Meet Jose Espada

 

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jose Espada. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jose below.

Hi Jose, 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?

For many years I played the corporate game of trying to climb the ladder. During that time, any perceived accomplishment was short-lived as I was already looking to the next step it was all about getting more money, a better title, a bigger office, etc. But I was never satisfied and was never happy. In 2015, right around the time I turned 50, I had an epiphany. I realized my time was starting to run short, and I was certain I was not doing the things I wanted to do that would truly make me happy, like spending more time with my wife, traveling, and making music. Right then and there I decided that rather than climbing the ladder I was going to focus on being the best I could be at the job I had,, work my full workday, and then go home on time to live my real life. I started playing out in front of live audiences, honing my skills as a music producer, and planning road trips with my wife, and my life completely turned around because now I felt I had a real purpose and was investing time in the things that nurtured my spirit and soul. I am 58 now and living my best life because of that shift I made when I turned 50.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I spent the vast majority of my adult years working in thankless corporate jobs. But around 2015, when I started to focus more on my music, I started to hone my skills as a producer by learning about mixing and mastering, I started an independent record label called Boneyard Records, and eventually started a music production company called Boneyard Sound. At first, the record label was a vanity label, existing only for my releases. But over time, as I met more artists whose work I enjoyed and respected, the thought of expanding the label was born. I decided I wanted to set it up like a music cooperative, in which the artists collaborated and where we could leverage our numbers to get better rates for needed services. We did not finance records but we also did not keep any of the artist’s royalties. It was really about having a community of like-minded artists working together to help each other achieve their goals. I set it up like a non-profit in the strictest sense of the word, we did not make any profit. But it soon became apparent that the artists in the community needed services I was able to provide in both the production side of things as well as the business side of things. So we established internal rates for different services such as contract support, copyright filing, etc., but we also gave instructions on how to do most things, so the artists had the choice of paying for the service or doing it for themselves. I then set up Boneyard Sound as the production side of the house, and the for-money venture. Under Boneyard Sound I offer music production, mixing, and mastering at very aggressive rates, and then discount them even more for artists under the label. But again, the label artists are not forced to use the service, it is completely at their discretion. At the present about half the artists under the label use Boneyard Sound as their producer, and I have additional clients that are not under the label. It is also worth mentioning that around 2020 I enrolled in Berklee College of Music under a hybrid program for Music Production and Songwriting. Attending Berklee has been a dream since I was 14 years old, and I am now proud to say I will be completing my second Bachelor’s degree, this time in music, in March 2025.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I think patience, perseverance, and flexibility have been the most important skills in my journey. Having the patience to understand that things come in their time, not necessarily when you want them. Having the perseverance to stick to something, whether it was guitar, school, marriage, or whatever, even when things were not going the way I had planned or envisioned. Having the flexibility to adjust to changes and surprises along the way, rather than lose on opportunities because of some rigid preconception of how things should be. The one other things I would mention is ignorance; I like to joke that everything great I have accomplished in my life I was able to accomplish because no one ever told me I couldn’t or shouldn’t be able to.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

My parents were way ahead of their time, and very progressive thinkers. From a very young age, they ingrained in me that I could accomplish just about anything I set off to do AS LONG AS I was willing to put in the work. They also raised me to live my life in accordance with my own beliefs, and to not give a second thought to what anyone thought or said about me. This latter point has truly made me a much happier, healthier human being, and I am forever grateful to my parents for having raise me this way.

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Image Credits

George Schminky, Carmen Correa

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