David Chow

Artist Sheraan Mohsin, an acoustic guitar singer/songwriter and second year Computer Science major.

With a tranquil tone and demeanor to match, Sheraan Mohsin is a man who belongs with a guitar. A solo artist and regular at lovin’ cup’s Open Mic Night, Mohsin describes his music as having “a coffee house acoustic kind of vibe: Could be upbeat, could be sentimental.”

His music career has a humble start, as his first guitar was a “Yamaha from Costco.” Playing since the seventh grade, Mohsin picked up the instrument after seeing artists on stage. “[John] Mayer has been one of my greatest inspirations and… Dave Barnes,” said Mohsin. “Musically, you can feel these guys’ passion for music. They’re not doing this for the fame. They’re doing it because they’re singing their hearts out.”

The inspiration for his music also comes from personal experience. “I’ve written some songs for church…[but] a lot of my songs are about heartbreaks or dealing with life after being broken up with,” Mohsin paused. “I did go through one recently. It was something I had to write about, so I wrote about it.”

However, Mohsin tries not to restrict himself to one style of music. Being able to play the keyboard, hand drum and harmonica also, his sets often include R&B songs, comedic raps, and even improv.

“A lot of the time, I’ll be freestyling about anything and just [making] up some words to rhyme in a quick little segment,” he said.

Beyond lovin’ cup, Mohsin has also played sets at Java Wally’s. He can also often be found rocking out in the Gleason quad. On Fridays, he can be found playing with the Campus Crusade for Christ.

However, as a Computer Science major, Mohsin says he has a hard time relating to the people in his program. “Not a lot of people in my major are even musicians....Instead of playing an instrument, they’re playing a computer game.”

Despite being a good musician, musical video games are a bit of a sore subject. “I think [Rock Band is] a terrible video game,” he said. “It just frustrated me when I tried to play.”

After college, Mohsin plans to keep playing music, though not necessarily as a career. Currently, according to Mohsin, his music is on “cruise control.” That is to say, he’s letting his music take him wherever it wants to go. “As long as people are going to listen, I’m going to keep making songs.”