Nick Schneider is a sophomore majoring in entrepreneurship at Washburn University. He is also the social executive of iClub, which is a club about the world of creation and entrepreneurship. However, his talents extend beyond his major. 

Schneider grew up in a small town, approximately 45 minutes northeast of Topeka.

“We had one cop and he went to bed by 10 p.m.,” he said.

He was never exposed to different experiences. He found his passion for music and fashion by himself.

“I was in seventh grade when Skrillex and other dubstep artists blew up and I got really into that,” said Schneider.

This was when he fell in love with the concept of music production. He assumed that these artists were groups of multiple people like typical bands would be today, however, the majority of artists in the dubstep genre work solo.

“I was watching YouTube videos about deadmau5 [a Canadian DJ] when I realized it was just one dude on a computer and I thought that was super cool,” Schneider said.

Schneider struggled finding an outlet for music in his small town.

“I tried to start a band twice in my tiny little school, but there was never anybody there that played instruments,” he said.

Schneider decided to create his own music without enlisting in the help of others. His music style and genre is classified as lo-fi. Popular lo-fi artists today include Beach House, Fleet Foxes and Grizzly Bear.

Schneider goes under the name of Kojin, which translates to ‘individual’ in Japanese. About 12 of his songs can be found on Spotify, including “I Was in Love,” “Bellyache” and “Meditate.” This is only a fraction of what Schneider has worked on.

Schneider was a sophomore in high school when he settled on the name Kojin.

“I had a few other alias’ but I wanted something that was more reflective of my style back then anyways,” he said.

He only releases the content he is most confident in.

“I’m really hard on myself when making music, so what I’m able to finish is 1 out of 100 projects I start.”

In the future, Schneider hopes to start singing and adding the facet to his music. He also plans on networking with people locally, or opening his circle to musicians in Lawrence.

Schneider is talented in fashion.

His interest in fashion began at a young age. The first memory he recalls of feeling confident and excited about an outfit was in elementary school.

“I remember wearing a cool hot wheels shirt in elementary school and telling everyone to check it out,” Schneider said.

Now his fashion inspirations include musicians and Instagram influencers. Matthew Healy and Tyler the Creator are the most prominent artists that inspire Schneider’s fashion. Alex Costa, an Instagram figure, also holds strong significance to him.

Schneider recently became interested in weightlifting during his first year at Washburn. He’s put on about 20 pounds, and is working to maintain being in shape. He now makes weightlifting a regular activity in his life.

When it comes to art, concepts of minimalism and meditation are also important to Schneider. Minimalism is the act of ridding oneself of material items to find pure happiness.

“Today’s problem seems to be the meaning we assign to our stuff. We tend to give too much meaning to our things,” according to theminimalists.com.

Obtaining a minimalistic lifestyle can be difficult in the era of materialism, and Schneider proves that he is driven to maintain this.

“I just make an active effort to pursue it in all aspects and it really takes a lot of the stress and clutter out of my life,” Schneider said.

Headspace is a popular meditation app that Schneider uses regularly. He says it helps him reduce anxiety and become more conscious in everyday life.

He proves to be incredibly motivated and driven with his interests. Schneider is a talented individual on Washburn’s campus. He is expanding locally, so keep an eye out for him in the Topeka area, as well as surrounding areas.