Life & Work with Gregory J. of Raleigh

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gregory J.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Music has always been a big part of my life. I remember always having some kind of song in my head, whether it was a tune that I had heard on the radio or tv or just something I had made up. I grew up in Clinton, North Carolina, with two older brothers that introduced me to the things they were listening to, like Motown and R&B (which was just R&B at the time, but we now know it as 90’s R&B, my FAVORITE era of music), and my parents who would mostly listen to gospel music in the car, all of which have significant influence on my sound as an artist today. As a kid I started playing around with a keyboard that my parents bought, and after a while I was able to peck out a few familiar melodies that I just picked up by ear. They were nothing spectacular but they were at least good enough to be recognizable to my family. My parents soon realized that maybe there was something more there, and wanted to put me in piano lessons, but being the extremely shy kid that I was, I said “no.” And for years and years after that I continued to say “no.” So I never really learned how to play the piano, and to this day, that is one of my biggest regrets. People always tell me that it’s not too late, and sure, maybe I’ll get around to it someday, but I really wish that I had overcome that fear and went for it as a kid when my mind was way more open to receiving new information. But, luckily that wasn’t the end of my journey in the world of music. In the 6th grade I joined the band, and I played trombone until I graduated high school. I am a self proclaimed band geek, and very proud of it! Being in the band helped open my eyes to other areas of music that I hadn’t experienced before, like orchestral or classical music, and JAZZ, which again are things that I try to incorporate into my own music.

But it wasn’t until I was in college that I started to dabble in creating and recording my own music. I was surrounded by friends from my hometown that were also in band with me back in high school, so we were all into music. We ended up recording a few songs together with a TERRIBLE recording setup, but it was a lot of fun, and I was officially bitten by the bug. The group thing didn’t last long, as the reality of being in college set in and we realized that we had to study and do homework if we actually wanted to graduate. However I never really stopped writing and recording during that time, but it was mostly for my own entertainment and only a handful of people got to hear any of what I was coming up with. After successfully graduating from college (yay!) and entering the workforce (boo!), around my 25th birthday I had what some would call a “quarter-life crisis.” I took a long hard look at a few areas in my life that I wasn’t completely happy with and decided to make some changes, one of those being my music. I made the decision to breakout of that fear that I was still kind of holding on to from childhood, and start sharing my music with the world…or at least with the few followers I had on social media. I started recording covers and posting them on Soundcloud, and gradually worked my way up to doing original songs. Fast forward to the past few years, where I’ve now released a few singles and EP’s on all streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, etc. It’s an ongoing process and I’m still learning and growing, slowly but surely, as well as battling with my inhibitions, but overall it’s been a lot of fun, doing something that I truly love and enjoy and having others from across the country and even around the world (VERY few) hear MY music and hopefully enjoy it as well.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think the main struggles I’ve dealt with along the way have mostly been internal. Like I mentioned before, I grew up as a very shy kid, and even though I’ve grown a lot since then, I’ve always been somewhat of an introverted person, so it can be difficult for me to really put myself out there. I’ve dealt with self-doubt most of my life, especially during this journey. It’s hindered me quite a bit in my life, and, if I’m being honest, I think it still hinders me a little at times. It’s an everyday thing that I have to try to fight through, and sometimes it’s a long drawn out fight. I’ve made a lot of progress in that area over the years, and I feel that most days I’m able to overcome and win those battles, but there are times when it might get the best of me. But even though I might get knocked down, I try not to let it keep me down, and I get up and try again.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I consider myself to be an independent artist (heavy on the independent). I am a singer, song-writer and producer, among other things, and, so far, any original song that I have put out has been written by me and the tracks have all been produced by me as well. That’s not to say that what I put out is the absolute best because I’m doing it and I’m doing it all alone. That is far from the case. Trust me, if I could afford to hire a team, I would. But I also do it all because I enjoy it all, and I want to learn how to be better in all of those areas. I love seeing the creation process of many things, not just music. Like seeing a chef create a dish from scratch with a bunch of different ingredients that, separately, may not do much for your appetite, but when put together they make up something delicious. Or seeing an artist take a blank canvas and, with a few brushes and some paint, bring a scene to life. When I’m making music, I get to experience that feeling of creating something out of nothing, and there’s nothing else like it. And right now all of that is happening from the comfort of my bedroom. Again, if I could afford an at home studio, please believe I’d have one. But until then, I make do with my trusty laptop, mic and a midi controller. It’s honestly kind of a challenge for myself at this point to see how close to a professional sound I can get before I upgrade everything. So far it hasn’t been too bad, and I can definitely see my own growth over the years, and that in itself is very rewarding.

