By Kalena Reynolds | Staff Writer
Beaumont junior Luke Garza was raised immersed in indie and classic alternative music from a young age. His father, Aaron Garza, showed him popular artists such as Fleet Foxes and Radiohead during his childhood, ultimately helping to mold the unique and heart-wrenching creative process he now has as a musician, he said.
When Garza was in the sixth grade, his older brother started learning guitar. Garza became interested and asked his brother to start teaching him how to play. Fast-forward to freshman year of high school, and Garza began taking his music more seriously, exploring his identity as a songwriter.
Garza grew up in a family that heavily encouraged creativity. He loved literature, painting, and various other arts but always felt the most at home when making music.
“Songwriting was kind of another one of those outlets that were always encouraged for me as a kid,” Garza said. “And I was writing some things, like short stories or things before that, but I think the songwriting side of it became a lot more of expression, especially then in high school.”
When Garza has a spark of creative notion, he approaches it almost as a journal entry.
“I think sad songs are easier to write than happy songs for me, so I’ve got songs about the bittersweet feeling of someone moving away or letting go of someone you care about a lot,” the singer-songwriter said.
While Garza has released music under his personal name, his primary and most recent projects are published under the name “Little Cat,” which was a childhood nickname and is now something most of his friends now call him.
Garza’s father explained that his son has always felt a sense of connection to his inner world.
“I think, to a certain degree, I saw kind of his personality growing up: a thoughtfulness, a kindness,” Aaron Garza said. “I think it was just a curiosity that he had looking at reading different books about seeing how things work. And I kind of think just how his mind works to that with music. I think he enjoys figuring out how it works.”
Aaron Garza said that Luke has enjoyed the creative process and applying his inner world to create and write songs since he was young. Garza released his first song, “Pictures,” in 2020. To this day, it is one of his father’s favorites..
“Pictures” is a sonic blend of sad indie with upbeat bass and heartfelt lyrics. Garza’s work under the name “Little Cat” leans more into the acoustic realm, using techniques reminiscent of Adrianne Lenker, whom Garza cited as one of his main inspirations.
Through experimentation and research, Garza taught himself how to produce music. He said that he wrote and produced every song that he has released in a studio set up in his bedroom.
“Music will always be a part of my life, even if it’s just like sitting down to record an idea in just the little bit of free time I have or going on tours in the summer,” Garza said. “I’m definitely not going to stop playing music anytime soon. I still have ideas and these journal entries to put into songs. So all that is gonna continue for a long time.”
