We recently connected with Gerriah Lynch and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Gerriah, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I started off singing in school and around the house, mimicking the ad-libs of some of my favorite artists and songs on the radio. My music taste was shaped by my environment, my family would play R&B/Soul, Hip-hop, Reggae, and Blues. I’m still burrowing some CDs I took as a kid today. Some of my favorite albums growing up were Jill Scott’s Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2, Erykah Badu’s Baduism, and Solange’s Sol-Angel, and the Hadley St. Dreams. I’m inspired by many artists, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Mary J. Blige, Toni Braxton, and Rihanna just to name a few.I’ve always felt like I’ve been guided towards music. I probably wouldn’t have started producing if I did not accidentally stumble across GarageBand on my high school laptop. I taught myself how to create instrumentals for YouTube song covers to try and avoid copyright strikes. Then it dawned on me that if I can make instrumentals to sing other artist’s music, I could do it to express thoughts I already had written in poetry form. I was sixteen when I begun as a producer, combining loops and sounds I just thought sounded best together. Now that I understand music theory a bit more, I create most, if not all of my tracks, from scratch using midi-instruments and plug-ins. As a choir-kid melodies, harmonies, and arrangements came easily to me. I dropped my first R&B single “Her” at age 17 and by age 18 I put out my first self-produced project “My Creation”. It’s crazy to hear the quality of my older projects in contrast to my most recent songs like “Chills” and my most recent December release, “Ungrateful”, I’ve made some progress as a producer and writer, and I’m excited to keep growing and learning.Finding GarageBand helped me understand that my love for music is deeper than just singing, I’m in love with the entire music creation process. And eventually I earned my BA in Audio Production from the Art Institute of Atlanta and had interned and engineered in local studios and a radio station.
Knowing what I know now, I would have tried exploring more while in high school.I was often on stage in talent shows, musicals, and other events. I kinda wish I spent at least one show behind the console with the crew to see what engineering was like a little earlier on. Other than that, I feel like I’m learning at a good pace and I love that there’s so much to music, that I’ll never stop learning. The best thing I did to speed up my learning process was move out of my hometown of Kansas City and to Georgia around a much liver music scene.
On my journey, the skills that have been the most essential are emotional intelligence, communication, critical listening, and creativity. Throughout the entire music creation process, I have to be aware of the messages I’m spreading and how I choose to express them, this influences things like my choices in lyrics ,vocal delivery, instruments, effects, and more.
Honestly, there’s not many obstacles in the way of learning more. I can learn by researching the internet, reading books, or through experience. Somethings that I went to college for, I didn’t fully understand until I watched a youtube video on it or was actually in the studio learning from other professionals as an audio engineering assistant or intern. I just have to keep seeking knowledge, finding the right crowd to be around, and keep in mind there is always somewhere I can improve, and keep focused on that.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
My name is Gerriah Janeece Lynch and I’m a singer-songwriter, producer, and audio engineer from Kansas City, KS, now located in the Stockbridge, GA area. I provide singing services (background vocals and features), songwriting services, music production services (for artists and business advertising), recording services and mixing services as well. I am in the process of opening up my own recording studio under my LLC, OooGirl Enterprise. My clients come to me because I contribute my unique sound whether through voice or production, to bring more life to their pre-existing projects that they feel need something more. Often, as a singer-songwriter, I receive musical projects, some with lyrics and some without, and I’m just told to be myself. My clients often appreciate what I can do without being provided with specific instruction. I just let my “ear” and creativity guide me on lyrics, vocal arrangements, and more and add an element that fills the space clients described in their projects as “missing something” or “empty”.Whenever I produce for artists, I create music specifically for them. I research by listening to their music and the music of some of their inspirations before producing anything for them because embracing individuality is very important to my brand. I take pride in adapting my style into the projects of others while maintaining my authenticity. I’m careful of staying true to myself and my craft even when I’m dealing with genres outside of R&B. Examples of my work and collaborations can be heard on multiple streaming services using my artist name Gerriah and OooGirl Enterprise Productions.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is when people tell me that my music relates to a situation they’ve been going through or have been through. When I’m told I’m helping someone through a tough situation or that I’m “singing about their life”, it’s special to me. I like to connect with my listeners in this way because when I first started doing music it was my therapy. I started creating my own music because I often felt like there was no other way for my point of view or feelings to be heard. Sometimes it felt like I didn’t really have many people to comfortably express myself to without facing criticism, so I when I write about things in my life, and my listeners tell me I’m speaking to them, I’m reminded I’m not just freeing myself but I’m freeing others and making them feel heard too.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
The best way society can support creatives is to share the creations that resonate with them and engage when they like something. I know people who listen to my music, view my posts, but do not engage with my content on a regular basis. This leaves me with no way of knowing they are following my journey until I’m face to face with them in public hearing about it. I appreciate those that follow my journey privately but it means more when people believe my work is worth sharing with other people. Sharing when you actually like something, gets it to other people who are likely to like it too. It helps us creatives reach more people. Engaging and especially being vulnerable about why you’re engaging/how a creative’s work made you feel on a public level, could encourage meaningful conversations about things that need to be said. Share art when it resonates with you, just like you would share content that is currently trendy/popular with others. I think if an audience is open to being vulnerable and honest in their engagement, like artists are when we are creating our music, we can have a thriving creative ecosystem.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamgerriah/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamgerriah/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerriah-lynch-515400142/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_lTqKbxWhjlgQ8n8iEnSiQ
- Other: My most recent single “Ungrateful” – https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/gerriah/ungrateful Written and produced by Gerriah Email: [email protected]