Busking in the street or hitting the pub scene might be a well-worn path for aspiring musicians but one Griffith student has taken a different approach.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Harry Catanzariti, 17, has recorded over 500,000 streams of music he's recorded and uploaded to Spotify.
Spotify is a digital radio station which gives listeners the chance to listen to almost any type of music through a mobile phone app.
While half a million streams is a long way from music megastar Ed Sheeran's record 2.5 billion streams for one song on Spotify, it's no small feat considering Harry has only released three songs so far.
First drawn to making music by listening to rap beats, he's spent time learning piano and guitar to create the melodies which have attracted 38,879 monthly listeners on Spotify.
"I taught myself guitar and piano, I know enough to get the chords that I need," he said.
Harry's three songs Stay, Message and Out of Love were written as he was listening to other artists.
"I draw lyrics from the emotions you feel when listening to other music, it's a response to what I listen to," he said.
READ MORE
Harry considers himself lucky that he can sing, as a virus he caught a few years ago almost left him with paralysed vocal cords. It meant a medical procedure was needed.
"There was a slim chance that the cords wouldn't last. To be able to record at all is just great," he said.
Since then Harry's spent a lot of time turning an appreciation of music into the skills needed to make music.
"I'm planning to blur some boundaries with the next few releases," he said.
The HSC has meant meant songwriting has had to take a back seat as he focuses on study.
While the bright lights of show business might be attractive, Harry plans to complete his HSC at Marian Catholic College and then move on to studying economics at university.
"If I could do it professionally, that'd be great but I still want to get a degree before a music career."