Hard at work in his New Smyrna Beach bedroom, Gabriel Hernandez sits at his Apple Mac Mini, mixing sounds he created on GarageBand. Hernandez is preparing for his second album, making sure each song is crafted to meet his quality standard.
Photo by Abigail Romeo
Gabriel Hernandez is a musician balancing his dual-enrolled studies at DSC with creating original music under the name, Joh-eun Achim (joe-eun ah-chim).
Last February, Hernandez released his first album, Snow Planet, which features ten self-recorded and produced tracks. Fans of indie, folk, alternative, and melodic rap will recognize their favorite genres, as Hernandez incorporates elements of each genre in his songs.
Album Cover by Gabriel Hernandez
Inspired by seeing his mother play the guitar, Hernandez got his start in music at eleven years old, first turning to YouTube for guitar lessons.
“After Gabriel learned guitar, it was almost like he just magically picked up every other instrument and could play it,” said his sister Jael Hernandez, who is featured on his track, “Laugh.” “I know that isn’t true however, as he worked so hard to be able to do what he does.”
In addition to guitar, Hernandez also plays bass and drums, and cites Rivers Cuomo, Frank Sinatra, Ritchie Valens, and Louis Armstrong as being his biggest musical influences.
“I wasn’t very interested in music to begin with,” Hernandez said. “I started getting more passionate about music after learning an instrument.”
On Hernandez’ creative process, he comes up with chord progressions and melodies before writing lyrics. He often turns to Instagram to find inspiration, such as new sounds that he can combine to create his own original sound.
“I know the artists that [Hernandez] likes, and I’ve listened to some of them,” said Abigail Romeo, a former DSC student and friend of Hernandez. “It’s cool to see where he picks and chooses what to add in, but it is definitely him overall.”
When Hernandez first started recording music, he used his mother’s computer in his family’s living room, but found that this was a difficult task, with his five other siblings in the house. So, he would often record his music in his garage. Recently, he bought a new computer and has been recording in his bedroom. Now, although Hernandez has his own space, his siblings help him with his music, as they are featured on a soon-to-be released song.
Hernandez dedicates his Saturdays to creating new music. Currently, he is working on an untitled second album, and so far, has three songs recorded. Hernandez said that this album will be more personal than his first, and that it has really helped him express himself. As of now, Hernandez plays exclusively at his church, and he releases his music on YouTube and Spotify.
Hernandez’ advice for his fellow student musicians is to, “believe in yourself and create what you want to create. You’re never going to get anything out if you’re worrying about making [your music] sound perfect, and I think that indie artists, such as myself, should just create, and get it out there, and just learn.”