Sophomore trades 'Hicks' for guitar picks

Music is more than a 30 GB Apple iPod to IU sophomore Kyle Hicks. It is an art -- his art, his life. \nEight years ago his father handed him a guitar bought at a pawnshop. Little did he know he had just handed his son a future.\nGrowing up in Carmel, Ind. Hicks remembers the sound of The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and even Michael Jackson. Indulging himself in music that "kept rock intact," he grew to love bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Van Halen.\nAlthough his love for music started in childhood, his guitar playing didn't cross over from recreational to serious until around high school and the time he met the man that became his mentor, HolyHell guitarist Tom Hess.\n"I met Tom while he was touring and watching him play, just listening to his music -- I was in awe," he said. "I knew that's what I wanted to do, affect people with music in the way he affected me." \nFrom there, a newly inspired Hicks set out to make music of his own, but not before doing the appropriate amount of artistic soul searching. \n"When you're writing that first song, there is no other feeling in the world like it," he said. "You have no clue where to start or how to arrange it. Maybe you've got some cool things down, but you don't know how to put it together. That's when you stop and let the music, and the inspiration behind it, help you sort it out." \nHicks found the reason for his first song on a camping trip with his father -- and aptly named it "Alaskan Wild." \n"The song turned out decent, but looking back I could have done so much better," he said. "But that's what music is, a progression. It's something you just can't fabricate. And I'd like to think that's true for all real artists." \nAnd does he have an opinion about what separates real artists from the music you're more likely to hear at the beginning of an MTV reality show? \nYes.\n"Commercialized music is prevalent in America," Hicks said. "The public will listen to whatever is readily available to them. All the music companies are looking for is a face -- that's why you see so many teenage actresses with record deals. There is so much software out there to correct your voice, it's become unnecessary to have talent."\nBut Hicks is out to prove just how necessary talent really is. Since his start at IU, he has taught independent guitar lessons ranging from beginner to virtuoso, written an online book titled "The Next Step: Serious Improvements for the Developing Guitarist" and is in the process of finishing up his first studio album under his adopted stage name, Kole.\n"Hicks is a hard last name to have in the music industry," he said. "I feel like there would be a stereotype attached to the music I would be expected to play. Besides, this way I get to feel a bit bipolar."\nBut the story doesn't end there. This August, Hicks plans to move to Los Angeles and attend the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, Calif. \nBut to the people who think he just has stars in his eyes, Hicks has one thing to say:\n"Turn off the TV."\n"Being famous is just a by-product," he said. "I would love fame and money so that I could do all the things I've ever dreamed of, but being proud of the music you've produced is always number one." \nBut as the up-and-comer sits tapping his fingers and sipping his coffee while explaining his artistic goals for the future, he pauses to listen intently to John Lennon sing the lyrics of "Imagine." \n"This song says something," he said. "It connects with you."\n"Music is one of the only art forms that people can not only relate to but perform. It connects to people. When the audience can pick up your song and apply it to their lives, their jobs, whatever -- that's when you know your job as an artist is done, when you hear someone say, 'Yeah, I get that."