Teen creates music with app

Luis Tardio, a 13-year-old West Milford resident, has made $4,000 simply by using his phone to create music.

In August 2022, he started to explore an app called FL Studio Mobile, which allows users to create multi-track music projects with a phone, tablet or laptop.

The app allows people to create, edit, mix and render complete songs. Projects can be moved between iOS, Android and Windows.

Once Luis was familiar with FL Studio Mobile, he began to upload his songs to YouTube and SoundCloud.

“It took me about three months to learn it. I first started experimenting and then when I had a good song, I uploaded it,” he said.

He has created 86 songs and plans to release the songs “PARTY!” and “Remember” soon.

His music is titled Subaru Playa and may be found on streaming services, such as Spotify, YouTube Music and Amazon Music, as well as TikTok.

Luis said Subaru Playa is a sub-genre of hip hop called Phonk. There are songs and entire albums that people can listen to for free. They also are available for purchase.

He didn’t start to make a profit until last March. The money goes into his mother’s account; then she transfers it into his savings account.

Luis used a little of the money to buy Christmas presents. He plans to save the rest to eventually buy a car and as a college fund.

He enjoys listening to hip hop and rap, and one of his favorite artists is Michael Jackson. His interests include working on cars, playing music and playing soccer at school.

Tardio is in eighth grade at College Achieve Paterson Middle School. He plans to attend West Milford High School in the fall.

After high school, he would like to go to a college in New Jersey or Pennsylvania. He is interested in studying music, technology and mechanics.

He plans to pursue music as a hobby and may work as a mechanic with his father or maybe as a chef.