When Ricky Smith sat down to write his track, “Good Days,” he tried to focus the lyrics on staying positive and having really good people around you.

“It’s up to us to not let people wallow in their sadness,” Smith said, “it can be a tough world, but if you have good people around you, then can keep you positive.”

The “Good Days,” music video dropped on Friday, embodies just that, positivity and inspiration. With his music, Smith wants to inspire people to live their lives to the fullest with no limits on their reality. The junior Bandier student believes you create your own reality, and “Good Days” conveys a portion of that.

Smith has been involved in the performing arts since he was eight years old. From being in a Broadway play, to appearing on Law and Order, performing has always been a huge part of his life.

As Smith grew up, he started shifting his interest from acting to music. He was overwhelmed as a child actor, and realized that he wanted more time as a normal student. In his senior year of high school, Smith realized that music was the thing he was most passionate about, and has been thoroughly involved ever since.

Smith put his first song on SoudCloud when he was a freshman in college. It gained popularity organically, and still to this day he said he has only spent a maximum of $50 promoting his music. Smith was also featured on a track with Hoodie Allen in January, which gave him a boost with his fans.

“Good Days” already had an impressive 150,000 plays on Spotify and 70,000 plays on Soundcloud before the video was released.

For Smith, his tracks are most inspired by personal situations and by his crazy imagination: “I am a sponge,” Smith said, “I take in a bunch of stuff that slowly oozes out liquid when I write.”

Smith brought artist Jeremy Zucker onto the track in April. A friend introduced him to Zucker, and they’ve been in the studio together numerous times ever since. He was searching for someone to feature on “Good Days,” and reached out to Zucker. Smith said the collaboration came “quickly and organically.”

The video features Smith and a bunch of friends running around and goofing off, simply having a good day. Smith can be seen strumming his guitar in the pouring rain, still smiling from ear to ear.

As for future projects and plans, Smith said he is going to sell the shirts that go with the song that feature a sun and a cloud. He wants to build his brand and develop more social media content to engage with fans.

“I want my fans to feel like they know me,” Smith said, “like they’re my best friend.”

Smith paves the way for all Syracuse University students who want to pursue a career in music. His organic success is inspirational, and with the “Good Days” video, Smith is only going to keep gaining popularity.

Published on October 16, 2016 at 5:33 pm