We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful CJ O . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with CJ below.

CJ, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

So I grew up in a musical household, and really started messing around with instruments when I was very young. I believe one of my first instruments was an autoharp. But I used to have a double cassette deck karaoke machine that I figured out how to overdub by switching out the tapes and being able to record music, I instantly fell in love with production.
I also grew up watching musicals and had a huge love for soundtrack music, so being able to score something was also a huge passion of mine from a young age.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started playing violin by the age of 6 and from there learned piano, cello, viola, bass, and got into audio engineering. I composed a song when I was 9 that actually ended up on an artist record(actually 3), and from there it’s been a whirlwind of touring, recording, etc. I ended up being in Nashville a lot, and had the opportunity to intern and work in many of the studios in the city, and from there I got into record/sync production, as well as film scoring.

The hardest part when you have a lot of things you like to do, is making it make sense to other people. I feel like it’s a lot easier now, since most people have a wide variety of things they can do, but it was hard not to get pigeonholed into one lane. I worked overtime to make sure that everything I built was separate from the other, and now I get to work on such a diverse collection of music with creatives from all walks of life.

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

One main lesson: don’t let people’s view of you change how you view yourself. I have worn many hats in the time I’ve been in the music industry, and realized very quickly that when someone meets you in a certain stage of life, you are frozen in that capacity forever. And that’s a huge problem when you start out as a child. It’s bad for business.
I was a musician for a long time and when I got into producing and working on my own music, it wasn’t looked at with same interest as was my musical ability(to them anyway). That’s a hard thing to bust out of, especially when those people know people that you want to work with, and they introduce you as someone you’re not anymore. It was really hard on my mental health.

I literally went on hiatus for a year to meet new people and start over so I could be seen in my current state of being. To be appreciated for the work I was currently doing. And it worked.

When you are ever evolving, you have to demand the room to see you for who you currently and not what’s convenient for them. That may be the hardest part of growing.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I think the best part is being able to your work in action. We all spend so much time working and creating and editing. So many hours in studios making something from nothing. But when you can sit back, and see it sent out to the universe, see how people respond to it, how they relate to it, it is just a reminder of why you do what you do. And it could be big or small, doesn’t matter. You’ve done your job if effects even one person.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cj0music.com
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/cj0music
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/cj0music
• Linkedin: https://LinkedIn.com/cj0music
• Twitter: https://Twitter.com/cj0music
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC9bf13v2bf_BdKtDqHsk3Vg
• Other: Tik Tok: @cj0music

Image Credits
personal image : dope cinema everything else owned by myself