Jarrod Gipson
I am only discovering Jarrod Gipson but his latest project This Should Be On Soundcloud is incredible. I like that he released “STARVING” and “NALA EYES” at the same time. I like the authenticity of these two songs and I like that this project is the start of a new chapter for him artistically. He wrote and produced both songs and that is amazing and inspiring. This Should Be On Soundcloud is a refreshing project and everybody needs to check it out.
Congrats Jarrod on this new beginning. I cannot wait to hear more songs.
This Should Be On Soundcloud is a must listen and it is out now !
Photo credit: Savannah Grimm
Introduce yourself - what's your story?
Born in Miami, raised in Colorado, been doing music my whole life. Never really had a backup plan and still don’t. Fell into songwriting as a matter of survival after I lost my dad. I’m a twenty something year old man just trying to figure out what I want.
I don’t even really know yet. I guess that's the story so far!
What did you grow up listening to?
Kinda everybody. Chicago was in there a lot. 50 cent and Eminem. Earth Wind and Fire. Blink 182. Justin Timberlake. Coldplay.
When did you know you could sing?
I still don’t think I can really sing most days, laughs. I got an inkling of the idea that maybe I’m not as bad as I thought one night when I was at the Broadmoor hotel. It was at like 3 in the morning, and they had a piano sitting in the lobby. I remember I was playing and singing -- I looked up and the janitor was standing there crying. I asked him what was wrong and he said "Your voice is just so beautiful. I’ve been standing in the other room for 15 minutes listening because your piano playing reminds me of when my grandmother played at my house growing up." And then we both cried. It was pretty awesome.
When did you know you had to be an artist and release your original music?
When I wrote a song called Clockwise. Everything in my life was either falling apart or dying, and it was the only outlet that felt safe and like the only light in a black sea so to speak. I had to find a way to survive the things I was going through. The losses and the setbacks. If I wasn’t writing music and singing it and performing it, I was like, "Why am i even on this earth?’
Professionally, who was the first person to ever believe in you?
I think that depends — I had toured with different bands as a drummer for a while, but as far as the first professional to believe in me as a solo artist, it was a Music Director at iHeart in Nashville. She spent a few years checking up on me as I was developing myself and putting out my first handful of songs, telling me that she really felt like I could do this and that I was better than I was giving myself credit for. She’s a huge part of how I ended up moving to Nashville to really pursue songwriting and work on my own music full time.
"This Should Be on Soundcloud" is your latest project - what's the story/inspiration behind this project?
I’m a twenty something year old man who wants desperately to find the love of my life and not be alone. So the inspiration in a nutshell is essentially that, laughs. This project is sort of a love letter to my soul mate — I don’t know who she is yet, but I think about her constantly and am waiting for her. STARVING and NALA EYES are equal parts me daydreaming about her finally being here and also reflecting on how lonely my reality actually feels these days.
Could you describe the songwriting/production process for these two songs?
I have made what feels like a million depressing songs, and I was starting to become known as the sad-boi-piano-ballad guy, and I was tired of it and honestly sick of hearing myself whine all the time. I had also lived in Nashville for about a year and I was tired of writing songs that only lived in my phone in my voice memos. So I knew I needed to learn how to produce and decided to just teach myself. I wanted to make something that people could just bop around and have a good time to.
I had also recently started working with this guy named Taylor on another song, and as we were writing it I realized then that I could rap. It felt life changing. So I started diving down that rabbit hole and making songs that were fun and upbeat, but still saying my shit. And I think that’s what pop music is.
So then STARVING came out of me. It was in the lane I wanted to be in. It was falsetto and sexy and like beat oriented rather than just guitar driven, which was completely new for me.
What made you want to release "STARVING" and "NALA EYES"? What do you like the most about these two songs?
I wanted to release them for a few reasons — one being that I wrote and produced them entirely by myself. It felt like a new chapter in my music — where I wasn’t going to tell myself that something I made completely on my own wasn’t good enough to be shared. It was me embracing new skills and having a good time and releasing myself from the pressure to spend years and years perfecting something to death. Putting out music is supposed to be fun, and I feel like so often the experience falls flat for us artists because we’re all so worried about streaming numbers, how it’s going to be received my everyone else… it very quickly becomes more about the numbers than the art. So I was trying to rebel against that tendency even within myself by putting these out and not overthinking it.
What can you tell us about the artwork?
It was the first time I just owned who I feel like I am — Every bit of my artwork up until this point, I had hidden my face or made it dark, trying to live in my own shadow. This is the first time that I was like no, this is Jarrod fucking Gipson. We also wanted to just play with colors and connection — to use the lyrics in these songs to craft a visual narrative about this sort of fever dream I have in my mind about the day I find my dream girl.
As an artist, what is the hardest part? And what is the best part?
The hardest part is that it often feels like you’re not allowed to be one. Being an artist is really a way of life, but you constantly have to make it a business decision, which I don’t morally agree with. But that’s how the music industry works. Post on TikTok three times a day. That’s not art, that’s business. Art is experiencing something and then talking about it in a way where it’s real and tangible for someone else, validating their experience. Whereas TikTok bullshit feels like there's all this acting involved. You’re trying to charm an algorithm, not necessarily connect with a person in a meaningful way.
What are your thoughts on today's music industry? If you could change one thing, what would it be?
You have to do a thousand things. The last thing you have to worry about is being an actual writer or artist. It’s ass backwards. You should focus on just making great shit. Now everybody focuses on what’s going to be viral, what’s going to look cool, what’s going to catch the attention of the algorithm. What if you just write really great fucking songs? My idols, Travis Barker, Freddie Mercury, Dave Grohl… they never really cared about that shit. They just did what felt right even if it was “wrong.” That’s art.
Could you list a few artists/records that influenced the music you are making today?
futuresex/lovesounds by Justin Timberlake - Ghost Stories by Coldplay - Mac Miller's entire discography - Dominic Fike - Veaux - Jason Locricchio - Kevin Garrett.
In your opinion, what would make the world a better place?
More listening. Everyone is trying so hard to fix everything that we forgot how to just be with people. Just be present.
What biggest life lessons have you learned so far?
It’s a tie between no-one gives a fuck and you're gonna lose it all. But those are both really freeing for me. I’ve lost so many people at this point, you just have to grab every moment, every person that matters to you, and take it now. You can’t wait. Time and all of that shit -- it’s fake. It’s just convincing you to sit on your ass. And that doesn’t accomplish shit.
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