Deepcut Discussion with Porter Hobbs

Background: Deepcut Discussion is a series by Fiona Rae for FRONTRUNNER, dedicated to interviewing young artists and creatives through a playful investigative lens. In each interview, she explores the underlying motivation to be an artist today, what it means in our culture, and why young people choose to pursue their passions in an increasingly monetary world.

What do you know about ambient black metal influenced by Appalachian culture? If absolutely nothing is the answer, go talk to Porter Hobbs, an electronic musician hailing from North Carolina. Majoring in Music Production for Film as a freshman at Columbia College Chicago, he has eclectic interests ranging from beat making to film scoring. For the past few years, he has worked towards a respected career within his music projects and film under the name Gwynn. For our interview, Hobbs turns on some Cocteau Twins, pulls out his instruments, and spills some thoughts about the creation of art and his hopes for the future. 

What led you to be passionate about your music? 

My mom was always playing good music, a lot of Joy Division and post-punk.  When I was thinking about becoming the person who I wanted to be in high school, I was really lost, and music found me at the perfect time. My friend from a local college was a filmmaker, and he did the soundtracks for his movies. He showed me how to start making music and I felt like I could express myself through sound better than anything else. I like to make ambient music the most, very textured music. But I also produce trap beats for students here. I like the idea of having something that I could listen to that’s just perfect, a song that would be my favorite song I ever heard, but it’s just not out there yet. There’s a whole world of opportunity being a student that you can conquer by learning, the sheer amount of opportunity in music definitely keeps me involved. 

Why did you choose to study at an art school instead of traditional college? 

The main reason was to be around other creatives that have the same goals as me. I like to be around driven people and art school has like-minded people. I’ve never really gone to a normal school before, I went to a charter school. It was just eight trailers in the middle of the woods with a playground in the middle. In high school, I went to early college. I was taking art classes at a community college. I was getting my associates degree in science, I wanted to be a park ranger. But junior year, I started to get into fine art. I wanted to be a museum curator, which I’m still pretty passionate about. When I started making music, it just slowly started taking over my life. It just kept on getting bigger and that’s what I ended up pursuing. I don’t know what I’m going to get out of it yet, truly. Hopefully, I make as many connections as possible. If you believe in yourself long enough and you pursue it for long enough, you’re going to make it for sure.

What does your music connect you to in a deeper sense, what feelings do you imbue? 

My music connects me to my childhood. When I make music, it reminds me of memories that I had, and I make music with those in mind. Ambient music fills up your whole brain and makes it smooth. It’s very calming and sometimes it’s spiritual for me. It comes from the mind at the end of the day, that’s where your spirit resides. When I make music, I get in some sort of flow state where I’m just thinking about the sounds that I’m trying to make, coming straight from my mind. There’s no words. I’m putting that into the computer, into the keyboard, and that could be a higher self, kind of above the conscious self.

What does it mean to be a young artist creating in this modern age, grappling with hustle culture and AI? 

It can mean a lot of things now, some people create just to make money. Our generation, they create in a way that’s expressing themselves, going against the traditional route of getting a 9 to 5. It’s like a counterculture within itself. If you’re a creative person, you have all of these thoughts in your mind that you feel the need to get out, being stuck in an office job, in the cubicle every day, you’re going to grow resentment for not following your dreams. I would never sign up for that life. I’m so young, but I feel like I’m already out of time, that just pushes me to better myself. Being young drives me even more, because you’re only young for such a short amount of time. In terms of technology, AI could never replicate what humans could. It’s going to get better but it will never have the thought processes that we have, the processes of irony. They don’t have the five senses and the five senses go into art, all of them. No human is the same. We all have our own habits, and our own gestures, and our own thought processes, and they can never be repeated. 

What do you hope to see more of in the art world and your career?

Right now, the [art world] needs innovation. We need people doing their own thing, but it’s hard nowadays because we have so many different inspirations and everybody’s done so much. Electronic music, I think it’s the most innovative genre right now. The most innovative musicians right now are using the computer and electronics because that’s what we are growing up around. For my career, the goal is to be respected. I don’t have to be famous or anything, but I’d like to be a respected artist, and I’d like to inspire artists, you know? You just have to throw yourself out there and do everything in your power and put all your energy into the world, and it will get it back to you. And that’s what I’m doing with my art, I’m putting my all into it, and I have faith in that.