We caught up with the brilliant and insightful BROTHER JD a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi BROTHER JD, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I believe I found my purpose at an early age. I realized that I enjoy certain things in this roller coaster of life. In my case it was to entertain, to be the center of attention. I liked to get applause or laughs, I have always been a clown in class or the guy up on stage in a play or talent show. I knew that was fun for me so I knew early that I was headed for something in the entertainment industry. I actually wanted to be a star of some sort no doubt. Back in the early days, before I was a teen I got my first electric bass guitar. I loved music and I really enjoyed playing that bass. I taught myself how to play in my room with records on the turn table. I was in my first band at 13 and started to play in front of people at parties and talent shows. The scene was set, I wanted to be that cool rock star and live that type of lifestyle. I pursued that dream all the way to Los Angeles to study and be the best bass player I could be. After touring across the states, radio airplay, and even MTV exposure, life changed with a growing family. I knew that a starving artist was no way to be a good providing husband and dad, so I went back to study my other Love, cars!! While raising a family and working the automotive trade, I started to film my cool car projects. Here again, I found myself creating art with my rides. When I filmed my rides, I could be the star and also lay my music underneath the images. WOW, all of my Loves in one place. I get to entertain, I get to express artistic visions through not just sound but imagery too? PERFECT FIT!!
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
What I do now is produce television content and all of the social media that goes along with it. After I started filming myself building my cool rides for YouTube, a production company reached out. Being discovered on YouTube actually led to a television show on the Discovery Channel. I finally made it, I actually starred in the reality car show Turn & Burn on Monday nights in prime time!! I even had my music on the series. From that experience I learned how TV shows were made. I quickly moved into creating and producing television shows for the networks where others can be the stars. I now have 4 seasons of shows airing around the globe at any given time. I am currently working on a new season 2 to air sometime in late 2024. I believe what’s special about what I do is that I do it all. Not only do I create rolling works of mechanical art, I film the process. While I film what I do, I am the actual lead role, I entertain, I am the so-called talent. After the filming is done, I control the editing to tell the story and in the end, I even write and record the actual soundtrack for the content. My next goal is to again be “THE MAN”, as I go back to my roots and film what I do instead of filming others’ stories. That is where I’m headed. Where all that fresh content ends up doesn’t even matter. It will be artistic expression of the highest level to satisfy my own soul.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Looking back, I believe the three areas of knowledge that were most impactful for my journey were these. Number one would be the art of music, that universal language. I learned early what moods can be set from different styles of music in the room. There is strong heavy music to get the blood pumping and bodies moving and there is light quiet reflective sound to calm and sedate. These are just a few examples of setting the tone for the end result. The second area of knowledge is to follow your unique passion. I believe that when one follows their inner core, their own soul, it leads to all kinds of magical unseen journeys that were previously unimagined. I believe that when one follows their own visions and sticks to what makes them happy, the doors open up wide in front of them. It’s not always easy, there will be struggles, but sticking to the course and working hard to focus usually brings results in the direction intended. The third, and probably most important area of knowledge, is that of Love. When one has Love in their being while interacting with others, I firmly believe that the tone for positive movement has been set. Another way of saying this is .. “You attract more flies with honey than you do with vinegar”. There you have it, Love, Passion and Harmony I figure.
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?
I believe the most impactful things my parents did for me came from two different directions for sure. The first thing I want people to understand is that my parents were always my biggest cheerleaders. They were never ones to let me know that my artistic endeavors were anything but great. They may not have understood why I customized every pedal car, bicycle, mini bike, go-cart, lawnmower, etc. to my liking, but they just nodded and somehow ok’d the scene. Basically, they always supported my visions of sight and sound. They never downgraded my attempts even when they had every right to. The second most impactful thing they gave to me was their separation and divorce. This may sound like a negative to most, but in my case I turned this life event into a positive. This normal part of living gave me the insight at a young age that the world as we know it is not really what it seems at all. That when things seem just fine, sometimes that is not always the case. This situation gave me the notion that you might as well make your own lifestyle, your own fun because nobody else is gonna do that for you. From that point on, I knew I was on my own to make my world the coolest it could be. No need to rely on anybody else to do that for me. This may have come from a sad situation, but for that way of thinking, I am actually extremely grateful. To this day, I roll completely independent of what anybody else is doing or thinking. I carve my own way just like old Frank Sinatra sang about.
Contact Info:
- Website: elreysgarage.com
- Instagram: BrotherJD
- Facebook: Brutha JD
- Linkedin: Brother JD
- Youtube: El Reys Garage
- Other: Television shows TURN & BURN, WRENCH WARS, HOT ROD HISTORY LESSONS
Image Credits
Ron Geren – Black and white headshot
