Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jacquelyn Schreiber. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jacquelyn, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

My first full-length album, “Flown,” is the most meaningful project I’ve worked on so far. It’s funny because I never actually intended to make a full-length album — I was just going into the studio to record a cute little pop song I had written called “Better” at the beginning of 2020. Through a series of unpredictable events (starting with the COVID-19 pandemic), I fell into a new landscape of musical possibility. The entire experience of creating this album resembles falling down the rabbit hole and landing in Wonderland. Just as Alice has pre-determined ideas of who she is and then encounters new facets of herself through her journey, I somehow fell down the rabbit hole at the beginning of my project and emerged as a better version of myself.

Previously, I had only seen myself as a pianist and singer/songwriter and believed I needed to work with “officially trained” engineers and producers to correctly record my music. However, due to the COVID lockdown and the temporary closure of all music recording facilities after my initial recording session, I suddenly had to learn to record and edit my songs to continue the project.

Putting aside my ideas about who I was as “just an artist” and expanding into full-blown music production and editing was a challenge. I was incredibly insecure about learning editing techniques in ProTools and Logic (two industry standards in music production software). I began by watching how-to videos on Coursera and YouTube and started editing on my MacBook Pro from the couch of my studio apartment. I then took a leap from basic editing and downloaded new keyboard instruments from Spitfire Audio to experiment with unorthodox keyboard sounds. I even began writing more songs as I became more and more inspired, and getting more musicians to contribute to the project by sending their home studio recordings for me to add to the mix.

The contrast from where I started in 2020 to where I ended up in 2023 was astonishing. I began my project traditionally — doing everything at the recording studio, playing only acoustic instruments: acoustic piano, organ, and Fender Rhodes. By the end, my studio apartment had turned into a full-blown production suite, and I was using my Nord Stage 2 keyboard to record distorted sounds like “Magnetic Tape Reader” and “Jangle Box Piano” (the iconic Beatles piano sampled directly from Abbey Road Studios) directly into my MacBook Pro. I even recorded my own vocals and most of the percussion on the album from the living room of my boyfriend’s apartment using a Halo Vocal Shield and Neumann TLM102. As a result, the songs grew deeper in both sonic depth and personal meaning, and strangely, the songs’ lyrics ultimately came to life by learning to record and produce them.

The result is 8 original songs that range in style from pop to jazz to “I don’t know what genre this is, but I like it.” All of the songs feature keyboards as the main engine — but the keyboards vary from song to song (even the beloved old harpsichord has a moment to shine). In addition to the originals, I was inspired to create a new, spacy pop cover of “California Dreamin’,” which I will release as a single.

As I look back and reflect on this 3-year adventure, I realize that I didn’t know I could write music that surprises, challenges, and redefines me while I am in the process of creating it. Still, from this side of the rabbit hole, I will forever be grateful for the journey that ultimately introduced me to the most authentic version of myself. (“Flown” the album is coming soon; you can sign up for release updates and learn more at www.flownthealbum.com.)

Jacquelyn, 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?

My name is Jacquelyn Schreiber and I am a recording artist, producer, and composer. (That’s a fancy way of saying that I love doodling around on a piano and recording what I do.) I guess you could say I first got into the industry at age 4 by sneaking into the living room to play my mother’s Kimball spinet piano — I’ve been addicted to the piano ever since. I am a graduate of Berklee College of Music and have contributed as a composer, recording artist, and producer to music that appears on stage, film, and TV, but I think what sets me apart is my deep love for the piano as an instrument and my genuine desire to bring the best of who I am personally to anything I am doing musically.

I would love potential fans of my music to know that I am always hearing/writing music in my head, and I am always trying to communicate what I hear in my head through my musical expression as a vocalist and pianist. Sometimes I can record those musical ideas and they turn into a song, (which is my absolute favorite thing to do). I actually composed all of the songs on my new album “Flown” in this way — by layering those different musical ideas together using vocals and keyboard instruments.

Just as different brush strokes can create depth and intensity in a painting, different vocal sounds and keyboards have different textures, and I enjoyed combining these to create a 3D musical “picture” for each song. After the keyboards and vocals were recorded, I was lucky to work with some incredible musicians to add drums, bass, and percussion to the tracks which brought vivid color, depth, and emotion to the work. The roster of musicians includes Marvin “Smitty” Smith, Tony Austin, Jimmy Branly, Rene Camacho, Christian Galvez, Antoine Katz, and Christian Moraga. I also collaborated with Thai Long Ly, an amazing audio engineer, to bring the truest sound of the music to life. I am very proud to present “Flown” the album in the coming weeks, as it is my first full-length album of original music and it is also my debut as a producer. If you are interested in learning more, or to sign up for release updates visit: www.flownthealbum.com

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My creative goals are the same as my personal goals — to be the truest version of myself.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I think the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is creating something ”out of thin air.” It’s such a remarkable experience to hear a musical idea in your mind and then begin the process of bringing that idea to life. The journey is always surprising, rewarding, and transformative. I have found that every time you finish creating music or art, you never end up where you thought you were going to be and thus you are never the same — you are forever changed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jstunes.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialjstunes
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialjstunes
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/officialjstunes
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/jstunes
• Other: Sign up for FLOWN the album updates and news! https://www.flownthealbum.com Listen to Jacquelyn on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2NxZkslwTgk81MQ5csaLyQ?si=ZZNRko3UTuCB3Y2tZGyYpQ

Image Credits
Jacquelyn Schreiber, Dennis Moody