Pictured Above: Marketing major Carson Owen, an avid drummer and paintball photographer, spends much of his time jamming out and perfecting his angles.
Sophie Ojdanic | The Crow’s Nest
By Trevor Martindale
For Carson Owen, hobbies and extracurriculars are the most fruitful when they allow him to be expressive.
Owen, a junior marketing major, spends much of his leisure time in “jam sessions” as a drummer.
“Both of my parents dig (my drumming), because my dad is a musician,” Owen said. “I got lucky – my neighbors seem to like it too. One of my neighbors has a kid and apparently the kid heard me play and he wants to be a drummer now.”
Since his father is a musician, Owen has always had a natural affinity for music, but he initially struggled to find his musical niche.
Owen tried piano and guitar, which he said he “hated.” After finding a compatible teacher, he found drums were the instrument for him.
Once Owen honed his drumming skills, he began performing on drumless tracks.
“One of the things that my drum teacher had me work on was finding drumless tracks, (so I can) write my own part of a song,” Owen said. “The song could be just guitar and bass and I would have to create my own drum (performance).”
Courtesy of Carson Owen
Now, after five years of drumming, Owen plans to form a band.
“I have a couple friends and we are actually really close to starting (a band), we just need one more person,” Owen said. “It started out with a jam session that went really well and some more jam sessions that went well. There’s no set way to start a band – if it works it works.”
Owen expects that his band will play a fusion of rock and pop rock.
Aside from jam sessions at home or at a friend’s house, Owen often spends his time on the paintball field. But he’s not shooting paintballs, he’s shooting photos and videos.
Courtesy of Carson Owen
Owen’s love for paintball photography and videography began in the seventh grade.
“My dad had a camera and we went out to take pictures of whatever we found and we found a soccer and football game,” Owen said. “Those were my two favorite things we took pictures of that day. I had already been into paintball for a little bit, so I thought ‘well, lets try paintball photography.’ So since then I kept doing it and found out I could get paid so I kept doing it more.”
After a while, Owen made a name for himself in paintball social circles.
“I have kind of gotten a reputation for getting videos of a bunch of people cheating during (paintball) games,” Owen said. “People get hit and wipe the paint off.”
Owen himself is sometimes hit with paintballs, as he often has to be near the players to get the “best angles.”
Owen remains undecided about his career path, but his hobbies will continue to play an integral role in his life.
Owen posts his drumming solos and covers to his YouTube channel, Carson Owen, and his Instagram, @carsonowenmusic. His paintball photography can also be found on Instagram @owen_media_.
