Tre-Vaughen Fullerton is known for his hip-hop styled beats on SoundCloud.com. Most of his music can be found under the username “trendsettatre.” His passions are producing music and getting his fans to connect with it. The sophomore majoring in sound design took time from his busy schedule to talk to Assistant Feature Editor, Danielle Oliveira.
Tre-Vaughen Fullerton, a sophomore sound design major, sitting on a bench at the School of Business. Photo by: Danielle Oliveira
When I started making music at 16, someone stole my iPad from my gym locker. It was the scariest thing because my iPad was my lifeline. I used it every day to record and make beats for songs.
I was so upset and angry. I felt empty. I thought I was never going to be able to make music again because I was broke at the time. I had no money to buy a new computer or anything else. My iPad was the only way for me to make music.
The days after my iPad was stolen, I was so eager to go home and make a beat until I remembered I could no longer do that anymore. My instrument of relief was gone.
Luckily, I ended up getting my iPad back because I realized who had taken it. The day it was stolen, a group of kids that never changed in my area of the locker room suddenly did. I told a security guard and they eventually found it.
Music will always be my sanity. It makes me feel whole. There’s nothing I’d rather put my time into. It’s like a knack or an itch. People who smoke cigarettes get an itch to go outside and get some nicotine in their systems. Me? I have to go make a beat just to feel satisfied. If I don’t, I feel bad about myself. It’s like I have this urge to get better and better every day. I’m making music all the time. It’s a habit I don’t want to ever get rid of.
Whenever I sit down and make a beat, it always starts with my curiosity. I drive myself to do it because I’m curious about what I can make.
I always feel very inspired, too. For example, if I hear a truck beeping in the background, then I get an idea. I’ll go to my computer and make a beat with the sound of trucks beeping. My music is very spontaneous, depending on how I’m feeling at a moment. No beat sounds like any other beat I’ve made before.
Hip-hop has been a huge influence on me. There’s just something about hip-hop that no other kind of music makes me feel. A song can come on and a whole room will get excited.
No one hears a country song and says, “Oh, this is my jam!” That doesn’t usually happen.
Tre-Vaughen Fullerton dj-ing at The Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ, on July 7, 2017. Photo courtesy of Tre-Vaughen Fullerton
This type of music has an emotion that poured out of it whether it has words or not. It’s just the way the music sounds that make you want to move. Its a crazy feeling. Being able to create that and control people’s emotions makes me feel great about myself. What comes out of my brain can make somebody else feel good and have a positive effect on them.
Whenever someone comes up to me and says “I’ve listened to your song,” it makes me feel appreciated and that what I do matters.
People’s opinions about my music are important to me. I want to be a part of the music production industry and form a career for myself. I want this to be my full-time job. Some producers might say that they don’t care what anyone thinks and that they are going to make what they want to make because it’s what they like, but I don’t agree with that. If that’s your career and no one really likes what you make, then who are you making it for?
