The Music Obsession: The College Experience with Erin J

>> In dorms, there are these things called Floor Meetings. It's where your RA (resident advisor) sits everyone down and goes over ground rules, while trying to make them fun and not painfully boring. Flash back to my first floor meeting freshman year - I was in the hallway with a bunch of people I didn't know or want to know honestly, all for the purpose of discussing rules like not throwing raging parties in the dorm, etc etc. The "icebreaker" my RA chose was to have us go around and each say something interesting we'd done over the summer. Lots of people said they traveled or tried new sports and things like that - I said that I did press on the Vans Warped Tour for my site (shocking self promotion, I know!) A few days later, I get a message from a girl who says she was at the floor meeting and was excited to hear someone else talk about Warped. We met for lunch and the rest is history. This girl from my floor? She's Erin Janosik, photographer at large and co-founder of Shoreline Records. She does her local Staten Island music scene proud while taking the academic world of NYU by storm. Erin has her priorities in order and values school over most things, seeing it as an opportunity to truly expand. I give her credit - she's got a sense of balance I've been striving at for years. Read more about Erin below!

Please state your name, age, and what school you attend.

Erin Janosik, 20 years old, Junior at NYU

When and how did you first get involved with the music scene? If you got involved at a relatively early age, was it hard having to deal with age restricted shows?

I first got involved in the music scene at 15 years old when my close friends from childhood started a band and began playing shows at a venue nearby, then called The Muddy Cup, now known as Full Cup. We had gone to music festivals like Bamboozle and Warped Tour as well as other concerts before that, but that was my first gateway into local music. Most shows at that point were all ages, so I can't really remember running into any issues regarding age restrictions.

Now that you're in college, has that aspect gotten easier? Are things more accessible to you now?

Since I didn't have much of a problem to begin with things have stayed the same.

Do you find that you have more or less free time generally as a college student?

I definitely have less free time as a college student. Classes, work, and commuting keep me constantly occupied; it's hard to find free time to do fun things.

Being actively involved in the music industry, how often have you been tempted to skip class or put off an assignment in order to attend / play a show? How do you make the choice?

I've always been a very devoted, perhaps even annoyingly over-diligent student. School has always taken priority for me, I've never skipped class or put off an assignment as far as my memory serves me. When I know I want to go to a show, I manage my time as well as I possibly can in order to assure that my work will be done so that I can attend, but if it's not looking like that's going to happen, schoolwork takes precedence. I'm pretty much a ginormous nerd.

Have you ever arranged your schedule based on music related obligations? Have you ever had to turn something down or reschedule something based on your school schedule?
Yes, if I want to see something, I'll try my best to get everything done so that I can do it. There have been a number of times I've had to turn down going to a show because of school or work.

Are you often faced with tough choices when it comes to priorities and scheduling as a student who's also involved in the music industry?
Most definitely, but I guess it's better to be busy, right?

What is one of the biggest obstacles you've faced while trying to progress your career while still in school? Have you faced many tough obstacles like that, or has being in school helped you take those next steps?
I'm not really sure what I want to do in the future, but I try to look at it as though everything I do and do wholeheartedly is something that will teach me how to be a better person or do things more efficiently, etc. I love to learn new things, so in my mind school can never go wrong.

How has being in college helped you advance your involvement in the music industry? Do you think the pros of being in both outweigh the cons?
School has not really helped me progress in the music industry, if anything the two kind of clash.

What are your plans for after graduation?
More school! A master's degree.