We recently connected with Jonny Ezra Thompson and have shared our conversation below.

Jonny Ezra, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

At the age of 18 I moved out of my parents’ house and out of my home state. I knew that I wanted to pursue music, but even more significant to the conclusion of my decision, I knew that expanding my worldview was paramount. My family lived on a farm in rural Northern Virginia during my teenage years, and while I am thankful to have had that experience, I have always been attracted to urban living. With a dollar, a dream and a deft dose of a daring nature, I moved 389 miles away from home during the COVID-19 pandemic with my high school sweetheart, the infatuation of a heart unscathed by heartbreak.

I knew that I was taking a risk by not finishing college and pursuing my artistic interests. But, growing up poor I had no way to pay for an education and student loans looming over me didn’t sound appealing. So off to Tennessee we went. I knew that I had musical potential, and I had been making a decent living by restoring vintage drums & instruments. I worked as a server at a steakhouse for a month to get a footing before making drum restoration my full time job. Eventually the world began opening up and I started sitting in at open jams. Slowly but surely I started to get calls for bar gigs. One thing led to another and I found myself with a somewhat steady gig playing with a Kentucky native singer songwriter. I accrued touring experience and doors started opening.

Flash forward a few years and I’m wearing bedazzled pink shades, playing a set at one of the largest music festivals in the Southeast U.S.

Last year I played roughly 100 shows, contributed to dozens of projects, and made the move to Atlanta, GA. I’ve learned that saying “yes” is often taking a risk. But sometimes saying “yes” leads to making your movie debut & Tom Everett Scott watching you play drums- a true story and a full circle moment for me. To find reward you often must take a risk. It’s scary as hell, but it sure beats wondering what could have been.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Jonathan Ezra Thompson, though some know me as Jonny Ezra. As a third generation drummer, some would say that music runs in my blood. Some of my earliest childhood memories are of my father letting me whack on his practice pad with drumsticks, and being fascinated with the First Act acoustic guitar my younger brother received one Christmas. Like many musicians, my initial performing experience came from playing in church. I was also lucky to have an outlet at an annual local theatre program. Through gaining performance experience, playing music and making art as a means to make a living became the prize I set my eye on around the age of 13 or so.

In modern day at the age of 21, I do a myriad of different freelance work in order to sustain myself, both in a financial and soul-fulfilling sense. Touring, session drumming & percussion, mixing, producing, acting and writing are my mainstays with touring work taking up the majority of my time. In musical settings where I am being paid to learn preexisting parts, a lot of my focus is oriented towards learning and playing the parts as closely as possible. At times I am asked to rewrite the parts and add my flair, which is always a fun task! In musical settings where I am being paid to write parts, produce, or mix for an unreleased project, my aim is to interface with the artist and song(s) in a way where I am in tune to the emotion that is being conveyed through the art. This translates sonically through careful decisions. The last thing I want to do is take away from the project or contribute in a way that is not in line with the vision or emotion found in the art. My philosophy in life and as an artist is “do no harm”.

Some of my musical influences include Prince, Questlove, Carter Beauford, Ilan Rubin, Aaron Sterling, James Williams, J Dilla, D’Angelo, and drummer Nate Smith, to name a few.

I’ve always been shy of branding and marketing myself towards a specific genre or group of people, primarily because I love to play so many different styles of music and am constantly looking to improve and expand my capabilities. This goes for writing and acting too. It’s difficult to do this in the modern age, especially when a lot of exposure for freelancers comes from platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, whose algorithms look for consistency in order to target a specific demographic. Finding the balance between making art while also supporting yourself is the bane of the existence of many artists. For me, artistic soul fulfillment comes from being proud of the art that I am making or contributing to. Art is a means to cope with life’s challenges and it can be a healthy conduit for turning negativity into something positive and meaningful, in an emotional sense.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Care. The power of really caring cannot be understated. Whether that’s by liking, commenting on and sharing social media posts, purchasing art, asking questions or showing up to shows, etc. With the development of AI, the value of art is continuously decreasing. The current state of the music & tv industries is one that is almost completely streaming dominant. People don’t purchase much physical media anymore. Which is helpful if you’re trying to save physical space, and physical media can be damaged too. However, music streaming companies do not pay artists a fair rate. To play devil’s advocate, streaming has made the barrier for entry much lower for the every day musician. However, the advocacy for better payment value per stream with companies like Spotify is a cause worth fighting for too, if we want real art – art that comes from the depths of human soul, to flourish and continue to exist. Also, becoming a better critic. Which of course, is easier said than done as it comes from learning about what you’re intaking through your senses, in a historical and technical way.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Expanding one’s worldview through emotional development. Art is a practice, a practice where the goal is to become a more efficient conduit for whatever it is we’re feeling. Whether it’s the enjoyment of the process of creation itself, a way of expressing your emotions, the satisfaction of seeing the finished product, or all three, art is a medium of expression such as poetry, film, sculpting, etc. For me, expression is a way to positively deal with my own nihilism.

There’s a lot to learn from an individual’s creation, as it is a reflection of their soul. Every piece of art you examine is an opportunity to empathize. To put yourself in the artist’s shoes. Often it is up to us to decide how much energy we want to put into empathizing, though sometimes we don’t have a choice but to be consumed by something that resonates with us. The surprise of understanding something unknown when you are not looking for it is a wonderful feeling.

Contact Info:

• Website: Jonnyezramusic.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/Jonnyezra
• Facebook: Facebook.com/jonnyezramusic
• Youtube: Youtube.com/Jonnyezra

Image Credits
In white t shirt: Shawn Poynter Exasperated scream: Jackson Thompson Windbreaker smolder: Ysabel Bleu Clean cut headshot: Nate Croft