We recently connected with Brother JD and have shared our conversation below.

Brother JD, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

One of the things that my parents did right was the way they supported me in my oddball pursuits. Whether it be an ugly piece of artwork I had created or a piece of music that was clearly not their taste, they never let me know that my work was anything short of good. Even when I told them I was leaving college to pursue music in the club scene, they both had that uneasy, worried look, but just nodded as if to say, ok son, good luck, we believe. One of my earliest memories of this mindset was during the very first gig I ever had. I was about 13 years old, mom had allowed our rowdy young rock band to actually rehearse our craft downstairs in the house. Like I said, always supported even in the most noisy, irritating environments. Well, she had just dropped us all off after hauling our equipment and the band to our big debut, the drummer’s older brother’s high school party. We were pumped and ready to go and show the world how good we were. The trouble was, during the setup of our equipment, we found the kick pedal for the drum kit was nowhere to be found. We had accidentally left it back at my house. The emergency call was made…”Mom, so sorry to bother you, but we left the kick pedal at the house, would you mind driving that pedal all the way back here?” She was there within a half hour.

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?

For those that really have no idea who I am, let me explain. I am the one and only “Brother JD”. I have entered this world to spread Love across the universe. The way I do this is through artistic expressions that emanate from my soul. Another way to say this, I’m just a bass playin’ greaseball that writes music, builds cars, trucks, bikes and produces television shows. All of these endeavors are pure art to me. My comfort zone is the low buck world of “custom culture”. From as far back as I can remember, I’m talking pre-kindergarten, I have been altering/customizing the world around me to suit my taste. It started with Hot Wheels cars, bicycles, mini bikes, models and led right into dirt bikes, riding lawn mowers and cars. At the same time I was transforming the looks of these wheeled treasures, I was learning how to become one mean Fender bass man. After pursuing the rock star life style of touring and even MTV airplay, the family came along and it was time to get serious as the golden ticket of a hit single never materialized. I then pursued my second love, hot rods. I went back to school and furthered my education. During a stint working for the man at a dealership, my wife and I came up with the idea of producing our own TV show. We would combine all of our talents. The cool rides, the cool music, the cool scene all captured with the camera. The low buck side of life. “El Rey’s Garage” was born. Our idea ended up airing on the Discovery channel. From that point on, we have been producing television shows together ever since. Our very first TV show aired exactly 10 years ago.

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

I firmly believe my main goal or mission driving my creative journey is self-satisfaction of the soul. I’m literally doing what I was born or meant to do from the Almighty above and in all things. I have learned that when these creative notions enter my brain, they need to be pursued, they need to be released, they need to materialize. Whether it be a piece of music that came through during a dream or the vision of some type of ride I feel the need to build, It literally MUST be done. If this artistic vision or sound is not brought forth, there is a nagging, a pecking of my soul until the vision is completed. It never matters to me what this piece of artistic expression means to somebody else. This is my vision, built to my taste, the way I like it to look, sound or feel. During these undertakings of artistic expression, the journey always involves other people in one way or another. These relationships are always swimming in my own big bowl of pure, universal Love funk. I truly believe we are all part of, born of, pieces of, the “source”. Many call this source of all things, God, Jesus, Jah, Love, The Universe, Author of Life, The Great Mystery in the Sky, whatever folks are comfortable with and usually having to do with where they were raised. To me, this Great Mystery in the sky or God the Creator is exactly that. The Creator is who I attach myself to. The opposite of the Creator is the Destroyer, that one I try to stay away from as much as possible. I truly believe we are all brothers and sisters of this spiritual/physical realm. How in the world I inherited the moniker “Brother JD” is all part of letting the universe do it’s thang!! I have no fear of death, I only fear saying in the future…”I wish I would have ..” Therefore, I constantly pursue the dreams that have been laid out before me, no matter what they are. That is why in the end, I always say, if you want to be a ballerina do it, if you want to make shoes, do it. If you’d like to make ice cream or candles, if you’d like to write a book or be an accountant…do it!!! I like to make cool stuff, so I do it.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Sure, this artistic creative journey sounds wonderful, so fun to be able to just kick it and create all the time. I will tell you from experience there is a reason there happens to be the term “starving artist”. I have found that in my pursuit to make my living from my art, I have been on the edge of financial ruin several times. You will have to have thick skin to survive the world of a career being an artist no doubt. I remember our first successful television show not being picked up for season 2. Dreams were smacked in the face, money ceased to come in and we were faced with a fork in the road. Go back to the safe 7 to 7, soul killing job that paid pretty dang well, or pursue the uncertain life of freedom that promises a wild ride of who knows what. I figured, you only live once, and like I said earlier, I never want to say “I wish I would have”. Forever thankful I chose that wild side at the fork in the road. I’ve had a ball and my soul is completely satisfied. That was years ago. We’ve had to pivot many times to keep food on the table, but that is all part of the journey. It may have taken 10 years to surpass what I was making on that other path, but we’ve done it and are scheduled to now double that next year. All I can say is, if you believe, they will too. HANG IN THERE.

Contact Info:

• Website: elreysgarage.com
• Instagram: BrotherJD
• Facebook: Brutha JD or El Rey’s Garage or Wrench Wars or Hot Rod History Lessons
• Linkedin: Brother JD
• Twitter: BrotherJDReally
• Youtube: El Rey’s Garage
• Other: TikTok therealbrotherjd

Image Credits
Johanna Brinckman – Pic that says Hillbilly Hoodrat