Hidden away down a long hallway in downtown Evanston, there is a small concert venue called Space. The room, which is bathed in low purple and orange lighting, is filled with small tables lit by candle light. As the room slowly begins to fill, one may begin to notice a trend. The crowd mostly consists of hip-looking Northwestern freshmen. They don’t seem out of place: after all, this concert venue hosts a wide variety of indie performers. But last Thursday, Space hosted one of their own.
As a girl wearing a white stocking cap makes her way through the audience, the crowd suddenly bursts into applause, and Kelsey Wild takes the stage with a gracious smile and many “thank yous.” Flipping her bright red hair to the side, she begins to play, alone on the stage except for her keyboard.
Her confident, yet shy, stage demeanor suggests Wild is no novice. With a smooth voice that sounds like the lovechild of Cat Power and Regina Spektor (both of whom Wild cites as inspirations), Wild does not leave any doubt of her that she belongs on the stage. Between songs, she mentions her new EP which she says will be on iTunes soon. What Kelsey Wild does not mention is that in the back of her mind, she’s still worried about midterms.
Wild is a Communication freshman at Northwestern University, as well as an active member of the Chicago indie music scene. For the past two years, Wild has been balancing music and school quite successfully.
“I love it. I really really like Northwestern a lot. I have a really easy schedule right now,” Wild said.
Born in Hawaii, Wild moved briefly to California before spending most of her life in rural Byron, Illinois, a town of about 4,000 people. She is not used to the support she has received at Northwestern.
“People have been so supportive here, which is a lot different from where I’m from,” she said. “There, music isn’t a big deal. People aren’t really interested.”
A Jones resident, Wild says that a combination of concentration, a relatively manageable schedule with only three classes and the facilities at her dorm have made the balancing act between writing and practicing music and keeping up with schoolwork manageable.
“I thought it was going to be a lot harder than it is. It’s about keeping a lot of things in balance.” she said. “I spend a lot time studying, but I still have a lot more free time [than in high school]. I just can’t do a lot of activities here.”
Wild has been a finalist in several songwriting competitions over the past two years, including the 2007-2008 International Songwriting Competition, but her interests in school lie in other areas of the arts. An RTVF major, she is not currently in any music classes.
“I’m in Radio, TV, Film because my main thing is playing music, but I don’t have a huge passion for music theory,” she said. “I can’t say that I won’t end up taking music theory and composition down the road, but I just feel like film and music intersect so much.”
While many aspiring musicians will move off to L.A. or New York the first chance they get, Wild chose to continue her schooling, and she feels her music has actually benefited from being at Northwestern. Other than offering Wild more time to practice and a better place area to rehearse, the school has given the singer people who inspire her on a daily basis, and her songwriting has reflected that recently.
“I’m inspired from a lot of things. Definitely real-life experiences, but also from a lot of people I know. If I just wrote all my songs about me, they’d be kind of boring,” Wild said. “I’ve met a lot of people, especially here, that just have really great life stories.”
For Wild, a month into college, things are going well. She likes her classes and says she’s doing well as far as grades go. The self-described “average freshman” should release her first EP within the month on iTunes.
You know, average freshman stuff.
Listen to Kelsey Wild at her MySpace.