This Hofstra Life, Songwriter Spotlight: Jordan McLaughlin

Photo courtesy of Evan Bernstein

While most college students put music on in the background while they study, sophomore drama performance major Jordan McLaughlin creates her own, by writing and co-producing songs in her free time.

McLaughlin’s newest song, a single titled “Honeybees and Roses,” was released on Monday, Feb. 14. “Honeybees and Roses” is McLaughlin’s second venture into the music producing industry. Her first release was a four-song EP titled “Is This the End?”, which was released on Dec. 1, 2021.

At first, McLaughlin had no plans of releasing music on Valentine’s Day. In fact, she was not sure if she was even going to release a single.

“I have a whole lot of songs that I haven’t recorded or anything just sitting there,” McLaughlin said. After experimenting on some songs with Benjamin Kaplan, her producer, the two decided on “Honeybees and Roses.”

The release date, though, was McLaughlin’s mother’s idea.

“She said it would be really cute if we released [“Honeybees and Roses”] on Valentine’s Day because it’s a song about love,” McLaughlin said. “It’s not necessarily a love song, but it’s a song about love.”

Although McLaughlin only started releasing music within the past year or so, her journey to writing and producing her own music began when she was much younger. “All of my friends played sports and stuff, and that was not my thing. Then I started doing music and realized that I really liked to sing,” she said.

After being introduced to musical theater, McLaughlin started taking voice lessons and participating in the music program at her school.

“[Music’s] always been a little bit of a coping mechanism, whether it’s like listening to music, writing it, just singing someone else’s music, it’s all kind of relaxing to me,” McLaughlin said. “It kind of feels like a form of journaling when I write music.”

Despite her longstanding appreciation for music, until recently, McLaughlin never envisioned herself writing her own songs.

“That sounded kind of ridiculous to me,” McLaughlin said. “But then in quarantine I was inside for a year, and I was just like, well, might as well try. I feel like it’d be fun.”

After writing several songs during the pandemic, Kaplan asked McLaughlin if she was interested in producing some of her songs for fun. Eventually, four songs rose to the forefront to become McLaughlin’s EP “Is This the End?”

“The first three songs on the EP I wrote in quarantine before,” McLaughlin said. “I just kind of had an idea for a song and I just started playing around with different chords on my guitar and made it into a song.”

“Easier to Be Mad,” the fourth song on “Is This the End?”, was added later.

“I had just gone through a break-up, and I was like, ‘I’m angry writing music now,’” McLaughlin said. “And then I played it for [Kaplan] and he was like, ‘Can we please do that one? That’s my favorite yet.’”

Initially, McLaughlin found “Is This the End?” difficult to produce; the EP was her first time recording music with the intent to release it.

The process for “Honeybees and Roses” was another story. With more knowledge about the process, McLaughlin was able to let go of her perfectionism as they produced the single.

After creating, producing and releasing her EP and single, McLaughlin’s perspective on music has transformed from using songwriting as a coping mechanism to seeing it as more meaningful.

“Now I don’t only do it when I need a coping mechanism. I do it for fun when I have an idea. Music has always meant a lot to me. I grew up around music and have been doing it for a while, so it’s kind of a no-brainer to go back to that as something that’s really important to me.”

While McLaughlin isn’t certain when she’ll release new music or if she’ll pursue it as a career, she plans on continuing to write songs in her free time.

Links to her music, including her newest single “Honeybees and Roses,” can be found at linktr.ee/jordanmclaughlin or by searching for Jordan McLaughlin on most music streaming platforms. She is also on Instagram @jordanmclaughlinmusic.