Always in Motion: The Young Musicians Who Redefine Creation

A Note from Jiya Kumar, Music Affairs Editor

I’ve grown up surrounded by constant creative evolution. I’ve frequented school choir rooms and garage-converted studios, admiring my friends’ musical experimentation and growth.

Observing their processes shaped my perception of art as a whole. I learned that art is not simply a product, but instead it’s an ever-changing process. It’s always in motion, growing into something new while making impacts each time. And the greatest thrill is the endless possibility in what lies ahead. 

I’m lucky to share with you the stories of the youth musicians who have shaped my own outlook. Not only do they share a genuine love for the art, but they each embrace the everlasting journey and evolution that lies in creating it. In doing so, their impact is phenomenal. 

Meet the Trailblazers:

Photo Credit: Kailyn Sherman @g00seygal on Instagram

Johnathan Heath

My name is Johnathan Heath and I am a singer, rapper, producer, and songwriter. R&B and Hip-Hop are some of my specialty genres, but Pop music is where my home is. Be sure to check out my single Can’t I Have Love, and be on the lookout for my upcoming project!

Check out my music here!

Noah Sneed

I am an African American songwriter and vocalist from Virginia, currently in my fourth semester at the prestigious Berklee College of Music. My original releases and collaborations showcase not only lyrical depth but also a commanding vocal presence that transcends genre with my ability to craft a distinct sonic identity—infusing every track with authenticity, personality, and soul. With the versatility to navigate R&B, soul, hip-hop, pop, and beyond, I continue to carve my path as an artist with the goal of not just performing, but completely embodying my music.

Check out my music here!

Willtrip

I am Willtrip — a name born from my name “Will” and my nickname “Trip”.

I debuted in 2020 as the youngest member of the Taiwanese boyband AcQUA, but 2026 will be the year the world knows me as WillTrip.

My album project, "Trip", is about the little things, moments we often overlook or take for granted and not cherish. While so much of today's music celebrates the big highs and picture perfect memories, I dream of spotlighting the quiet sparks that make life feel real and compulsive. A road trip can go wrong in a hundred ways, but every detour and side quest tells its own story. It's about how we roll with what life throws at us, how we internalize good and bad emotions, how those imperfect, in-between moments become the ones that matter the most. And ladies and gentlemen, that is one hell of a trip.

Check out my socials

"I dream of spotlighting the quiet sparks that make life feel real and compulsive." - Willtrip

Addie Costain

My name is Addie Costain, and I’m an 18-year-old indie-folk artist from Los Angeles. I released my first single when I was 15, but I’ve been in love with writing music for as long as I can remember. I’m in the process of recording my first EP!

Check out my music here!

Roots (The Past)

When did your journey as an artist begin, and what experience made it come alive?

JOHNATHAN HEATH

MIDDLE SCHOOL

My journey started when I was 11. Middle school Johnathan was chaotic—I was just breaking out of my shell. I received a school-issued iPad with various apps, and from that moment onwards, I was constantly on Garageband. I started using the loops they provided to create moderately long instrumentals—I was basically producing! And when I had a really rough day in 7th grade, I wrote my first-ever song on the car ride home with my mom. That’s really how it all started…

NOAH SNEED

HIGH SCHOOL 

The experience that really “jumpstarted” my path was when I started listening to Tyler, The Creator. I heard “Call Me If You Get Lost”, and I’ve been obsessed ever since. There was something so pure about his music. The way his personality shined through his art really connected with me. After implementing his influence into my music, things started to click for me. I felt like I was finding my lane as an artist.

WILLTRIP 

COLLEGE 

The summer of 2025 was the first time I truly paused to think about my own path as an artist— my music career, my sound, and my story. I realized that this new chapter wasn’t about following someone else’s, but about writing my own. 

2026 will also be a special beginning for me. It’s the year I debut as a solo artist, the year I release my first single “Little a Little”, and the year I part ways with the boyband I've been with since I was 14. To make this vision happen, I founded my own agency "Trip3 Music" in Taiwan, and recently signed with Universal Publishing to bring this single to life. Exciting things are coming!

Who were the first people to believe in your music?

JOHNATHAN HEATH

Before I got the courage to share my art with my friends and community, I had my Mom and Dad behind me. I know it wasn’t easy for them once I started taking music seriously, as the path of an artist can be unpredictable and there are so many stories of struggle. But they still believed in me, helping me produce and film my own music videos, critiquing my songs, and even buying software and production tools so I could create more. Without their support, I don’t know where I’d be. 

