More students at Branham High School are sharing their music with the masses, without expectations of future success. They spend hours at a time writing, recording, and producing music in their closets, garages, and basements. They sometimes even go through the trouble to upload their tracks onto SoundCloud or YouTube.

Despite the amount of work it takes to make music that people will enjoy being hard to work into a daily life routine, some, such as junior Roman Bolzowski, still make music for as little as a sense of pride.

“I always enjoyed listening to music, so it’s really cool when you hear music that you made yourself,” said Bolzowski, who makes music with his friends from a makeshift studio in his bedroom.

Others, like junior Jason Rioja, get personal and share their own struggles and challenges. This, along with making the listeners happy, is what motivates Rioja to spend hour after hour making music.

“Making everybody happy is what truly makes me happy, so what motivates me is just putting smiles on everyone’s face,” Rioja said. “It’s about starting from nothing and making something original, and about making your own life from your music.”

For many, music can be used as a way to ease one’s angst or nerves. Senior Shaya Zarkub turns to music often when school or life in general becomes overwhelming.

“I always look to music when I’m stressed out because it calms me down,” said Zarkub, who wrote “Election Season,” a hit with the student body. “Making music is a great motivator to get through the day.”

As it seems, success and fame don’t really matter to a lot of students who put the effort into making music hour after hour, day by day. Sometimes, all they need is a smile in appreciation of their work.