We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Julius Dunbar a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Julius , appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I think I knew i wanted to pursue music professionally, when I got my first production placement with JR writer (Dipset/Diplomats) back in 2012. Before then, it was really just a hobby that I enjoyed and wanted to get better at. After the placement, I started to research different schools and music conferences to attend so I can continue to better my craft and go for it full time.

Julius , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

How I got into the music industry is pure faith, dedication, hard work, sacrifice, and a lot of inner work within myself. I say that because a lot of my values kind of changed over the years as I grew older in music and my life in general.

Years ago, I would make music until the crack of dawn. I was making at least 5 to 10 beats a day. Nowadays with the knowledge I have and understanding how I am as a person, I’m satisfied with 1 to 3 beats a day. Quality over quantity always wins in my opinion.

Building relationships is more important than validation and transactions. Over the years (before the pandemic) I was so trying so hard to fit in with the industry and literally burning myself out to please people and desperately doing things to help pay my bills that I just got depressed and anxious. I wanted to say so bad that I’ve produced for this and that person so people would validate me and want to work with me.

Once I finally did get those placements and working with some people that I admired, I realized that they weren’t who I thought they were or the placements didn’t lead to a deeper relationships with artists/producers etc.

So I took a step back and evaluated everything I was going through. I came to a conclusion that I had to be okay with not “making it” in the industry and actually love the process of making music. Once I did that, the right opportunities came for ME.

What sets me a part is my personality. I’m super humble (maybe too humble at times) and try to help artists/producers as much as I can to bring their song to life. If I don’t know / can’t do what they asked for, I’ll bring in collaboration to help bring the vision to life. Teamwork really does make the dream work. Everyone eats!

The type of services I provide are music production (Beats), songwriting (Help write songs and melodies), & audio engineering (Recording & Mixing) (I’m not a true mastering engineer)

I’m most proud of just seeing projects I’ve worked on with people I genuinely like come to life for the world to hear. Seeing listeners responses to our songs about how it makes them feel (in a positive/inspiring way) really makes me feel like this is my purpose. No amount of money can really compare changing someone’s life through music for me.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

As stated before, I think my first couple of years in music, all I was doing is trying to make as music as I can and try to please everyone I came in contact with in the industry. That really gets tiring over the years and ends up hurting you in the long run.

The pandemic was bittersweet, but it actually switched my mindset from people pleasing to figuring what I truly need/want in my life.

I think what’s driving my creative journey is truly using the gifts that God has blessed me with the right way. I have to learn to enjoy making music for myself and hopes that other people will love the expressions that come from my mind. We all have a story to tell and I’m telling mine through music/art.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn that not everyone is your friend in this industry. Early in my career, I would try to befriend people that I wanted to work with only to be burned in the end.

Sometimes a business partner is just that. Or a transaction is just that. Nobody in this world owes us anything at all.

Sure business can lead to great relationships/friendships sometimes, but I had to learn to never go in with that first on your mind. You never know the true intentions of the people you work with. So now I just feel the room out and respond accordingly.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.linktree.com/JuFreshBackPack