Meet Chelsea J

We were lucky to catch up with Chelsea J recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Chelsea with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
That’s a great question. I really feel as though it’s a part of my upbringing. I’ve always had an innate desire to finish what I start. My parents really instilled that in me. I was homeschooled for the better part of grade school, and it prepares you for higher learning (College & Grad School) and the real world because you have to be disciplined. The music business and acting industry is weighed down with rejection, so you have to be resilient. You survive 100% of your worst days. Even in the toughest moments, your love for the art is enough to keep pursuing it.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My debut album Moon Spirit was released in February of this year. This album is about relationships in all facets, like having peace with yourself in isolation, or removing yourself from toxic friendships and relationships. The process took about 7 months. I wrote these songs mostly at night and refined them before I was in the studio. I had just lost my grandmother who I was very close to, and wasn’t in a good place.

However, I met my producer and friend Quincy who came alongside me at the right time. I would take my time to write and rewrite the songs and record the vocal arrangements at home before going into the studio. I must say I enjoy the whole process of music making like the details of metadata, designing my cover art for the album, and picking the track list. My love for music started really young. I started in church choir and I studied classical voice as a preteen, which consisted of Italian and German operas, and musical theatre.

My writing process uses broad strokes. I get inspired by a melody first then the lyrics, or the lyrics will come to me, then the melody. It can alternate in a cool way, and I just trust how it may flow out of me. I released my first ever single in 2011 called “In Love From Afar” and I have been on a journey of writing and releasing singles, and collaborating with other indie songwriters and producers to make more songs. I released my self-written EP “Baby Girl” in 2018, and that was my coming of age in a sense.

The lead single ‘Stretch’ was featured on the CW channel on the show All-American. Now with my first full-length album, I like to see it as an evolution about my experiences or experiences of people close to me.

It’s as if we are walking storyboards, and we never really know how similar our struggle is, until someone vocalizes it. I find the you can have empathy with others when you see the bigger picture.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I would say I’m hard working, patient, and passionate about what I do. It takes those tools in tandem with your attitude, to accomplish anything in life. It’s like hitting the gym, if you dread the gym don’t have a bad attitude about it. That’s making it worse, just put on your favorite playlist and get to it.

For advice I’d say, “show it don’t speak it.” I think when someone is showing leadership qualities, they don’t voice that they are a leader and a force to be reckoned with. I feel that it’s all about your actions. You shouldn’t pride yourself on being a good friend, or being super professional. It should just be something people can see without you broadcasting it; if you’re living authentically.

Another would be, convince yourself before you try and convince others. You want to obtain a goal, you have to believe that you can. Everyone will have off days, but measuring it out to succeed a little bit everyday, is a win. Don’t get caught up in what everyone else is doing. Some people started earlier than you, later than you, but they are not you. You bring your own unique experience to the table.

Lastly, I’d say that with all the pessimism in the world, it’s ok to have unrealistic optimism. It’s healthy to expect all the hard work and good you put out into the world to come back to you. Some may say that is delusional, but it’ll help you stay on track and focus on what you can accomplish from where you are at in life.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
The most impactful thing my parents have done is always support me. I couldn’t ask for more supportive parents. My older sister too, has always been there for me and gives me amazing advice. Also, my family raised me with a firm foundation in my faith. With God, anything is possible.

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Image Credits
Jessica Diaz

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