Architecture, international studies and accounting are three majors that have little in common, but Zach Zerrade, Josh Bacha and Jordan Hollingshead are three University of Idaho students who have one similar passion — being multi-instrument musicians.
katy kithcart | rawr
Freshman Josh Bacha plays the guitar in the Cedar Grove Room in the Commons. Bacha has been playing guitar since sixth grade.
Zach Zerrade
Zerrade, originally from Texas but more recently from Boise, has been playing music since his grandfather taught him how to play the ukulele as a kid. Since then, he has picked up six other instruments and is proficient in most of them. Zerrade now plays guitar, cello, saxophone, piano, mandolin and banjo. His least favorite is the cello, he said.
“I only learned it, because my sister was learning it,” Zerrade said. “She stopped, and I thought ‘Well, here’s a cello and a free weekend.'”
Zerrade said he liked playing guitar the best. He looks up YouTube videos on occasion to learn a few techniques, but he said he can also use what he already knows to play most songs he hears.
Zerrade, an architecture major, said he didn’t want to study music because he wanted to be able to support himself after college.
“There’s a snowballs chance in hell of finding a career in music,” Zerrade said.
Zerrade said his mom and his grandpa were really into music when he was growing up, but his passion for music is best described by two words — it’s cool.
Josh Bacha
Bacha said the reason he did not major in music was because he felt it would turn off his passion for it.
Instead, Bacha is majoring in international studies.
Bacha plays guitar, bass guitar, drums, trumpet and a little bit of keyboard.
“Guitar feels the best,” Bacha said.
Bacha came to music in middle school as his form of rebelling against his parents. He said he would listen to System of a Down in the middle of the night and enjoyed the band so much that it triggered his curiosity in music.
Despite System of a Down being so influential, Bacha does not try to mimic or imitate them in his own music.
“I just want to make something that sounds unique,” Bacha said. “I just want something that will set me apart from other musicians and bands.”
Jordan Hollingshead
Hollingshead from Asotin, Wash., knows how to play 10 instruments. He can play the trumpet, flute, drums, the saxophones, guitar, bass guitar, steel guitar, violin and the trombone. He also dabbles in the ukulele.
Hollingshead’s major is accounting, which he said he was majoring in mostly because of his parents.
“I don’t really see much for me in a music major,” Hollingshead said. “Pretty much I have a job waiting for me in accounting, anyway.”
Hollingshead’s music passion derived from his father playing the guitar when he was little. He said he always wanted to be like his dad.
“Once I picked up the guitar I was like ‘okay I know how to play guitar, now let’s learn how to play bass,'” Hollingshead said. “I just kept moving on from there.”
All instruments except for saxophone were self-taught, starting with the guitar in third grade, Hollingshead said. The saxophone he learned from his band director in fifth grade.
“My band director was trying to make me ‘spread out’ more,” Hollingshead said. “I was getting too familiar with the saxophone. Drums are my baby.”
These three UI students demonstrate that music is a passion that spans states, backgrounds and majors.
Claire Whitley can be reached at [email protected]