difficult to imagine him ripping electric guitar solos over power chords.
Justin Voigt (ENG’03) recorded a solo CD in a makeshift music studio at his parents’ Milton home with the help of his father, Herbert Voigt, an ENG professor of biomedical engineering, a MED associate research professor of otolaryngology, and the biomedical engineering department’s associate chairman of undergraduate studies. Photo by Kalman Zabarsky
“I don’t think I ever went through a rebellious period,” says Justin (ENG’03), who has recorded two self-released CDs, the most recent entitled Could It Be? “I always got along with my parents. My family members are actually my biggest fans.”
The positive attitude that makes Voigt seem a bit peculiar by most rock standards starts to make sense when speaking to Herbert Voigt, an ENG professor of biomedical engineering and a MED associate research professor of otolaryngology, who expresses such faith in his son’s talent and in his responsible nature that it seems that Justin probably had little to rebel against while growing up. In fact, the two see themselves as a sort of musical team, with Justin pumping out tunes and his father acting in a managerial capacity: he has lined up gigs, provides aesthetic input, and assists in the recording process.
“My wife and I bought Justin a digital four-track recorder the summer before his senior year of high school as a reward for volunteering in my laboratory, and during the next year a slew of songs poured out of him. It was quite remarkable,” says Herbert, who also is the biomedical engineering department’s associate chairman of undergraduate studies. “I actually told him if he wanted to put off attending college for a year to stay at home to write and record music, that was something we should discuss.”
But Justin, who has been playing guitar since he was 13 but has always considered music merely a hobby, opted to attend BU the following fall to pursue a career in biomedical engineering. Birthdays and holidays still bring new recording equipment, however, turning his attic bedroom in his parents’ Milton home into a virtual recording studio. Whenever time allows during the school year, which is not often, Justin escapes there from his BU residence hall to work on music. This summer, he recorded his latest CD in the attic studio, completely on his own, as he has also taught himself to play drums, bass, and keyboards.
As is par for the course, he says, the recording process did not cause any tension between him and his parents. “My dad and I like a lot of the same music, and he’s someone I always go to for advice when I’m writing and deciding which songs to put on my CD,” he says. “When I recorded my first CD, in a studio in Allston, my dad was there for every cut of every track. He was beside me for almost 50 hours, giving me his honest opinion on whether a take was good or it stunk. It’s great because I can run things by him like he was just another potential listener.
“I joke with my dad sometimes about a biomedical engineering career being something I can fall back on if the music doesn’t work out, but we both know the career comes first,” continues Justin, who is aiming to enter the biotech industry. “My goals with music are pretty simple. I’d just like people to hear my CDs so they know the sorts of things I feel and what I think about. It’s a great feeling when you can do that.”