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

Jason, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Recently completed a 2-year project about recent deaths in the family.

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.

A few years ago, I stumbled upon virtual instruments and soft synths. Virtual instruments are samples of “real” instruments, and you can use a MIDI keyboard to mimic their timbres, such as a violin or a flute or practically any other type of instruments. Soft synths are computer emulations of conventional synthesizers and many popular vintage models are now available. I fell in love with the possibilities and started making music.

For the longest time, I was really insecure about having any influences and was hyper-focused on being original and setting myself apart from others. I eventually gave that up and now embrace all my influences. Hopefully those influences vary enough that when combined, they form unlikely hybrids that at least have my fingerprint on them.

I’m very proud of my latest album, Prayers to the Prayer Tree. It was a two year way of processing grief after my stepfather died, and while making it, my grandfather died and my mother-in-law was hospitalized and put in ICU. It was a rough album to make, but finishing it helped me compartmentalize those awful feelings and ultimately heal as best as one could hope for.

I just want people to enjoy the music, but if it could help anyone process their own feelings during similar circumstances, it would make me very happy.

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

I like creating music as a way of abstractly externalizing feelings that aren’t easily communicable through words.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

The most difficult thing facing artists now is that the internet is over-saturated with content, even within niche communities. Artists should accept the fact they’ll probably remain obscure and ignored and focus on creating things for their own love of creating things. It can be challenging to accept that society doesn’t owe every single artist any attention for completing a project, so all you can do is keep creating and let self-satisfaction be its own reward. Anyone who hopes to create something as a get-rich quick scheme or to be flooded with admiration is in for an unpleasant surprise.    

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.reiningnails.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reiningnails
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCEsDQKsxsAdcLiXZo9X8tQ
• Other: https://jasonlaraykeener.bandcamp.com