Today we’d like to introduce you to Carter Vandiver.
Hi Carter, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started Winslow House the summer after graduating high school. It was a weird transitional period where I wasn’t very comfortable with the past, present, or future. My first album, ‘Pilots and Postmen,’ was a product of that feeling. I got to talk to so many awesome creative artists because of the decision to put those songs out there. I made another album and I got to work with even more awesome people, all while I was going to school for a Bachelor’s in Music Composition. I graduated in 2025 after stepping back from Winslow House, aside from a few small projects. Since graduating and moving back home, I’ve slowly started putting together some different ideas for future Winslow House projects!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think making music is a smooth road for anyone, or maybe I just made it super hard for myself. There are seasons of self-doubt, feeling uninspired or unmotivated. Not to mention everything life will throw at you. Realizing that you always wrap back around to feeling confident and excited again was the most important thing I’ve come to learn. You really have to work to pull yourself back to the instrument, or the microphone, or the pen and paper to get things running again.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I make music under the pseudonym Winslow House. I never know what to tell people when they ask, “What kind of music do you make?” I usually go with lo-fi / singer-songwriter / bedroom pop. My music is a home-made, D.I.Y sound inspired by many favorite artists of mine. I’ve always really connected to that music. I started using the app TikTok to promote my music in 2023, making nostalgic mood-boards/slideshows set to distorted mixes of my songs. My music got most of the traction from that. I feel kind of shady promoting my music through that medium in retrospect, but I found a lot of people who resonate with the idea of nostalgia being very misleading. I just hope it helped others in the way it helped me.
What’s next?
I started teaching music lessons in Chattanooga, TN. I’ve been doing that since November. I really didn’t plan on doing that after graduating, but I love it. I feel like I accidentally got my dream job. Of course, I am still working on music. I have a thing or two lined up for this year that I am really excited about for Winslow House. But lately, a lot of my focus has shifted towards my day job during the week.
Contact Info:
- Website: cannot pay for a website right now ;/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/winslowhouseband/?hl=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzTBurnQ5sFaJ62eJxzMmxA
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-700495763
- Other: https://winslowhouse.bandcamp.com/music
