Draken Winter
an audiophile, bookworm, and casual gamer,
fascinated by the idea of writing about anything and everything
Find Me Everywhere
| SOCIAL | GAMING | MUSIC/VIDEO | OTHER |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twitter: @drakenwinter | Reddit: u/DrakenWinter | Spotify: Draken Winter | about.me: Draken Winter |
| Instagram: @drakenwinter | Discord: DrakenWinter#5623 | SoundCloud: Draken Winter | GoodReads: drakenwinter |
| Facebook: drakenwinter | Steam ID: DrakenWinter | BandCamp: Draken Winter | Medium: @drakenwinter |
| Telegram: @drakenwinter | Epic Games: DrakenWinter | YouTube: Draken Winter | GitHub: DrakenWinter |
| LinkedIn: drakenwinter | Moxfield: DrakenWinter | Twitch: DrakenWinter | Email: drakenwinter.wordpress@gmail.com |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the meaning behind the name “Draken Winter”?
It’s an in-game username turned real-life nickname (my friends call me Drake). Now, also my pen name.
What do you do for a living? Are you still studying?
I am currently in my third year of college, majoring in Political Science and minoring in English Literature at the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. I write for several organizations on campus, including the Ateneo Assembly Political Science Organization and the KSA Sociology and Anthropology Research Department.
What instruments can you play?
Jack-of-all-trades, master of none. A little bit of percussion, guitars, etc. Part of my bucket list is being able to learn and play as many musical instruments as possible. And no, I cannot sing at all. Don’t even try.
Favorite band/artist?
Tomo Fujita, a Japanese guitar teacher at Berklee College of Music (known by most people for having taught John Mayer). The way he talks about guitar and really, music theory in general, is like reading a damn good book. He has a few instrumental releases, but I mainly like Tomo because of what goes into his mind when writing and playing. As for mainstream music, I like listening to Jung Sungha (fingerstyle guitar soloist), Polyphia and Covet (progressive/math rock bands), and any Korean R&B/Soul. I tend to listen to mostly instrumentals or foreign songs that let me focus on just the sound and not the lyrics—sort of like compartmentalizing songs into tunes and poems.
Favorite books of all time?
I’ve got one for every literary period, but to let you know of the hits: Plato’s Republic, Dante’s Inferno, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Scheper-Hughes’ Death Without Weeping, and Crowley’s Words in Deep Blue. For someone who has basically lived in the library since primary school, I haven’t read much at all. I do enjoy reading ethnographies and fiction novels alike, and hope to expand my library in the future.
What is your favorite game genre?
Interestingly enough, I love all games with open secondary markets. You could say my favorite “genre” is the trading grind, and when the ping is bad, I can always fall back to making trades and collecting rare in-game items, sometimes enjoying it more than actually playing the game itself. Started with Rocket League, trading my way up from free drops to about $20. Currently playing (but really, trading in) CS:GO and building my MTG collection while completing my non-rotating decks. In any game, Theory > Trading > Gameplay.
Why did you get into high-fidelity audio?
I cannot listen to or play music and multi-task; I get quite lost in it. Wow, did that sound pretentious… But frankly while studying I can manage simultaneously listening to lectures or podcasts, but never to music—instrumentals or with vocals alike—because my attention is drawn to the latter quite easily. Because I tend to listen to music as a critical-listening exercise and because I enjoy doing it without doing absolutely anything else, I started to take interest in audio and high-quality gear to keep up with my appreciation for the art of the reproduction of sound, to appreciate the final mix as the artist/producer intended.
Draken Winter 