Daily Inspiration: Meet Jordan Wisniewski

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jordan Wisniewski.

Hi Jordan, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself. 
My journey with music began as a Freshman in High School. I had a friend named Brandon who made music and introduced me to a club at the school called “Heritage Records.” This club gave students access to recording equipment and was my first introduction into the process of songwriting and collaboration. Brandon urged me to join, which to this day I’m unsure why because up until shortly before this, we didn’t like each other all that much. I think we both thought the other one was the annoying kid on the bus. We were probably both right. Our friendship really only began after we discovered our mutual interest in making music. In my family, we had a rule that we always needed to be doing something outside of school, whether that be sports or some other extracurricular activity. I had grown detestful of baseball after playing it for a decade. The day I was accepted into Heritage Records, I went home and told my parents that I was tired of sports and wanted to do music. Their reaction was immediate. Without question, they bought me a starter microphone kit and a laptop. 

When I began making music, I can confidently say I had absolutely zero talent. None whatsoever. I had no concept of vocal delivery, rhythm, song structure, etc. My first attempts at making “music” were embarrassingly pitiful. But because I didn’t know any better, I was never discouraged. Over the next year, I learned how to write songs side-by-side with Brandon and the other members of Heritage Records. After school, the club would meet up every day and work on songs until at least 4 p.m. Though it may have ended after that time for others, when me and Brandon got home, we continued to work. We really didn’t care much for anything else. My only interest and hobby at this point was learning music. 

Eventually, Heritage Records fell apart due to our teacher (and my mentor up to that point) moving states. As saddening as it was, me and Brandon didn’t slow down. We kept making songs and learning together. Somewhere along the way, through a mutual friend, me and Brandon met Juan. Where Brandon had talent in regards to both singing and the technical side of making music, Juan had immense talent in regards to rapping. He was so naturally gifted with words and cadence. The three of us shared a lot of music taste, senses of humor, and overall goals, so we naturally bonded. Over the course of High School, the three of us, while pursuing solo music goals, walked the path together. We saw each other quite often if not every single day. We’d show each other what we’re working on, just chill and make jokes, or play basketball. I look back on those years quite fondly. 

Our little trio ended up becoming a bit separated as each of us formed into our own a little more every day. We started liking different things, picked up new responsibilities, etc. Fast forward some years, and Juan started living with me. Shortly after that, the pandemic hit. This was a transformative time in my creative journey. Suddenly, I no longer had a job to go to, and all my schooling was online where we could work at our own pace. Life went from only a few hours to work on music a day to 85% of it being purely music. This was where my music really began to take shape into what it is now. I learned how to write songs better; I learned how to mix and master better, I learned how to use my voice better, I began to learn how to sing on top of my rapping. Furthermore, I began marketing my music more aggressively, and before long I had several thousand listeners around the world and several hundred thousand streams. It was such a surreal time. It was during this time that me and Juan’s friendship solidified to a brotherhood after spending all of every day together for months on end. 

After Lockdown ended, I transferred to ECU as an English Major. This was another transformative time for me and my music. Life was very different when I was at college. I was learning a lot being exposed to and inspired by so much compelling literature and film. I was making new friends and building relationships with people I never would have before. On top of all that, I was living on my own with my girlfriend. It was truly the best time of my life. This all had a heavy impact on my music and creativity. Over the course of the two years I was there, I worked on a trilogy of concept albums that were all connected by a loose narrative. Each album told a different piece of a story that was really an extended metaphor for me at that point in time. Like life always is and meant to be, it was a journey of self-discovery. What was different about this journey was that I knew I was on it. When I was maturing in High School, I wasn’t consciously thinking about how I was growing and how my relationship with the world around me was changing. But when I was away at school, I felt deeply connected to everything, and I had never been more sure of myself in regards to what I was doing and where I wanted to be. I graduated this past summer and am now back home with my family. 

All of this brings us to today. I’m currently wrapping up an album entitled “between:THRESHOLDS”. It’s about the last year of my life. As my life changed two years ago when I left for college. my life had changed yet again as I graduated and left my time in school behind. This album is about that. It’s about the journey from one place to another. It’s about standing on the brittle bridge that connects the two. It’s about all the anxiety that you feel when that bridge feels unbalanced as if it could break at any moment. It’s about how you’re not sure what’s on the other side of that bridge. But the pillars of wood that were once behind you have cracked and caved as you’ve stepped off of them. There’s no turning back. That feeling is what I’ve felt in great potency over the last few months. No matter where you are in life, you are constantly between thresholds. Whether that be physically, mentally, financially, etc. Life itself is a bridge between the time before and after you. This album capitalizes on that sentiment, and in many ways, the life story I’ve just told you is deeply related to all of these concepts. Being between the come-up and success, self-loathing and self-love, resentment and forgiveness, etc. Some journeys are eternal while others speak truth to a very specific time in one’s life. This album is about my life at this very moment. I’m proud of the story I got to tell and the body of work that accompanies it. 

