TJ Stafford
Two words: catchy and addictive. This is how I would describe TJ Stafford’s new single “When We Hit The Ground”. It’s a song you’d want to play over and over. It has great energy, infectious melodies and a big production. There is absolutely nothing to dislike. “When We Hit The Ground” is a hit.
TJ Stafford has a brand new album coming up very soon so make sure to keep an eye on him.
But for now, go stream “When We Hit The Ground” now available everywhere.
Introduce yourself - what's your story?
What’s YOUR story?!?
Jk jk. I’m a dude that makes music that gets lost in his own head way too often. I think that people who only use dry toilet paper to wipe shouldn’t be allowed to vote. I think making people read actual physical novels would solve 73% of the world’s problems. I really wish crows liked me. I think libertarian is a made up word with no meaning. Like pickumpletygoo. Same difference. My favorite body part on a woman is that crease on the side of her calf when she points her toes. When death comes, I want 30 seconds of awareness to appreciate its approach. I’m offended on behalf of women that someone decided they should have to play softball instead of baseball. I didn’t know who Andrew Tate was until he got cancelled, which I think says something. Also, he seems lonely. The worst pain I’ve ever felt was Icy Hot in my nethers. I find people who get their scientific information from YouTube calling other people ‘sheep’ hilarious. I have a ranking of art forms that I think is unassailable: Most impactful? Novels. Most spiritual? Music. Most complete? Film making. Most beautiful? Painting. Most overrated? Acting. I think our reality probably is some version of a computer simulation and that it doesn’t really change anything. I think world change only really happens when the oldest generation dies off and so most of the world is always hoping for a bunch of people to die. I think the answer to which side is wrong or right is almost always ‘both.’ I low-key wave when I see something out of the corner of my eye in the shadows that I thought was a ghost…just in case. I have a rad wife and son and some days I wake up legitimately thinking that they’re not real. Not metaphorically. Really.
Apologies if this isn’t what you meant by ‘my story’.
What did you grow up listening to?
Voices in my head. I drowned them out with Air Supply and the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.
When did you start making music?
I started playing guitar when I was 4. I started writing songs when I was 16. I don’t think I started making music til I was at least 23.
What was the biggest challenge when you first started?
Living up to what I knew to be good music. Knowing what good music is, and realizing that you’re not quite getting there when you’re making it yourself, can be mortally deflating.
Growing up, who did you look up to?
Myself. Or more accurately: the potential of myself. And I don’t say that as necessarily a good thing. Not living up to my own expectations has led to some dark moments.
When did you know you had to be an artist and release your original music?
When my last band broke up. I was so fuckin’ sick of relying on other people.
How did things change for you since the release of your first single?
Psychologically I was freed from a lot of baggage…and picked up a lot of new baggage.
What have you learned about yourself?
I learned that it was possible for me to be really proud of what I created. That figuring myself out in the hopes of being really honest in my songwriting often leads to the realization that I’m a hypocritical paradox. That I want people to know me but I don’t want to expose myself enough to be known. That my expectations are impossibly high and yet after each disappointment of not meeting them, I REFUSE to change them.
"When We Hit The Ground" is your new single - what's the story/inspiration behind this song? How did it come about?
The inspiration behind this one was really my relationship with my wife. An interesting thing that we’ve embraced the last couple years is the opposite of what we were taught about marriages growing up: the other is free to leave at anytime. And not in the snarky sense of “Well fine, you’re free to leave if you don’t like it.” More in the sense that she doesn’t owe me anything, and we don’t own each other, and we’re not trapped by some document, so everyday is a choice to be with the other person and to be the best versions of ourselves for the other person. I can’t slack on being my best. And that being said, we better make this count in a big way that defies convention because what a waste of freedom if not. Because truth is, relationships are guaranteed to end in heartbreak if for no other reason than the simple fact that in the most successful scenario, in which we live an amazing life fully in love til a ripe old age, one of us is still gonna die before the other and break the heart of the other. That’s the MOST successful ending. We better make those years before that fucking epic. So, be free and go big enough that if and when it fails it fails spectacularly.
Could you describe the songwriting/production process for this single? Who helped you create it?
