bogardus Senior Jay Bogardus glorified God with his musical talents. Senior mechanical engineering major Jay Bogardus found unexpected success after releasing a handful of songs with his band "Luke and Jay" on Spotify early in 2019. Within the first two weeks of the debut of their song, "Runneth Over," Bogardus and his bandmate, Luke Hill, received over a thousand streams. In the following six months, they added two new songs and increased their numbers to over 150,000 streams total. Both Hill and Bogardus learned to play music at young ages. Bogardus played guitar for nearly 10 years. He took lessons for the first couple of years but then taught himself through YouTube videos and practice. Hill started singing at age 8 and playing the guitar at age 11. He also learned to play bass, piano, drums and ukulele. Bogardus said because of their different musical backgrounds, he and Hill complemented each other nicely and were equipped with unique skills. Hill and Bogardus both grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, but did not start playing music together until they were older. Originally, Hill had another band comprised of mutual friends from their church, and after four years, Bogardus joined them. When that band dispersed, Hill and Bogardus continued to create and perform music through their new band, "Luke and Jay." After their initial success on Spotify, Hill and Bogardus began writing and producing more music to add to their repertoire. Their 118 seniors writing process grew in complexity while they lived in different states, with Hill in Alabama and Bogardus in Arkansas. "We're limited in time and consistency in audio recording, but that's really the only negative," Hill said. "The positive is there is always surprises in writing and creativity." According to Hill, because they chose to produce their own music, they had absolute freedom and control to develop each song as they imagined. This allowed them to work at their own pace and reach out to friends in the music industry whenever they needed advice. "[The music industry] is very unpredictable [and] very risky, but the goal is never going to be to get famous or have a lot of money," Bogardus said. "I just want to make sure that it stays us doing what we love for the glory of God." Senior Jason Lightfoot, a childhood friend of Bogardus, said Bogardus' music reflected his spiritual focus. Lightfoot said Bogardus was humbled by his online success. "I would say he sees this as a gift from God," Lightfoot said. "[It's] probably some confirmation that he's doing the right thing, and this is really something his ministry is supposed to be." story by Hannah Read
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