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
As I mentioned before, I had minimal talent when I first began to learn music. While some might look back and cringe (trust me, I do), I’m also proud of where I started and the skills I learned along the way. It took me years to really start understanding it. I moved at such a minute pace all throughout high school. It wasn’t until I had already been making music for 4 or so years that everything I had learned up to that point began compounding on itself and exponentially evolving into what it is now. Having the patience and the drive to persevere even though I was putting hours upon hours every day with little to nothing to show for it, both in quality of the music and reception from others, is the only reason I came out the other side to where I am now. Mac Miller had a quote in relation to why people tend to give up on their dreams. It was something along the lines of, “People tend to look at how far they have to go rather than how far they’ve come.” While I do look back at how far I’ve come and am filled with pride, I look at the path ahead of me with pure excitement. I can’t wait to see how far this goes. I’ve brutally struggled with marketing my music, maintaining a positive relationship with my music, learning and understanding the music industry, and finding a balance between authenticity and compromise, as well as losing listeners as my sound evolved and changed. While those struggles are all valid, I find that the hurdles I’ve faced are less important than the mentality and ambition I had to protect in order to face them. I’m grateful for the journey that has led me here because I now understand how lucky I’ve been in the support that I’ve had along the way. Most parents wouldn’t have been so immediately supportive both emotionally and financially when their kid came home and said they wanted to rap. Luckily for me, I come from an already musically inclined family, but one that supports dreams on top of it. They always have, and they always will. Furthermore, the process of learning music is just a painstaking process that you don’t really understand until you try doing it. I’ve seen a lot of people (with incredible talent, mind you) fall out of music way before I did because they hit a brick wall somewhere or didn’t have access to the resources needed to make music. That’s why I was lucky. One of the greatest things that ever happened for me, that helped me overcome the hurdles that defeated others, was learning music with friends rather than alone. While we live in an internet age that permits anyone the ability to teach themselves, those early years were so important in establishing a foundational knowledge for me to build from going forward. The process of making music can be frustrating but also immensely rewarding. Beyond that, it’s a vulnerable and intimate process. Doing it with others multiples these experiences tenfold. 

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a Hip-Hop artist through and through. Hip-Hop culture and the art of rapping have shaped me into the man I am today. Hip-Hop gave me confidence when I didn’t have it. Hip-Hop gave me drive and a deeper understanding of the world around me. It introduced me to so many sounds and styles. For those who aren’t well acquainted with the genre, it’s easy to generalize and misinterpret its messages and what it has to offer. Just like anything, Hip-Hop is not easily represented by its most popular song. Furthermore, the stigma attached to the genre is completely misguided and disregards the thousands of artists and dozens of subgenres that have built this beautiful melting pot of ideas and perspectives into a canvas that anyone can paint on. I love to rap. I love writing verses that have multi-syllable rhyme schemes, wordplay, alliteration and consonance, extended metaphors, and poetic imagery. I love using those tools, all while expressing myself or telling a story with passion. I like to think that’s my strongest trait. While I have grown quite confident in my singing and engineering, I find that my songwriting will always be my defining strength. I may decorate my songs with my friends’ stellar production, as well as nice melodies and vocal layering on my end, but at the end of the day, all that is just a vehicle for me to deliver the best rapping possible while also making dynamic music that can have universal appeal. I’m proud of the sound I’ve built for myself and the bodies of work I’ve accomplished over the last few years. Because I’m always getting better, it’s very easy to look at the music I made even just a year ago and think, “Wow, I hate this song.” I do it so often that it’s become a recurring joke among my friends that the moment a song is released, I start hating it, even if it’s the best damn song I’ve ever made. While that may be true to a degree, I’m always proud of what I’ve made because I made it, and no one else could have done it the way I did it. Furthermore, every song is another opportunity to learn. I’ve never made a song that I thought was perfect. But I keep making them in hopes that one day, I’ll be able to do so. I’m proud that while my music isn’t professionally recorded and industry standard quality, no one can replicate it or sound like me. I did it in my room with a voice that no one else has and a combination of styles that no one else does. I’m eternally grateful for those who have given me blind support over the years because they’ve allowed me to get this far. I can’t wait to see where we go from here. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.flowcode.com/page/jordanisdead
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanisdeaddd/

Image Credits
@machadoxleao
@andropang