D I G M AG
APRIL
2017
Words and Photos Gustavo Ortega
26
Cal State Long Beach has been known for shaping remarkable talent throughout the years, and perhaps now we could be looking at the next set of icons in the world of music. Miguel Orduño, Andie Paredes and Adam Yocum are working toward making an impact in their respective genres. Orduño wants to work his way up into being a music producer; Paredes would like to be a singer and songwriter; and, as for Yocum, he aspires to be a writer, singer and producer. We have three talented young artists, three different types of genres, three distinctive stories, but they all share a common thing – music.
Andie Paredes Before starting school at Long Beach, Andie Paredes and her mom used to drive from Oakley, which is an hour away from San Francisco, to Los Angeles once a month for two straight years. They would call this trip “LA in a day,” where they would drive about six hours to come do singing lessons with her music producer, Mark Vopel, for a couple hours. After the lessons were done, they would drive back another six more hours to go back home. Paredes made this sacrifice because of the love she has for music. She considers singing and songwriting being a big part of her life. Paredes’ vocals are out of the ordinary, and her mom knew she had a gift when they heard her sing back in first-grade choir. Andie Paredes, shown recording tracks for her EP album, found her gift of singing in her school's first-grade choir.