Aditi Ajoy has been writing songs since she was 6 years old.

“I’ve always loved music…I always turned to it as a way to express what I’m feeling,” she said.

However, it wasn’t until a couple years ago that she started to pursue music seriously.

“I started to think this is something I really want to do,” Ajoy said. “I started finding resources online as to how to record and master music.”

The eighth-grade student at Evergreen Middle School in unincorporated King County near Redmond recently released her first single, “What Are You Thinking?” on Spotify, Amazon Music and iTunes.

Her single was inspired after the Las Vegas shootings in October 2017.

“I wrote it specifically after the Las Vegas Shooting, one of the saddest events that happened in the music industry,” she said. “Since then, I’ve turned back to it as I hear news of other shootings.”

Ajoy said she wrote the song shortly after learning of the shooting. She said it took her less than an hour to write the song. She sat on it for more than a year, however.

“Once I had the song, I knew I wanted to do something with it but I didn’t know what the next steps were,” she said.

Last December, she was able to meet a local producer and record her song. “What Are You Thinking?” was officially released March 22.

“What Are You Thinking?” questions the reason behind acts of hate. The lyrics are a conversation with the shooter. The song asks questions that Ajoy said might never have answers.

“But I think underneath it all, if you look, you’ll find a message of hope and healing. At the end of the day, that’s what we take away,” she said. “That’s what we need to take away. You turn the anger and sadness into love and that holds so much power over hate.”

For being a young artist, Ajoy said she struggled to have others take her seriously.

“Being really young is hard when you want people to take you seriously,” she said. “I wanted to prove to others and myself that I could do this…that making music was more than a hobby.”

Claire Wick, a Redmond High School sophomore, was present at the Las Vegas shooting in 2017.

She said Ajoy’s song was important and thanked her for writing it.

“This song means a lot to people, especially to those who were there,” Ajoy said.

For Ajoy, she said she hopes there will be a day where she won’t have to turn to the song as shootings continue to occur.

To hear Ajoy’s song, search for it on Spotify. A lyric video is also available on YouTube.