Music Journalism

I’m a huge nerd for all things pop music and the Billboard charts. In both 2024 and 2025, I listened to 150 new (to me) albums from over two dozen countries. I love learning about the different geographies of pop music, its various different regional styles, and quantifying trends based on a variety of different charts. I channel these interests into my Substack, mump’s playlist, where I post a variety of chart analyses, song reviews, cultural commentary, and music recommendations, including lists of my favorite albums and hit singles of each year. (include a bit here about music books I’ve read, music podcasts/YouTubers, the ways I try to learn more about the industry. this page is my best shot to sell myself to a Billboard employer)

• NBA YoungBoy: The impact of a rap tour on local streaming numbers.

• My 10 favorite albums of 2025.

• Sombr: We have a new pop boy on our hands.

• Charli xcx: The Kamala Harris presidential campaign’s musical impact, and a review of the Guess remix featuring Billie Eilish.

• Monetochka: A music community of Russians in exile.

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Original Compositions

I completed a music minor Middlebury, with a focus on composition and choral singing, and took piano lessons for several years growing up. These days my music-making muscles have atrophied a bit, but I’m eager to get back to work on new compositions. I’m currently working on my first pop song in GarageBand, which I’ll upload here as soon it’s finished!

• A Winter Dawn

Composed for and performed by my high school music studio, under the instruction of Sandie Wehe. Arranged for vocal sextet and piano, 2018.

• Fear Quartet (I’ll upload a link to this at a later date)

Composed for Musc 309: Advanced Composition and read by the Jupiter Quartet. Arranged for string quartet, 2020.

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