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

Jack, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally was when I joined an a cappella group in college. I initially joined the group as a way to meet new people and make more friends, but I quickly fell in love with the entire culture of a cappella. It was through a cappella that I rediscovered my love for music.

Growing up, I played and studied a lot of Classical music. I learned both piano and violin, and although I initially loved playing these instruments, I eventually grew tired of constantly playing Classical music. As such, I never really considered pursuing a career in music. But after I joined an a cappella group, I met a lot of people who just loved singing and having fun with music. I eventually started hosting jam sessions with them, and I invited them to my place to sing while I accompanied them on piano. Through these jam sessions and hangouts with a cappella people, I was able to see a side of music that I didn’t experience much in Classical music. Don’t get me wrong, Classical music is amazing too, with all of its intricacies and fine details that essentially make it a timeless art form. But I wanted something else in music; something more meaningful to me, and something that I could fully express myself in creatively. I found that through jamming with my a cappella friends, where we would just have fun and not care much about all the rules and formalities that I normally had to follow in Classical music. We would take existing songs and cover them as they were, or reharmonize and rearrange them, or even create new songs on the spot. After a couple months of jamming and creating music with my a cappella friends, I decided that this was the route I wanted to take in my life. As such, I applied to Berklee College of Music, got accepted, and fully committed to my creative/artistic path from then on.

Jack, 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 Jack Chen, and I’m a music producer, audio engineer, and sound designer. I got into this line of work from my passion in music, but I wanted to do more than just perform, so I focused more on production, engineering, and sound design.

I provide services in music production, arranging, mixing, and recording. I can work in pretty much any genre as long as I get a reference track. I have extensive experience with creating music for streaming, as well as music for advertising and film.

I can solve a variety of problems for my clients. As I have both Classical and jazz music training, I can solve any issues with key, tempo, chords, and song structure. I am also very adept at creating unique instrumental hooks and memorable synth lines.

What sets me apart from others is my knowledge and experience in both electronic music production and music theory. Besides being able to produce with digital synths and instruments, I can also arrange, produce, and notate music for a live ensemble, with instruments like strings, woodwinds, and brass, to name a few. I have a lot of experience arranging for live shows in Berklee, with some of my arrangements being played to an audience of over 1000 attendees. I can also incorporate my live music arrangements into my electronic productions, which allows me to have a very versatile skillset in creating music.

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

I think the most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative is hearing my ideas come to life, and seeing people’s reactions to them. I spend a good amount of time coming up with musical ideas and piecing them together, and to hear them sound like how I envisioned it in my head (and sometimes sound even better) is very rewarding. Seeing and hearing people’s reactions to my music is also very rewarding in itself. This may sound cliche, but I really do make music for the listeners. Music has the power to move people, to inspire them, and to motivate them, so I try my best to make music that can affect people like that.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

This isn’t really a resource, but I wish I knew more about the importance of having a network of people in the industry. After graduating from Berklee, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect in the music industry. Berklee did a good job of preparing me for the actual music and audio work, but I feel like I didn’t get much preparation for the networking and community-building side. While it is possible to be fully self-sufficient in making music, having people you can trust and rely on in the industry will usually bring you much farther than if you were to try to go at it alone. Different people have different skills, backgrounds, and connections, and these could all play a major role in how far people can make it in music. You might have a particular skill or connection that isn’t so great when you’re on your own, but when you partner with other people you may be able to work together to realize the full potential of this skill or connection.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jack.chenjie/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chenjack1030/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-chen-815b3b22b/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JackChenMusic

Image Credits

Ethan Yu
Naomi Huang
Alvin Cheng
Luke Liu