So far I’ve released a few projects across all streaming platforms, so anywhere you get your music you should be able to find me. I think I’m most proud of the EP’s that I’ve realeased, one in 2022 called “4 Songs & 1 interlude” (I bet you can’t guess how many songs are on the EP), and another in 2023 called “Tonight.” Both took a lot of hard work and time, and I think they came together quite well in the end. Definitely go check those out when you get a chance, judge for yourself and let me know what you think. I think the best word to describe what kind of music I make is ‘eclectic,’ much like my taste in music. I’m heavily influenced by pop and R&B, but I would personally consider myself to be a genre-less artist. I love all music, and I pull from all genres when I sit down to make my own. So it doesn’t matter what you’re looking for. Chances are you’ll find something that you can relate to. At least that is my hope. We hear all the time that music is a universal language and ultimately my goal is for my music to reach as many ears as possible and for people from all over to connect with something that I created and be moved by it in some way.

Music is definitely my first love, but it’s not what pays the bills at the moment. I actually have a degree in communications (media studies and production) and by day, I am a video editor at WRAL News. Videography/video editing is definitely something else that I really enjoy doing. It’s another example of taking separate pieces of one thing or more and creating something new out of those pieces. It’s a lot like producing music in that way. Also with editing videos, especially now with TikTok and Instagram Reels, music plays a big roll in conveying the mood of the video. So for me, music and video editing sort of go hand in hand, and I could absolutely think of worse ways to make a living.

What were you like growing up?
Honestly, I would say that I’m still pretty much the same now personality wise as I was as a child. As I mentioned, I was pretty shy as a kid, and I think I still have a little bit of that, but now as an adult I just call it being introverted. But I do consider myself to be an extroverted introvert, and just like I am now, as a kid I could open up and be silly around the right people. Any time I was at home with just my family, or when I was with my closest friends or cousins I would come alive. Still to this day, some people think of me as the quiet guy, but people that really know me are quick to refute that. As a 90’s baby I was in to the same things that a lot of kids were in to around that time. I grew up on the Nickelodeon classics like “Rugrats,” “Hey Arnold,” “All That,” etc. Watching “Power Rangers” after getting off the school bus at my grandma’s house was a ritual, along with “Pokémon” and “Beetle Borgs” (that’s a deep cut…#iykyk). I had a lot of the classic Disney animated movies on VHS (yes…VHS) like “Aladdin,” “The Lion King,” and my favorite “A Goofy Movie.” Thinking about it now, I think a lot of my love for music in those early years was sparked by hearing the theme songs on my favorite shows, or the songs within the Disney movies, specifically the R&B renditions of the songs that they would play during the credits. I would replay those credits over and over just to hear the songs and I knew them like the back of my hand. Those were probably the first moments of me singing for real that I can remember. For a long time I would never sing in front of anyone. My mom happened to sneak up behind me one day when I was singing with headphones on and when I turned around I just stopped and stared at her. She was shocked and said “You can sing?!” And then starting band in middle school, I was surrounded by naturally musical people, and I became good friends with some of them and once I was comfortable enough I started to open up and sing around them. Those were some of the best times, singing together at the lunch table, or after school in the band room or on the bus for field trips.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/gregoryj
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gregoryjerrod/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gregoryjerrod
• Twitter: https://x.com/ItsGregoryJ
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@gregoryjerrod1626
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/gregoryjerrod
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1oaz3fhauoXVzRC7C0jJ3w?si=8u3QubTbT1icZfxFeLv27A