We recently connected with Jack Chen and have shared our conversation below.
Jack, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
As a musician, there’s a few ways I keep my creativity alive. One of my favourite ways to do it is through finding new music to listen to, as that helps with my inspiration and motivates me to keep making music. When I get stuck on a section of a song or composition, it’s usually because I have trouble figuring out the best way to spice up this particular part. I then try to find different songs in similar genres, and see what I might be missing in my work. Oftentimes, the answer doesn’t come from just one song; I’ll usually listen to a bunch and analyze how different ideas from these songs work together, and then take what I learned to my own production. I think this is the hallmark of a skilled producer; being able to learn from others and take inspiration from them to carefully craft your own work.
Another way I keep my creativity alive is through taking breaks and doing hobbies. I love playing sports (like basketball, volleyball, and snowboarding) so doing these activities in my spare time helps me to reset my brain and not get burned out from work. I also find that when I take a break from a song for a bit and come back to work on it later, I usually have more bursts of creativity. I think having a healthy balance between work and downtime allows you to keep your mind fresh and the ideas flowing.
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?
I’m a music producer, audio engineer, and teacher. As a producer, I work in a bunch of different genres, with my favourite ones being pop, hip-hop, electronic, rnb, and orchestral. That being said, I can work in pretty much any genre as long as I’m given reference tracks. I’m also very experienced in recording, mixing, and mastering, having worked for many different artists I met during my time interning and working in LA music studios.
At the moment, I’m currently focused on furthering my own artistic career while teaching at a music school. I have some songs that I’m working on with other artists that will be released soon on all streaming services. I think one thing that sets my music apart from others is that I love combining genres and sounds together; I’ll usually try to merge 2 or 3 genres (or elements of genres) into one song, and have them work seamlessly together. A great example of this is my latest single, PARALYZED by chen-J ft. LostBoyKujo. This song underwent a lot of changes from its inception to the final product, and I’m really proud of how it turned out. Please take a listen if you’re interested!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Three skills that were most impactful in my journey are working well with others, being a self-starter, and being able to analyze music well.
I believe these skills are important to any musician. Working well with others can help you improve your craft beyond what you might be capable of on your own. Being a self-starter is critical in the early stages of your artistic career, as there usually won’t be people egging you on to start making music. And finally, being able to analyze music well is essential to informing your own artistry and sound.
The best way to develop these skills is to just go out and do them. Seek out partnerships and collaborations with people, and learn as much as you can from them. Being a self-starter is pretty straightforward; just start making music! Don’t procrastinate or put it off. And practice listening to music with an analytical ear; what do you hear that stands out to you in a good way? Or a bad way? What kind of instrumental makeup do you hear in different genres, and how do the top artists in these genres achieve their sound? The key here is to keep practicing these skills, and eventually turn them into habits.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I’m always looking for people to collaborate with! Honestly, I’m pretty open to collaborating with anyone as long as they’re respectful and responsible. As a music producer and audio engineer, I’m pretty well-versed in all aspects of the song-making process, including songwriting, recording, production, mixing, and mastering. I’m open to pretty much any genre as well, as long as we have some reference tracks to go off of. Bonus points if you’re a strong lyricist, as writing lyrics isn’t really my strong suit. I’m also an experienced pianist and singer, so if you ever want me to lay down some piano or vocals on a track I’d be more than happy to do that.
If you want to connect with me you can reach me at my instagram @jack.chenjie and we can go from there!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jack.chenjie/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chenjack1030/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-chen-815b3b22b/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JackChenMusic
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/jack-chen-602848999/tracks
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4njxylnjaNerV3G8BpKin6?si=wya19FiFQY-gftWsOVrnug
Image Credits
Luke Liu
Ethan Yu
Naomi Huang
Alvin Cheng
Frank Nguyen
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
