The AUX cord buzzes. The leather snaps. The fifth fret vibrates as the first momentous note hums through the speaker. It’s another day for senior Alexander Petrie and his cherished guitar.

Petrie comes from a very creative family of artists, designers and bakers–but not guitar players.

“As far as I know, I’m the only musician in the family. Now everyone else in my family does other forms of art like drawing or decorating cakes and desserts, but everything that I do is without guidance because no one knows what to do in music,” said Petrie.

The lack of family musicians did not stop Petrie from exploring a calling he felt at an early age.

“I started playing guitar in 10th grade. I always wanted to play since I was little, but I never had anyone to properly teach me,” said Petrie.

After experimenting on his own, Petrie began to develop into a skilled guitarist. He now enjoys writing his own music and one day hopes to pursue a career in music production and possible have his own band.

“I want to go to college and learn how to produce music. Then I could make music of my own and perform in bands. I would love to own a band or at least be in one. I always had the idea and I even tried to come up with band names which is harder than it looks. I think it would be fun to be apart of a band and hang out with one another like brothers. That’ll be so cool,” said Petrie.

Petrie’s original songs focus on the idea of outer space and both the freedom and seclusion of isolation.

“Most of my songs are about space. I really enjoy the idea of an endless void and when you have something that’s endless you can have many ideas. One song is about a guy just looking at the stars and the stars are mocking him in return. Another song is about being in the ends of space and just being trapped and isolated,” said Petrie.

For Petrie the guitar is a method of escaping into a world filled with self reflection, peace, and enjoyment. When he isn’t busy experiencing and mixing different notes to create his own unique combinations, Petrie can be seen with headphones on and the smooth melody of Pink Floyd playing.

“I love Pink Floyd and Rush. I love their instrumentation and lyrics. They consist of lengthy complex songs with an experimental twist. The word choice can be really strange and weird. It breaks away from typical rhymes and goes more towards internal rhymes and slant rhymes. I feel excited, sometimes my walking keeps with the tempo and it feels super cool; it makes me wanna just rock out,” said Petrie.

Although Petrie loves Pink Floyd he tries to stray away from looking up to one musician for fear that it will take away from the originality of his own music, but that doesn’t mean he won’t play the songs that really speak to him.

“One of my favorite songs to play is Shine on You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd because the solo in the beginning is so smooth and awesome to play. The song is 13 minutes long so that’s a challenge within itself. It’s just such an iconic song. The guitar is just so fun to play and when I hear people from other bands play these hard songs It makes me wanna get better so I can play just as good,” said Petrie.

After taking three years of Guitar and one year of Jazz at GLHS, Petrie has evolved into a better guitarist and creative producer. Only time will tell if Petrie will pursue that, “Great Gig In The Sky.