Artist of the Week Cade Margus: Full of CADE-nce

Senior Cade Margus is a talented artist who can put on a performance worthy of a standing ovation, whether he is playing the guitar, the drums or dancing with step group OutKast. Margus is not only an accomplished drummer, guitarist and dancer, but he is also a developing filmmaker and screenwriter.Margus has had a passion for music since he was a child. "I’ve always loved music, and I started playing drums about 3 years before coming to Exeter," Margus said.However, it was not until he arrived at the Academy that he was able to begin performing and sharing his talents as a musician with others. He also picked up the guitar upon coming to the Academy."Coming to Exeter was an amazing opportunity for me in terms of music, because there are so many talented people here and so many people who are as excited about music as I am, if not more so," he said.Margus has performed regularly at various student performances; particularly at those of Exeter Association of Rock (EAR), which he has been the co-head of since his upper year.Upper Anika Ayyar has performed with Margus for EAR concerts. "He clearly has a natural ear for rhythm. He can drum out a song after hearing it just a couple times because he is able to pick up on the main beats and work off of that," Ayyar said. "He's really great at improvising too."Not only does Ayyar see Margus as a talented musician, but she also cites his leadership skills and management abilities as factors that have made EAR a success. "Cade's easygoing personality works really well for him as a co-head of EAR. There are a lot of last-minute issues before every concert and Cade just stays calm, figures it all out, and organizes things in a way that leaves everyone happy and excited to play their music," Ayyar said."Cade is a very polite young man—very nice, a good temperament," Fermin Perez, modern language instructor and Margus’ dorm faculty said. "He’s always very thoughtful and is somebody who cares about others. When he came as a prep, my wife and I thought, ‘he will be great to have in the dorm.’ He’s a good person.""He’s down to earth, he’s not pretentious, he’s not arrogant," Perez continued. "He’s a humble person. I think that is very important. He treats everyone with respect."Margus also credits the Academy and EAR for introducing him to a community of artists that share his passion for music. "[When I came to Exeter], I suddenly had a ton of people to play with and had a lot of events to play at, and that’s what drew me to EAR," Margus said.Although Margus was initially inclined towards music, he branched out and joined OutKast, the Academy’s male step group. "Looking back, I think it was my drumming that made me so interested in OutKast," Margus said. "It was kind of scary when I first tried out because I had never danced in front of people before; hip-hop wasn’t a genre I had experience with."Margus’ hard work and dedication to the club has resulted in his position as co-head of OutKast this year. "I’m so glad I tried out, because my drumming allowed me to pick up step dancing quickly and it’s so much fun," he said.Margus regrets that he has not been able to take advantage of everything at Exeter because of the rigorous classes and workload, but nevertheless his extracurricular activities have been a central component of his time at Exeter."Because classes at Exeter are so rigorous and kids here obviously have a huge workload, I haven't felt totally free to take full advantage of all that the school has to offer," Margus said. "For example, the school offers private lessons for so many really cool instruments. I stopped taking drum lessons when I came here, and I started to take guitar lessons, but I had to cut that short for the sake of my schoolwork, as well. But, I managed to focus the spare time that I did have into my clubs, and my experiences with them are the best memories that I'll have of Exeter after I graduate."Margus has been able to maintain a balance between his academics and his music, sometimes even combining the two."I saw him perform in a video he made for my class," Perez said. "He sung a song in Spanish that he wrote. He added rhythm to the song with his drum—it was really good."Margus thrives as an artist not only in his extra-curricular activities, but also in classes. Although he has only started taking classes in these subjects, and cited "the film thing as very new to [him]," Margus said that "filmmaking is definitely something that I really love." Margus took screenwriting this past winter and is currently taking filmmaking, spurred on by his want to "learn even more.""I am currently working with friends on a project that documents life at Exeter in a three-minute montage of ‘moments’ at Exeter that kids here often take for granted," he said. Margus is looking forward to the final outcome of this most recent project."As far as the future, I'm not totally sure," Margus said. He does not that no matter what he does, he will "continue to explore the arts and keep them in [his] life.""Next year I'll be studying in NYC, which is overflowing with incredible art, so I'm really excited and grateful that I'll continue to be exposed to music and the other things that have made me enjoy my time at Exeter," Margus said.