Since beginning high school, Ashland University student Owen Soergel has written music.  

Now a senior in college, his song “Far Off Planet” has been shared with Hard Hat, the local band compiled of AU-affiliated students.  

The band members are Kaden Campbell on bass, Kayin McDonald on drums, Noah McDonald on piano, Spencer Schmid on lead guitar, Grant Vance on rhythm guitar, with vocals led by Jimmy Dunn. 

The acoustic origin 

The song originated in 2021 with a hum and a few loose ideas.  

“Originally, I recorded it with just an acoustic guitar,” Soergel said. “I just played some chords, and immediately, I thought they sounded pretty good together. I hummed something – thought it sounded good with the cords. . . and all came together.” 

Soergel said that with most works, there is a fair amount of trial and error before he gets to the finished product. With “Far Off Planet,” however, it flowed almost instantly.  

The acoustic version of the song can be found on Soergel’s Spotify under the full name, Owen Soergel.  

Incorporating Hard Hat 

Soergel knew some of the band’s members from high school. In recent years, they have been playing music together and planning to work together in the future.  

Kayin McDonald explained he knows Soergel from high school but also enjoys his songs when they appear on his Spotify feed. This combination eased the musicians to start working together.  

On June 5, Soergel opened for Hard Hat’s show at Treelawn Cleveland, where the song was played live for the first time with the whole band.  

Since this show, the band and Soergel have been working on mixing the song into a shared work with the help of Adam McCloskey, audio engineer at Resounding Noise Audio. They met through mutually working with the band Talk Less from Akron, Ohio. 

He said, “They sent the tracks to me, so all the individual instruments and parts, like the drum set, the kick-drum, the snare drum – all that was recorded separately and sent to me. My job is to mix that all together and make everything heard and polished.” 

McCloskey said he spoke with the band about what they were looking for from him, as he will also be working on their upcoming EP. 

Soergel brought the song to Hard Hat to create a different type of flair and thought to do so because it was the most popular song in his discography.  

“I thought [“Far Off Planet”] would sound good with a full band,” Soergel said. “Instead of me recording all the instruments by myself, I thought it would be cool to have them play the song with me. . . This version has a lot of elements of their style and my style.” 

Schmid said that the finished product after mixing was something to be proud of, “After hearing what the song actually sounds like, not us playing it and trying to figure it out, it sounded much better.” 

“Far Off Planet” will be released on Tuesday, Sept. 3 at midnight on Hard Hat’s Spotify.  

“Far Off Planet” meaning 

With the song’s space theme, Soergel wanted to create a mystical and deep metaphor for his listeners.  

“I like when you can see a bright star – it’s a planet. I like looking at planets at night,” he said, “and it’s just a metaphor for memories.” 

The song visualizes a night sky while also leaving it open to interpretation, putting the listener in a lost-in-thought trance. Depending on the interpretation, it can be about the stars or something intangible.  

Upcoming EP (Extended Play) 

The band is looking forward to its upcoming EP release on Sunday, Oct. 12, at midnight. The release will follow the band’s show at The Rialto Theatre in Akron, Ohio, on Oct. 12 at 7:00 p.m. The number of songs on the EP is still to be determined, but it will be between four and six, as that is the general limit for an EP.  

Find Hard Hat’s releases on Spotify and Apple Music. More information of upcoming shows and merchandise can be found @hardhatmusic on Instagram.