Meet Ethan Walker
I love the new music you’ve been putting out! How did your time at Otterbein help either prepare or inspire your music career!
I'm glad you like the music, thank you for listening! There's much more on the way. My time at Otterbein greatly influenced my music career due to the people and the talent I was surrounded by. Before coming to Otterbein I had always written ballads on my piano at home for my own enjoyment, but I never thought of publishing any recordings or doing music as anything more than a hobby. But once I got to Otterbein I met a few people that would turn out to be some of my closest friends, who also had a passion for making music. We started a group called ACTR and since then I've begun to find my own sound and incorporate the lessons I learned with the group into my personal music. If anybody else wants to listen, I'm on every streaming platform as Erhys :)
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How has the pandemic affected your career and what are you most looking forward to once we are allowed to be creating art in large groups again?
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I feel like I may have an unpopular opinion with this topic, but in a very weird and roundabout way I needed a pandemic to open my eyes to reality and to the potential possibilities I could create for myself. As I'm sure we're all well aware of, college is hard. It takes up so much of your time regardless of what you're studying and it can be very easy to form bad habits and lose focus on yourself. The pandemic forced me to reevaluate myself and my goals, and based on the realizations I came to, I decided to completely change the way I'm pursuing my career. Rather than finishing my time in college, I dropped out and moved in with my brother in Wilmington, NC and have since developed a partnership with a cinematographer and we are working diligently to create the original content we have always been dreaming of but never done anything with. I really miss the presence of a cast though, and being surrounded by a hardworking group of both cast and crew to create a living piece of art. There's nothing more exciting and exhilarating than that. Once we can start working in groups, I know that the feeling of collaboration is going to taste even sweeter than it ever has.
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What advice would you give to young actors about to enter the professional world post graduation?
The advice I would give to people either post graduation, or should they choose to leave university early like myself, is to fight for yourself. Once you enter the professional world you have to put your nose to the ground and be willing to work your ass off in order to get anywhere. Meeting new people, creating your own unique content, seeking classes from industry professionals, etc. is crucial to making the introductions you need to establish if you want to get anywhere.
Fun Facts:
What is your best memory from your time at Otterbein?
It's really difficult to pinpoint one specific moment to call my best memory, but whenever I think of my time at Otterbein I think of all the weird stuff we had to do for class. From animal work, to t-shirt exercise, to Lenny and all his brilliant madness. I think of spending time in the dorm with my friends and just laughing and listening to music, doing improv on the troupe with some of my best friends, and staying up until 3 a.m. recording music and waking up 4 hours later for 8 a.m. ballet.
Who is your inspiration?
The people I idolize most and take most inspiration from are Donald Glover, and Mac Miller (R.I.P). Their dedication to their work and the confidence they maintain in themselves is inspiring and amazing.
