Interview with Voyage LA
I recently did an interview with Voyage LA, here’s a link!
Hi Jonathan, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up in Marietta, GA, and ever since I can remember, I loved music. I loved listening to it and how it made me feel. My family is very religious, so I grew up in the church. I didn’t experience any pop culture or “secular” music, so I listened to only Christian artists and instrumental music, mostly soundtracks.
My parents were always supportive of me and my siblings’ artistic interests. We all tried different instruments. I tried violin and flute, but ultimately, I stuck with piano. When I was 11, they bought me music notation software so I could try writing music. I became obsessed, constantly writing my own “soundtracks” to fantasy books I was reading.
When I was 13, my mom entered my music into a contest that I won, and I got to meet a famous composer who told me that I should go to college and study music composition. This gave me the confidence and direction to pursue music. My parents significantly helped me on this journey, setting me up with music lessons and giving me the tools to write music.
I went to Georgia State University and got a bachelor’s and master’s in music composition with the sole intention of being a film composer. Towards the end of my time at school, I discovered that I liked singing and songwriting and, more importantly, that I was gay.
These two things changed my direction as a human being and as an artist. I was a Christian at the time; it was my entire world. I had always been told that being gay was sinful. I grappled with what I had been told and had to find out what was true for me. It was a painful, soul-searching journey, but I eventually accepted myself and my sexuality. I came out to family, friends, and church, and honestly, it didn’t go great.
My 20s ended up being very tumultuous. Because of the lack of support and understanding, I ended up in a very dark place and had to, quite literally, fight for my life. I had a very small group of people who loved and accepted me, and without them, I wouldn’t have made it through. In this time, I wrote, sang, and produced my first pop album called The Point of Contingency. It was all about how being gay was a point of contingency in my life that changed everything.
After those difficult and unhealthy years in Georgia, I decided to move to Los Angeles for a fresh start. I moved at the beginning of January 2020, so when the pandemic happened, I was locked in my room and could no longer run from my past. I had to face myself and my pain. It was a challenging experience that ultimately led to my healing. In the years that followed, I found my footing, I’ve met amazing people and I’ve gotten to work on fantastic projects.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It wasn’t easy, but I do feel lucky. When I won that contest at 13, it gave me the confidence to pursue music, so I’m thankful for the semi-linear nature of my music journey.
That being said, it’s been hard. Coming out as gay and losing the love and respect of family and friends destroyed me. I was so lonely and confused, lost for many years, trying to find myself. I spent so many years numbing because it was too much to feel. It’s been a journey of unraveling, unraveling myself and what I thought was true, unraveling the inherited judgments, unraveling myself from homophobia, and learning to accept myself. I wish this work was easy, but it isn’t.
On top of my personal struggles of healing and adapting to my newfound sense of self and reality, navigating the music and film industry is very challenging. I’m on a daily journey of learning to be present, choosing to live from a place of abundance and gratitude, not fear and scarcity.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Most of my credits are in film composition. I’ve had the incredible opportunity to assist a film composer in writing additional music for TV shows on Netflix, ABC, and Fox. I also recently wrote the score for a comedy short film, as well as a feature-length psychological thriller.
Last year, I was invited to join The Recording Academy, which has been such an amazing experience. I’m meeting so many talented people who truly inspire me. I’ve also had the opportunity to produce local queer artists, which is a passion of mine. I want to help my fellow queer siblings tell their stories and share their art. I also write music for and edit podcasts.
Right now, my main focus is my personal artist project. I’m finishing up my next album, Religious Trauma Syndrome and the Other Side, which is the project that I am most proud of. It’s the culmination of all of me; it’s my entire inner and outer journey; it’s all of my musical training combined; it’s my most vulnerable songwriting to date; and it’s my most authentic singing voice. I feel like I have finally found “my sound,” and I’m so excited to share it with the world. I’m still in the trenches of producing and recording it, but it’ll be released at the end of August.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Being present. I spent so much of my life living in my head, either stuck in the past or worrying about the future. On my spiritual journey, I’ve learned that this present moment is all we ever have. So, I’m learning to exist in it, whatever that looks like in the moment.