Stanley Kaminsky’s first performance outside of the northeastern Pennsylvania area was through The New York Songwriters Circle, a showcase in New York City where artists like Lana Del Rey and Norah Jones have performed.

“I think that I learned a lot about songwriting from that, and I think that personally, I work better as an individual than as a person in a group,” Kaminsky said. “I guess those two things really pushed me into more of the singer-songwriter realm.”

Kaminsky, a junior television, radio and film major, began playing music in the eighth grade when he learned how to play guitar. His friends encouraged him to start singing, and although he was hesitant at first, Kaminsky eventually began vocal training.

Kaminsky, who performs as Stanley Michael, uses his middle name instead of his last name because it was also his grandfather’s name. He also attributes both his creativity and musical ability to his grandfather, who was a drummer and painter.

After coming to Syracuse University, Kaminsky said he actively wrote songs but didn’t reach out to other people involved in music on campus until this year. He then attended shows put on by Made at SU, a group started by audio arts graduate students who aim to help artists make it in the music world.

He got in touch with some people in the group, including Samu Rast, a graduate student in the audio arts program who began producing for Kaminsky this semester. Kaminsky recorded a video of himself performing and sent it to the students in the program, who were impressed by his talent.

“Stanley is a super motivated dude, and a really talented musician,” Rast said. “It was just really clear that the raw talent was very much there, and I think everyone was excited to get into the studio with him.”

Last semester, Kaminsky started recording music in the Belfer Audio Archive on campus with Dayna Lashin, another graduate student in the audio arts program, who is now his manager.

“He’s a really hard worker and he cares a lot about his music and what he’s putting out and what we want to do,” Lashin said. “It’s been pretty great — we get along very well. “

Kaminsky has been working on a single called “I Never Needed Anything More,” which he hopes to release later this month. With the release of his single, he will be launching a presence on various social networking sites, including SoundCloud and Twitter. Kaminsky said he also hopes to release physical copies of the song as well as release it on iTunes, in addition to a live video of him performing the song.

Kaminsky describes his music as “log cabin” and organic. He said that part of what makes him a unique artist is his focus on making music naturally, without electronic or synthetic sounds.

Kaminsky has performed at Funk ‘n Waffles in the past and is planning to perform at a Made at SU show this semester. He said he enjoys performing because of the interactions he has with listeners.

“I like how performing is a relationship in progress,” Kaminsky said. “It’s not just a one time thing when you’re performing. It’s an interaction between you and the viewers and listeners. It’s a cool form of interaction.”

Overall, Kaminsky said he has enjoyed his growth as a vocalist, and Rast attested to his skills.

“He’s got a very smooth, beautiful tenor voice,” Rast said. “He’s a songwriter, too and the stuff he writes is very much his own, and very genuine.”

Kaminsky is aiming to attend the Newhouse in NYC program during the 2015 fall semester. If he is accepted, Kaminsky said he hopes to perform as much as he can in New York City. He added that the most difficult part of being a musician is also being a student.

“The hardest part is being a student, because all I want to do is live in the studio and write and record and perform,” Kaminsky said.

Published on March 3, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact Isha: idamle@syr.edu