We were lucky to catch up with Faith Colello recently and have shared our conversation below.
Faith, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started sooner or later?
As a game design student, I wish I had begun learning the craft at a younger age. I only found my passion for coding and environment design once I got to college, and didn’t even play a ton of video games growing up. Some of my friends lovingly poke fun at me for never having played online multiplayer games or having no knowledge of some classics (but I’m getting there!), so I wish that I was able to relate to what drives them in terms of being a game developer. Learning how to code for games has been nothing but fun for me – I truly do wish more high schools provided students with a chance to realize that this is a very possible career choice. Feeling the pressure of going to college and not feeling like I would enjoy what I studied was a very scary thing for me, and I didn’t start as a game designer. I was originally majoring in Music and Sound Recording at the University of New Haven but ultimately ended up switching. If I had started learning game design around the same time I began producing music, I could see myself creating the games I dream of making now instead of years ahead.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Faith! I’m a 23-year-old student at the University of Connecticut pursuing my undergraduate BFA in Game Design. I also am a musician and music producer with about 12 years of experience in the field. For me, music is the biggest reason I wake up in the morning. I’ve been singing, teaching myself instruments and making all kinds of sound since I was in elementary school! My general music classes were always my favorite, and then my world changed when I was introduced to the recorder… Ever since then, I have learned the flute, piano, guitar, vocals, ukulele, bass, and drums. Marching band in middle school was when I realized this wasn’t the type of music I wanted to continue making, and quickly found the world of music production. Once I started putting Apple loops together on GarageBand, that was it. Something was so addictive about it and I needed to learn every single thing about how professionals make commercial music. Now, I’ve gotten over 3 million streams on my music and have gotten the chance to work with artists globally and produce my own music under 2 aliases: Leap of Faith is for all my lo-fi and more acoustic music, and Nightfall District is for dance, EDM, and all things electronic/experimental.
I ultimately want to couple my passion for audio and music with games. In the near future, I hope to open up a small indie studio that specializes in psychological horror. I love things that are abstractly strange and mind-bending, but only in ways that are subtle until you pay closer attention. My hope is to create mechanics that have not yet been seen and create complex narratives that pull players deep into the story. I’m always looking for like-minded people to help me get a better view and differing perspectives.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
Although it isn’t for entrepreneurial thinking, a piece of media that has actively changed the way I think about storytelling in my games is the TV show Severance. My friends complain lovingly about how often I bring it up. However, it is truly such a unique storyline that is incredibly good at making critical plot points subtle while still maintaining the mystery. The creepiness and extremely psychological nature that is Severance helps me understand what it takes to create a piece of media that draws people in every time they watch it. I want that type of addictive feeling naturally in my games.
As far as my music goes, I tend to lean towards artists that are more lyrically driven and also use effects to help bring their music to life. I don’t really make rap music but Eminem has helped me be able to further break down words and phrases to make different meanings in my verses. I try to use that technical creativity to make my words odd but interesting. I also look to artists like Imogen Heap, The Japanese House, omgkirby, Still Woozy, Illenium, and Dominic Fike to help me surpass barriers in lyrical and musical production.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I can remember when I first started out making music back in seventh grade, I knew the genres I wanted to make but didn’t have the knowledge yet to create them. I would sit for hours and hours at a time in my room teaching myself techniques – and failing a lot, too – just so I could try to figure out how the pros were doing it and how to make my music more complex and intricate instead of making only acoustic stuff. Unfortunately, my family wasn’t super supportive of the types of music I wanted to make and would often put me down for the poor quality of it at the time. While I definitely knew they were right about its quality being poor, it hurt a lot to know I didn’t really have the support of my family while I chased the dreams of learning more creative effects and high-quality professional-sounding music. I used to be the live music for my mom’s Polynesian dance company, and she wanted me to continue down that route, telling me that my voice was made for that genre. Even if that is true, my heart wasn’t fully in it, and I didn’t want that to be the life I made for myself. Instead of staying down after every harsh critique session from my parents, I used that to fuel my determination to make my music sound the way I knew it could. Fast forward to several years later, and I am so glad I pushed forward. I have gotten to experience so much creative freedom in indescribable ways. I’m in full control of the sounds I create, and all of the hard work that goes into creating it feels so satisfying when I’m able to share a final product. I’m very grateful that now my parents support my music – I proved to them and myself that I could get to this point, but I’m still learning so much every day.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/christi.colello?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaYXwFKffMHWFfkDYBiA27Xm5xG1SikYN8VybNaPTAeCTSwW9QC2A6sNITw_aem_bJUY76dEXQ1wPCWn-kUBmQ
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leapoffaith.sounds?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faith-colello-2027b5202
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/christi-653340687?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
- Other: Leap of Faith Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0qp5cjAFHo3akOUaKBPNGa?si=YY2XRGtWT6esaRo0_keyVA
Nightfall District Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/60L4UhlOCG8I1LLIv7HydD?si=Yc5Xveb8QnqVWZx7EGBlrw
Nightfall Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nightfall.district?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==
