We recently connected with Jay Bee Zay N/A and have shared our conversation below.
Jay Bee Zay, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
Well technically it wasn’t my idea to start doing an open mic haha. About 8 years ago, I was really struggling financially, so as a musician, I started going bar to bar asking if they wanted live music. I stumbled upon this bar called Allycat and the manager there liked the idea of having live music, but suggested an open mic. In my head, I was NOT liking that idea because with my history of attending open mics, they were not fun and were ran horribly. Being as broke as I was though, I accepted the gig immediately haha. I’ve never ran an open mic before, but if I was going to do it, I was going to do it proper. That night, I wrote out a list of things I like about open mics and things I hate about them. I came to the conclusion that I didn’t know what to do, but I knew what not to do. If I just didn’t do the things I hated about open mics, it should be at least better than the ones ive gone to before. Over the years I tried out new things, honed in on how to run sound, and upgraded my equipment when I could. I’m happy I took on open mics because I quickly realized that no one was doing them like I was nor the amount of open mics I was running during the week. Houston definitely needs more quality places for musicians to perform and share their music, have happy and honored to be someone to provide that service.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I grew up in a musical family, so I’ve always had a love for music. We all play instruments and sing. My dad was a music minister for a small Baptist church and he always had me in children’s choir up until I was around 10 when my parents separated. I didn’t pick music back up until I was 19. I was in and out of bands until I started my own project, Jay Bee Zay and The Nightcrawlers, in 2016. Being a seasoned musician definitely helped when starting open mics. I don’t do anything at my open mics that I would like or do myself. What I provide at Plug N’ Play Open Mics is quality sound (EQ each person individually and add effects), bring my own lights, provide shareable content (pictures and videos), and all the equipment a musician need to just plug n’ play. Haha get it? Real talk though, I’m proud of the music scene in Houston. We’re known for rap and hip hop, DJ Skrew, Swisha House, gentrification, and corporate jobs. I just hope what I’m doing is helping to build a community of musicians.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I have to start by saying that I was not treated well trying to get in the Houston music scene as a newcomer and inexperienced musician. I’m glad that happened though because it drove me to be better and more determined to succeed. Also, as my business, music, and popularity started to grow, I made a promise to myself that I would not treat my fellow brothers and sisters in music the way I was treated. I feel that because of that promise, musicians with all walks of the earth and experience levels feel welcome to play without having to worry about being scrutinized nor deal with any negativity. Plug N’ Play Music Group open mics are a safe space for everyone. The point of the open mics is to grow, improve your craft, have fun, and be a part of a community of like minded people. I think it also helps that we provide quality sound, stage lighting, and media to share online haha. I try to make every open mic seem like a gig and not just a basic place to play. People who show up, performers and spectators, seem to really enjoy enjoy it.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Facebook and Instagram have been great tools for me to share content about my music and open mics but what’s been the best is word of mouth. I feel like in these times, people will only talk about things unless they were extremely impressed or absolutely hate something. I try to go above and beyond with the production of my shows and open mics. I want people to walk away feeling like they just saw the best thing in their life haha. But seriously, if I’m just doing mediocre with performances and production, I wouldn’t expect anyone to talk about it. I always ask how attendees heard about what I do and most times it’s a friend of them who suggested they look me up. The fact that I post on social media almost everyday definitely helps. It makes me easily searchable.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jaybeezay.com
- Instagram: @jaybeezay and @plugnplaymusicgroup
- Facebook: @jaybeezaymusic and @plugnplaymusicgroup
- Twitter: @plugnplaymusicgroup
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC3kZflhC-hpnMJBeRHjinEA and https://youtube.com/channel/UC0WmXj-evjuZsstvqoZUNTA
Image Credits
Photo cred: AJ Santana aka Submerge Studios