October 2022 B Section

Thursday, October 13, 2022
Read The Californian Online at www.thecalifornianpaper.com
A musician of a generation
A&E B7
Cal student
is making an
album set to be
released this
school year
Nidhay Mahavadi
and Tejas Mahesh
Staff Writers
Vocals, guitar, bass, and percussion.
All of these musical elements
are crucial to every song,
and all done by junior Anushna
Sapatnekar through raw demos
and inventive editing.
Sapatnekar is planning to
release an indie rock album,
“Little Dipper,” during their
senior year in 2023.
They began the album as a
freshman, writing 150 songs but
are currently narrowing down to
their top 10 songs.
“The album is about what I
went through during ninth grade
and how I dealt with my mental
health,” Sapatnekar said. “It’s
also about a toxic and unhealthy
long distance relationship and
how it was affecting me.”
Sapatnekar’s music career
started with classical music
training when they were nine,
but they felt that it suppressed
their interest. Thankfully, their
music teacher, Matthew Fisherkeller,
recognized their talent
early on and redirected their
path toward the guitar.
“A few years into our study
they picked up the guitar and
with absolutely no help from
me, wrote and sung their first
song,” Fisherkeller said. “It was
quality and so beautiful to me
that I shed a tear or two from
seeing how far they had come,
excited they finally found their
passion and knowing how much
potential they had in store.”
Sapatnekar’s music was inspired
by Taylor Swift’s poetic
and detailed lyrics in “Folklore”
as well as by Phoebe Bridgers
and Car Seat Headrest, where
they got their ideas for the
bassline. Fisherkeller saw the
music as fitting in with some
sentimental singer-songwriters
but also major pop acts.
“It’s sort of hard to listen to
those styles and make your own
styles which is why you need
a mix of artists to look up to,”
Sapatnekar said.
Their music-making process
starts with a demo, a recorded
melodic idea. They first record
guitar and vocals and then use
MIDI (Musical Instrument
Digital Interface) to add the
bass and percussion. Once the
demos have been critiqued by
their teacher, they are sent to
their producer, David Lipps at
Earthtones Audio.
Those who have heard “Little
Dipper” believe that Sapatnekar’s
introspective music will
take them places as a songwriter.
“The music has a melancholy
feel but simultaneously it gets
stuck in your head,” Anika Patel,
Sapatnekar’s girlfriend, said.
When listening to one of the
songs, “Infinite”, Sapatnekar’s
friend Aarush Kulkarni described
his listening experience
as though he was standing in
an open field, exposed to the
elements of nature around
him. Kulkarni added that Sapatnekar’s
music goes to the
extremes.
“The songs are drenched
with feelings of nostalgia,
youthful romance, and wonder
that captivate our inner poet,”
Photo courtesy of Anushna Sapatnekar
Junior Anushna Sapatnekar plays the guitar in the recording studio for their first ever
album.
Fisherkeller said. “I believe this
reflects on who they are as a
person and trust that they have
a lot of wisdom to share with
the world as the years go on.”
Fisherkeller has been a part
of Sapatnekar’s long musical
journey and can confidently say
that they have a true musical gift.
“As a teacher I truly believe
anyone with the will to succeed
will do so,” Fisherkeller said.
“Anushna certainly has the
talent as a singer and songwriter
to do amazing things with their
music. Regardless of what they
choose, I know they will have
a life full of sharing beautiful
music.”
Homecoming high note
Photo by Samantha Contreras
Junior Alyssa Lu, flute player on the marching band, leads in a solo during the homecoming football game last Friday
night. The band and color guard performed their routine during halftime festivities.
J.K. Rowling takes
her transphobic
comments to the
pages in new book
Sia Lele
Staff Writer
J.K. Rowling, beloved author
of the Harry Potter series,
recently released a new book
on Aug. 30 called, “The Ink
Black Heart.”
It is the sixth installment in
the Cormoran Strike series,
written under the author’s pen
name, Robert Galbraith. Since
its publication, the book has
received a lot of backlash and
criticism, and sparked quite the
controversy.
The book is about a character
named Edie Ledwell,
who comes under fire and is
murdered for creating a comic
called the “Ink Black Heart”,
which includes transphobic,
ableist, and racist comments.
Coincidently, this plot line almost
exactly mirrors Rowling’s
own experiences of making
transphobic comments and
losing fans.
But when asked about it
in“The Black Heart Interactive
Q&A”, Rowling said she had
been planning this book for a
long time and denied the semblance
to her own life.
“When it did happen to me,
those who had already read the
book in manuscript form were –
are you clairvoyant?” she said in
the Q&A. “I wasn’t clairvoyant,
I just – yeah, it was just one of
those weird twists. Sometimes
life imitates art more than one
would like.”
Like the character Ledwell,
Rowling has repeatedly posted
transphobic comments, particularly
targeting trans women.
The retaliation by the public
led to her losing many fans
and entire fan bases distancing
themselves from her. According
to Metro, actors in the Harry
Potter movie franchise, including
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma
Watson, Rupert Grint, Bonnie
Wright, Evanna Lynch, and
Katie Leung, were among the
people offering support for the
trans community.
“Transgender women are
women,” Radcliffe wrote on
Twitter. “Any statement to the
contrary erases the identity and
dignity of transgender people
and goes against all advice
given by professional health
care associations who have far
more expertise on this subject
matter than either Jo or I.”
Emma Watson also expressed
similar views.
“Trans people are who they
say they are and deserve to
live their lives without being
constantly questioned or told
they aren’t who they say they
are,” Watson tweeted, according
to Entertainment Weekly.
“I want my trans followers to
know that I and so many other
people around the world see
you, respect you and love you
for who you are.”
Many people were infuriated
that “The Ink Black Heart”
attempted to paint transphobic
people like Rowling as victims
of vicious, hateful trans activists.
The activists are depicted as
online trolls who go to extremes
to kill Ledwell, who is depicted
as honorable and respectable.
A lot of controversy also
surrounds Rowling’s chosen
pen name Robert Galbraith.
Dr. Robert Galbraith Heath was
an American psychiatrist in an
era when homosexuality was
considered a mental disorder.
During his work as a neurosurgeon,
he experimented with
many unethical and horrifying
“solutions” to change a person’s
sexuality, such as shock therapy.
Many people have pointed
out the significance of the
similarity between Heath and
Rowling’s pen name, but Rowling
and her representatives have
gone to great lengths to say that
her selection of the name is
merely a coincidence.
“I chose Robert because it’s
one of my favorite men’s names,
because Robert F. Kennedy
is my hero…,” Rowling said
during the same Q&A. “Galbraith
came about for a slightly
odd reason. When I was a child,
I really wanted to be called ‘Ella
Galbraith,’ and I’ve no idea
why. I don’t even know how I
knew that the surname existed,
because I can’t remember ever
meeting anyone with it. Be
that as it may, the name had a
fascination for me.”
“The Ink Black Heart” was
unnecessary and the nail in
Rowling’s transphobic coffin.
She should have expected the
negative response she would get
since she already had received
backlash when she made transphobic
comments on Twitter.
For the person who coined
“words are our inexhaustible
source of magic” in the Harry
Potter series, “The Ink Black
Heart” only uses words in the
most exhausting way possible.