Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

Even though Gillian Pelkonen has been performing and recording music since her childhood, she said she still gets nervous every time she’s about to perform at a show. For Pelkonen, stage nerves are an inevitable part of being a musician, despite the abundance of musical experience and education that she has.

“The only thing worse than being nervous about performing would be to not do it,” Pelkonen said. “The more that I did it, it got easier and it really helped that a lot of the people in my band were my really good friends … so that definitely made it easier, to be able to look to my left and right and know that if I fell, people would catch me.”

Pelkonen is a 2020 graduate of Syracuse University, where she studied television, radio and film at the Newhouse School of Public Communications. Pelkonen also holds an M.A. in audio arts from SU. Originally from Long Island, New York, Pelkonen now lives in the Hudson Valley and works as an assistant recording engineer for Dreamland Recording Studio.

Outside of her 9-to-5 job, Pelkonen’s own musical career ranges from writing her own songs and singing with her band, Gill with the G, to sound engineering and one-on-one teaching sessions for audio recording.

Pelkonen said she grew up performing in talent shows and musicals before college. She added that she was influenced by music her father listened to, which included bands like The Beatles, Styx and Van Halen. Pelkonen was also able to start recording music at a young age with help from her father.

Although her current influences are always changing, she said she draws inspiration from indie artists such as Phoebe Bridgers and Christian Lee Hutson and music producers like Jack Antonoff and Ethan Gruska. Pelkonen said she hopes that her audience can connect their own interpretations to her songs.

“I don’t know how other people perceive my music — I don’t even know how to perceive it,” Pelkonen said. “It’d be awesome if people thought I was a unique indie artist, but I feel like everything I do is super derivative, because I am being influenced by a lot of things.”

Pelkonen described her music as pushing the boundaries of traditional acoustic indie because she does not use exclusively acoustic instruments and incorporates folk style. She said she writes, sings and engineers all of her own music to produce “guitar-driven storytelling.”

While at Syracuse, Pelkonen performed with the Main Squeeze a cappella group, as well as at house shows and in friends’ bands. Pelkonen met current SU seniors Sarah Gross and Lauren Goodyear through Main Squeeze, and they collaborated on music together.

“She’s a woman of so many talents,” Gross said. “It’s often hard to pin down which one she is the best at because she’s just so creative and a very visionary person, and I think anyone that comes in contact with her is immediately inspired to just do more. And I’m always amazed by how many hats she wears and by how passionate she is about each of them.”

Goodyear sang backup harmonies for Pelkonen’s house shows and song recordings. Pelkonen serves as a role model for Goodyear, who said she hopes to work in the music industry after graduation.

“I just really admire how she went and she made all of those moves within such a short period of time and found such a nice, niche location that still has clout and recognition,” Goodyear said.

Pelkonen also pursued working with SU Recordings, but she was not signed until her sophomore year. They made her an experimental artist where she could work with someone who could improve her songs.

The pandemic disrupted Pelkonen’s internship and post-graduation plans, so she decided to pursue her M.A. degree in audio arts at SU before entering the industry.

“I initially wanted to go get my M.F.A. in writing, and then kind of pivoted when that didn’t pan out. And I got my master’s in audio arts, which is like a combination of VPA and Newhouse, because I felt really passionate about working on music but I didn’t feel like my skill set was where I needed to be to get a job,” Pelkonen said.

Pelkonen’s years of education and experience serve as a major resource in her daily work as an assistant recording engineer, where she assists with setting up equipment for recording sessions and communicating with artists.

Despite her level of experience, Pelkonen said she faces challenges of being a woman in the music industry.

“As a woman, you’re always questioned and you’re always questioning yourself in any field, because that’s the way that we’re raised,” Pelkonen said. “I have a master’s degree and I still feel inadequate in spaces where people who know (less) and have done less walk in and just don’t second guess themselves in that way.”

In the next few months, listeners can look forward to the launch of Pelkonen’s official website, new releases and live shows.

“It’s never too late to start, which I guess everyone says but it really is so true,” Pelkonen said. “And if it’s what you want you’ll find a way to do it, and if people are making you feel less than, then you’re probably not around the right people,” Pelkonen said.

Published on February 21, 2022 at 10:19 pm

Contact Stephanie: spwright@syr.edu