Inspired by music, senior discovers his voice
O’Brien’12 is a member of the Colby Musicians’ Alliance and is in charge of organizing Foss open mic nights.
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For Devin O’Brien ’12, the world of music opened up one Christmas morning in Croton-on-Hudson, NY, when his parents gave his younger brother an electric guitar. “As a big brother, it’s kind of your job to play around with your sibling’s stuff,” he said, reflecting on the moment when he began to realize his musical passion. “When I hooked that thing up to a distortion peddle and just started to jam, I was really amazed by the kind of things you can do with an instrument. Before that, I just played clarinet, and my teacher said it sounded like something was dying.”
O’Brien spent a good deal of time between middle and high school watching online tutorials and trying to mimic his favorite musicians, such as Stevie Rae Vaughn and Jimi Hendrix, and by eighth grade he had begun writing some of his own music. “I’ve written about nearly everything—the cheesy stuff, the drunk stuff, love, life and pretty much everything else you can imagine,” he said. “Actually, in about eighth grade, I was really into punk rock. I wrote a song called ‘Black Legacy,’ and despite the title, it was horrible.”
It’s only fitting that upon his arrival at Colby, O’Brien joined the Musicians’ Alliance. He is now president of the club today, taking over the duties of running open mic nights that take place every so often in Foss. “I love getting up there, but I’m an awful dancer. The thought of syncing my body with music just makes me want to throw up.”
That being said, dancing seems to be the only thing that O’Brien feels uncomfortable doing. On top of his musical exploits on campus, O’Brien has worked in video production for Animal Planet, is a wing for the rugby team, a COOT leader and a senior writer for the Echo. “Honestly, I didn’t do much my freshman year, but when I got involved and really began applying myself, it made my time here truly worthwhile.”
Most recently, O’Brien has started the Colby chapter of “Voices of Change.” The organization was founded by a Princeton University student with the goal of promoting social activism through journalism, doing so by profiling altruistic individuals in the local community. O’Brien originally got the idea for the group from a documentary radio creative writing class with Professor Debra Spark, where he had the opportunity to connect with the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter. There he met a local citizen, Mr. Michaud, who beat homelessness and went on to teach troubled youth in the Waterville area. “I think Michaud is a perfect candidate for this kind of thing,” O’Brien said. “I believe [this club] will help Colby strengthen both its service and its connection with Waterville.”
With graduation not too far in the future, O’Brien commented on the experience his involvement and various leadership positions have given him. “It’s hard sometimes,” he admitted, “to get people interested in your cause when you’re kind of the only spark plug pushing to make any form of visible progress. It’s also kind of a bummer that I came from high school being in a band, and it’s been kind of a solo act in college....I guess it may be because of what some kids are used to when coming here,” he continued, “but people seem to be really attracted to stability and I wouldn’t exactly say we’re a school of rock and rollers.”
Thanks to O’Brien, however, Colby has begun to see an upsurge in student performances on the Foss stage, like those of the funk band Funktion and the rap stylings of Lester Batiste ’13. “Whether a kid walks away thinking they’ve embarrassed themselves, or it’s undeniably awesome, they add something to the community,” he said. “Honestly, it only takes a few students going out on a limb, following what they’re passionate about and really pursuing it.”