In his first season running for the Cyclones, freshman Nick Tsiones not only helped his team earn the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference championship but he also individually placed 10th overall. Aside from his speedy running skills, Tsiones also has a passion for creating music. Here's his story.

I got into lo-fi hip-hop music through YouTube mixes. I had seen them around and decided to listen to one just to see what the hype was all about. I really fell in love with the subgenre and decided to try to make it myself. I ended up succeeding!

I started making music during the summer of 2015. I was working on a 10-year-old MacBook and making primitive heavy metal. I was eventually able to progress into making actual listenable music, and here we are today.

There are a variety of things that inspire me: other lo-fi artists including Idealism, Rude and Tomppabeats. In terms of people, definitely my parents and close family who've always been into music and super supportive.

I play guitar in some of my material and some physical keyboards, but most of it is digital.

This genre of music is great for expressing feelings and emotions that can't be expressed with other forms of music. Feelings like solitude, peace and even tedium can be felt through lo-fi that can't through pop or rock. Plus, it's not super hard to mix either!

I make it in an interface called Reaper, an up-and-coming audio workspace. I usually start with a melody on piano or guitar and then write bass drums to fit with it. After that, I'll write some sort of lead melody to go on top of everything, mix it and sit on it until it's ready to release.

My main goal for this project is for people just like me to enjoy while studying or working. I have used this medium of music so frequently to focus or relax, so I want to send the love forward.

Listen to his music here.