The process is almost always the same for every song: I pick up a guitar, start playing random chords and mumbling incoherent noises until a progression and melody emerge. Then I fit those into a form. Then I put lyrics to that. I don’t usually go in with an idea of what the lyrics are gonna say. I’ll just start writing lyrics based on what comes out initially and go from there. Usually a part of my subconscious comes out to say hi and we meet for the first time. I wrote all the songs on this album myself and brought in Dusty Moon to produce it, because I trust his skills and heart in the process. He’s a truly ego-less artist, which makes him a unicorn in this industry.
What's your favorite lyric on "When We Hit The Ground"?
“Maybe we could be falling stars, Leave the world with another scar.”
Falling stars are very romanticized, but truth is that sometimes they cause massive craters and worldwide extinctions…so there’s that.
What did you feel when recording this song?
I don’t know that I feel much when I’m recording other than ‘alive’. Recording is work, in the best way possible. Like when a writer has a deadline coming up and starts typing then looks up and many hours and thousands of words have passed somehow. There probably wasn’t a lot of ‘feeling’ in the process. That’s how recording is to me.
What message do you want to deliver through this song?
Go for it. Literally EVERYTHING fails eventually, so fuck what other people think and go big.
What can you tell us about your upcoming album?
I can tell you hours and hours of things because it took decades of life experience to get to a point where writing these songs with words and feelings that came out as they did was even possible. One slight tweak in the timeline and the songs would be different. Which means there’s a lot behind this album. A whole life. Which means it contains all the feelings all at the same time.
There is almost nothing in the world that is just good or just bad, or just happy or just sad. This album represents that really well. There are a couple songs that are fairly straight forward, but for the most part the sentiment of the song will depend on where the listener is coming from. Like life, beauty and sadness and gravity and levity often exist in the same space at the same time.
As an artist, what is the hardest part? And what is the best part?
There have been two really hard parts for me. One is just the money side. What a cluster fuck that is. Even when it’s coming in, you never know how much, it’s impossible to hold those doling out the money to account, and you’re always terrified that it will dry up for no reason.
The second is psychological. Constantly delving into the existential side of life feels like the only real thing to do while we’re here on this earth, but it’s also a fool’s game. It leads to madness. The first attribute of “God” in almost all spiritual traditions is that of a creator. There is something about being a creator that is akin to trying to be god-like, which I’m not sure many humans are capable of handling for extended periods of time. I don’t think it’s coincidence that so many artists go mad or commit suicide.
The best part is that feeling you get when you hear something you’ve created come to life. It’s really hard to explain. You begin with silence, then you start manipulating air with ideas that come from seemingly nowhere, and then you add and subtract sounds and words until you have a fully formed piece of art. It’s pretty close to magic, if not literally magic.
What are your thoughts on today's music industry? If you could change one thing, what would it be?
Jeez, I don’t know. The longer I’m in this industry the less I know.
Here’s the good thing: There is more available good music and access to outstanding musicians than ever before. IF you can weed through everything to find it. There are seriously amazing artists that have access now when they never would have decades ago.
The bad: we’re collectively racing to the bottom. Major labels are nothing but lazy behemoths that gorge on profits. Essentially Jabba the Hutts that chain up beauty and gorge on social media darlings. Doesn’t really matter if the music is good or not, as long as the artist has a social media following. It’s so lazy. And their laziness just further pushes the narrative that a social media presence is more important than actual artistry.
Which brings me to what I would change: TikTok. Obliterate it.
What biggest lessons have you learned throughout your career so far?
Keep going. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever….ever…stop moving. This shit is hard, and it’s near impossible to figure out what to do or how to make it. The only thing that I can look back on and say with any certainty that ‘that’s why I made it’ is the fact that even when stuff looked hopeless, I still did things. Stillness is death.
What is the proudest moment of your career so far?
It’s not sexy, but definitely that first royalty check that covered all of my bills. There’s no better feeling.
In your opinion, what would make the world a better place?
I was serious about people reading physical books. Literature. And it’s not some pretentious English major thing. It’s proven to be one the best ways to increase empathy. And, damn, the world needs a lot more empathy right now, across the board.
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