NOAH SNEED

Even when my beats were still in the experimental stage, I remember my parents were so proud (I’d then show my brother, who’d let me know if my beats were actually good). As I progressed, my family would show off my work to their friends, and play it around the house or in the car. No matter how good it was, they always supported me and embraced my passion, and for this I’m so grateful.

ADDIE COSTAIN

I remember coming home from elementary school with a melody in my head, and I hit random notes on the piano until I played something that sounded halfway decent with the melody I was singing. I ended up writing a short song and showing it to my dad. He told me how impressed he was, and how he couldn't believe I came up with it. I’m sure he was a little biased, but that moment gave me the motivation to keep growing and to continually pursue this dream.

Change and Growth (The Present)  

Do you ever feel your music is “growing up” alongside you? How so?

NOAH SNEED

Absolutely. That’s because I am my music. As life has gone on, my views, opinions, and outlook on life have changed. I’m not the same person I was when I started making music, and I think that shows through my vocal performances, lyrics, and my storytelling. When people listen to my discography, I hope they are able to hear my progression not only as a musician, but as a human being!

ADDIE COSTAIN

I constantly feel like my lyrics are evolving—each song I write represents a very specific and different time in my life.

One of the first songs I released was called ‘Little Plaid Skirt’, and I wrote it when I was 14. It’s about what it was like to experience religion at a Catholic middle school when you did not grow up religious. 

When I was 17, I wrote my upcoming single, ‘It’s Always Been You’, about getting my heart broken for the first time. Each song is like a time capsule to me, and I’m excited to see how my music will change as I continue to grow up.

What has your music revealed about you that you didn’t know before?

WILLTRIP 

People say I’m irrationally rational. To this day I still don’t know what that means. For most of my life, music spoke to me in a mainstream, almost formulaic way, something I could understand, structure, and control. But the first song I wrote for this album, “Little a Little”, changed everything. Writing it made me feel something I couldn’t explain, an uncontrollable wave of emotion that broke through every rule I thought I knew. 

"Little a Little" unlocked a completely new perspective for me, one where music meets vulnerability, where logic and illogical blur, and where emotion reveals a deeper inner truth. This song is also deeply personal to me because it reflects my childhood, the 19 rollercoaster years that shaped who I am today, and the untold narrative of WillTrip that I’m finally ready to share with the world!

ADDIE COSTAIN

Every time I’m overwhelmed, so many emotions are running through my head, but as soon as I have my guitar in front of me, the chaos turns into music. Sometimes I’ll write a song when I’m feeling so alone, and once I play it live, someone may come up to me and tell me how much they relate to it. Songwriting allowed me to process my emotions in a healthy and meaningful way. It gave me this really amazing ability to connect and communicate with those around me.

Sometimes I’ll write a song when I’m feeling so alone, and once I play it live, someone may come up to me and tell me how much they relate to it. - Addie Costain

Was there a live performance you gave that changed your entire experience and outlook as an artist?

JOHNATHAN HEATH

In February 2023, I performed at my school’s Black History Month showcase, where black students got to perform and showcase their talents to peers (shoutout Palisades, by the way!). I performed a medley of U Better Work (my own song) and Kill Bill (by SZA, one of my inspirations). I remember Kill Bill had just dropped, and I had no idea everyone in that event hall already knew the words. I got up on that stage and started singing, and when the chorus came up, I couldn’t even hear myself. The entire crowd was screaming the lyrics back at me.

There’s just something special like a rush being up on that stage and hearing people sing back at you with so much energy. That performance changed my life. I just remember being about to graduate school, feeling on top of the world, and gaining more courage to open up more with my art. 

WILLTRIP 

It was January 1st, 2022. My boyband had just finished our biggest show yet — a New Year’s Eve Concert for 30,000 people. On the way home, I got a call from my agent. A Spanish tour manager wanted to speak with me on the phone. One conversation led to another, and before I knew it, my band was invited to perform with “Fuerza Bruta”, one of the world’s most successful postmodern theater productions. The show fused Mandopop and Latin, blending non-verbal storytelling, aerial acrobatics, and pop choreography. For me, it was the first time I realized that being a global artist meant opening my arms to every culture, challenge, and opportunity that came my way. That was the moment I shaped and defined myself as an artist who was capable of inspiring, influencing, and connecting with listeners in every corner of the world. 

