Daily Inspiration: Meet Jason Damico

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Damico

Hi Jason, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
As an artist and creative myself, I saw a void in the immediate Triangle Area for long-form coverage of local artists. I wanted to develop a show formatted to highlight the talents of various artists and creatives similarly to the way podcast pioneers like Joe Rogan did successfully. And with a flair of constant curiosity coupled with an innate affinity towards journalism, I developed and founded in the Spring of 2019 The Jason Damico Show to primarily focus on the artistic community and the covering of uniquely gifted artists/personalities–as well as having fun and documenting great moments and memories.

The podcast is conducted in a Joe Rogan-type formatting but more specified towards artists and the entertainment industry. The show has the honor of covering the insightful stories of world class talents and personalities such as Joe McNally (LIFE, National Geo), John Custer (Sony, Columbia), Jessica Lynn (Keith Urban, ZZ Top), James Lugo (American Idol, 311), Brad Russell (Joe Satriani), and many more. The show began gaining traction when we reached out to viral YouTube/Reddit star MessiahSez for a featured special in his apartment in Brooklyn, NY. Many guests on the show have praised the atmosphere of the show to be “healing and therapeutic”–propelling positive vibes into an often negative space (social media).

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?
One of the main challenges was navigating and maintaining momentum when the pandemic hit. However, I found an incredible amount of opportunity just waiting to be captured via Zoom interviews. I began reaching out feverishly via DMs, emails to artists, management teams etc. for interviews and noticed a lot of positive responses and successful bookings/interviews that ultimately became iconic episodes. Thankfully, the adversity really became a major catalyst of more exponentiated success for the show.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
The three main career/work passions in my life are music, acting, and production. My umbrella company New Blue Entertainment, LLC handles my intellectual property as a recording artist/creative while also operating and managing a multi-room recording studio and production house located in the Triangle near Jordan Lake. It also serves as a label and oversees coordination for all live music events and touring for Jason Damico & The New Blue.
I started dabbling in music production after having a few negative experiences early on with outside producers. At around 15, I began building my own recording studio. I did everything I could to push myself more and more in learning the process.

I told myself that I would always be “the artist’s producer” and proudly adopted that mantra because I wanted to treat every artist with empathy and respect.
I’d further learn how to do this at Manifold Recording Studios in Pittsboro, NC—which I was blessed to intern at for a little over a year while in college. Working in a world-class environment like that helped me develop and refine proper studio etiquette, problem-solving skills, and overall understanding of the music production process.

As a songwriter and recording artist, I resonate most with organic music—specifically rock and blues. But I love all genres. I just try to take a little bit of everything that I like and create something with a touch of originality. A great song is a great song—especially when it can effectively communicate and inspire others in some way, shape, or form that is relatable.

Growing up as an actor, I always felt comfortable in front of a camera and on set. I’ve also spent a significant amount of time behind the camera directing various projects as well as editing in post-production. Wearing so many different hats generates an experiential advantage.

There’s so much that goes into the medium of film and on-screen storytelling. The more you know, the more value you can provide us as a creative asset, and the more respect/awareness you can have for everyone else involved in a project.
As a content creator, I have a huge passion for documenting people’s unique stories and experiences—hence, The Jason Damico Show.

Guests have often praised the atmosphere of the show to be “healing and therapeutic”—propelling positivity into the often-negative saturated space of social media. I take great pride in effectively creating a safe space for talented people to express themselves so freely.

Ultimately, I’ve been fortunate enough to build and continue to shape a career that is dynamic with complementary passions music ubiquitously in films and TV. There are infinite performance aspects required in music. And both art forms rely heavily on production savviness, conscientiousness, and core competencies within various content creation skillsets.

Comfortably interweaving and combining those skillsets and experience banks is probably what differentiates me (and my team) the most within the arts & entertainment industry—and I’d say that’s honestly what sets me apart.

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
As a Raleigh native, the Triangle is obviously home for me. I think it’s come a long way in terms of growth from a creative-standpoint—however North Carolina culture in general has always seemed historically to be rich in the arts and raw talent.

I’ve spent a lot of time in other cities either on tour or film/tv projects—I’d say the one thing I’d like to see improvement or recourse on would be more emphasis and spotlighting on local talent—similar to the spirit of why I created The Jason Damico Show. This can spill over into many other areas such as local artists having more readily available opportunities to support/collaborate with national touring artists that are coming through to larger venues/platforms, etc. I think there is tremendous opportunity there as well as local media making more of an effort to cover the arts on a regular basis. The same for our school system proactively promoting more arts and general business/life skills (but that’s a whole other conversation).

On a more selfish, trivial note, I’d like to see I-540 completed at some point!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jasondamico.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jdamicoofficial/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thejasondamicoshow
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thejasondamicoshow
• Other: https://www.jasondamico.com/the-jason-damico-show