One of Apopka High’s most talented students is Junior Addison Hodge. A member of both concert and marching band, Addison is skilled at playing both the flute and piccolo. To show how talented she is, she has also written a few pieces for concerts that she was able to play with her section as well as just for fun.

How did your interest in music/playing instruments develop?

Honestly, I decided to do band in middle school because my brother was already in the band, and it seemed cool. I didn’t think too much about it for a few years since I had other things I was interested in. It wasn’t until my sophomore year that I really started to get interested in music. I was put into Wind Ensemble that year, and before then I had never seen such challenging music, and it made me realize that I had a lot of work to do. I found that I genuinely liked playing the flute in that time period because I was starting to catch on and realize “Oh, I guess I kind of do know what I’m doing (sometimes).”

What is your favorite part of marching band?

I like the atmosphere, especially in the stands during a football game and on the bus whenever we’re going to perform somewhere. During marching season you spend so much time with the other band kids that you start feeling like family, and it’s always a lot of fun to go to games and spend time with them.

I know you’ve written some pieces for band, who is a musician that you look up to/are inspired by?

If we’re talking about musicians who also play my instrument, then I’d have to say Jasmine Choi. I find her tone quality to be very beautiful. In general, though, I’m inspired by a lot of different musicians. I’m particularly inspired by people who compose music that doesn’t have lyrics, because I feel like lyrics are a bit of a “cheat” when it comes to making you feel a certain way—which is what music, as a form of art, is supposed to do.

What does your music taste look like?

I listen to a lot of different types of music, and I’m not very picky about it. Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of rock, and my favorite band is Rage Against the Machine. I also particularly like jazz and rap, which is nice because there’s a lot of overlap between the two genres. Overall, though, I think it’s hard for a song to be objectively bad since everyone’s taste is different. Some songs I’ve been really liking at the moment are “Guerilla” Radio by Rage Against the Machine, “good kid” by Kendrick Lamar, “SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE” by Tyler, the Creator, and “Just” by Radiohead.

Outside of marching band, what else are you interested in and why?

I like writing nonfiction. My notes app is full of half-written essays and opinion pieces that I wrote about some topics that I was particularly interested in at the time. Two things that I like to write about are politics and media analysis. I also like playing video games (even though I’m really bad at them).

If you plan on pursuing a music career, what would you do?

I really don’t want to pursue a career in music because it’s not a well-paying job, but if I did I think I would like to compose video game soundtracks. I love the way video game music sounds, and I feel like a lot of modern soundtracks lack the authenticity that older games have. That’s not to say that modern soundtracks are bad; a lot of my favorite tracks come from games that were released within the last few years, but I’d like to find a way to create pieces using modern technology without losing the originality and charm that older games have.