Looking Forward to The Future

Change vs. Conservation: What do you believe is the unchangeable core of your art that will always stay consistent? On the other hand, what are you looking forward to changing, exploring, and reshaping in your music?

NOAH SNEED

I think the unchangeable core of my art is myself. I put my heart and soul into my music, which brings a certain energy and mood to the art. This will never change. 

On the contrary, I am looking forward to exploring the possibilities of my voice and all the directions it can go. I feel there are a lot of genres that I’m yet to explore that will further expand my repertoire and tools as an artist and producer. 

ADDIE COSTAIN

My love for storytelling through my music will always stay constant. I love creating a world within each song. 

Right now, I’ve been sticking close to a folky acoustic sound, but I’m really interested in playing with different and unique sounds. I’m really inspired by Imogen Heap and Early Maggie Rogers. I think it would be really fun to play with some electronic elements in my music at some point.

If musicianship is constantly evolving, then what does success look like to you? How do you know when you’ve succeeded in a phase of your music journey?

JOHNATHAN

As a small artist, achieving certain numbers of streams and views do matter, but I also block out all that noise and focus on the real meaning behind why I do what I do. 

I fully believe that moving someone through my music is the best form of satisfaction I can get. Whether it's joy, anger, grief, nostalgia, or desire, the ability to change someone’s mood through my art is what inspires me most and keeps me wanting to create more.

NOAH SNEED

As music and the industry evolves, I will continue to deem myself successful as long as I am happy and proud of my creative outputs and as long as I am connecting with people.

I make music for myself first. I make music because I love it, I breathe it, I live it. At the end of the day, my music is welcome to any and everyone, but it is and will always be made for me. 

With that, I love that I can create bridges of connection with people through this art form. Being able to relate to complete strangers and touch the hearts of people you may never get the privilege to meet is one of the coolest things ever. If I continue to live doing what I love while still connecting with others, I don’t think I can get much more successful than that.

If I continue to live doing what I love while still connecting with others, I don’t think I can get much more successful than that. - Noah Sneed

WILLTRIP  

I think David Bowie said it best: “If you feel safe in the area that you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area.” And I stand by that.

Being successful as an artist isn’t about overnight fame, it’s a long, brutal game with real risk. You never know when a song will be discovered by a label, when it’ll finally hit 100K streams on Spotify, or when it’ll resonate with the right person at exactly the right time.

So I keep showing up, keep creating, keep pushing myself beyond what’s comfortable, and I take not just a hundred shots, but millions. Eventually, something will connect, and people will hear my music and feel my art. To me, that’s what success really is.

What do you dream of adding to the music world? Beyond the industry, what are you trying to build in the world through your art?

JOHNATHAN

Now that I'm about to be 21 (which I still can’t believe), I am focused on uplifting not just myself, but others too. Supporting everyone before and after me, the way my parents did when I was starting my journey. I also just want to be someone that younger people can look up to for strength, resilience, and innovation. I want to break barriers down for gay and LGBTQ+ black men in the industry. Taking the hits so the artists following in my footsteps don’t have to. As my idols did for me, I will do for those after me. The world is in desperate need of a gay, black pop star and I cannot wait for the world to hear my voice!

"I want to break barriers down for gay and LGBTQ+ black men in the industry. " - Johnathan Heath

WILLTRIP

I dream of a world where cultures and languages are never ever barriers to music, where words transcend beyond melodies, and music becomes the universal language of humanity. I believe everyone, no matter where they come from, should be able to access, understand, and feel music. That’s why my upcoming album "Trip" and my debut single will be written in three languages— English, Spanish, and Mandarin. It’s a multilingual and multicultural project, and I want this story to reach beyond borders and cultures and connect with as many people as possible. 

I dream of a world where cultures and languages are never ever barriers to music, where words transcend beyond melodies, and music becomes the universal language of humanity. - WillTrip

What advice do you have for other young musicians like yourself?

NOAH SNEED

Keep faith in yourself and in your craft. It’s easy to get consumed by comparison and by numbers, I fall victim to this all of the time. But what keeps me going is my faith in myself, my abilities, and my own art. No matter the likes, the views, continue to put yourself and your art out there!

ADDIE COSTAIN

You are at an age where everything seems embarrassing, but it is so important to follow that inner voice. Keep posting, keep performing, keep making music. The world needs more art!!

xoxo, Jiya Kumar, Music Affairs Editor