Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jay Payne. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Jay thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I have a few projects I’m working on, but my main project as an artist and music producer is “Nested For Rest”. Nested For Rest is an alternative electronic pop-rock band that I’m the creative director of and that I created. The project started as a “one-man band” kind of deal with me composing, writing, producing, recording, performing, mixing, and mastering everything myself in my personal studio (known as “the nest”).

My brother Josh (who’s stage name is “jetho”) joined the official lineup earlier this year leading up to the release of our first album “Realign”. This first album was solely written, recorded, mixed, and mastered by me, but Josh was able to add backing vocals to a few songs and gave additional mix advice. We plan to be more collaborative as songwriters for Nested For Rest with our future albums, with me remaining as the creative director & primary songwriter and Josh taking up a secondary songwriter role in the band.

For live shows, we’ve been joined by some awesome creatives/musicians here and there to help bring the show to life. These musicians aren’t official members of Nested For Rest and have their own bands/creative endeavors; but their contributions to the band should not be understated as the band wouldn’t have been able to get started live without them, so shout out to them! Think of it like how the band “Tame Impala” is just Kevin Parker in the studio, but he’s joined by his friends live to complete the show.

The thing that makes Nested For Rest special to me is the interconnected lore & story woven throughout the songs. I kid you not when I say that I have a giant document with the current entire lore of the project, including key characters, important motifs, landmarks, important conflicts, powerful relics, etc. There is a multi-album plan in place, and the goal is to tell a complete story by the end of it all.

We will unravel this story through animated and live-action videos on our YouTube channel, along with online scavenger hunts and easter eggs for people to discover if they wish to. That being said, even though the lore and story is so crucial to the project we want causal listeners to be able to put all of that aside and not have to worry about what’s going on in the story if they just want to listen to the songs without any care for the larger narrative. We look at the lore as more of a deeper layer for people to look at if they want to, but at the core we want anyone to take their own meanings from our songs and apply it to their lives and experiences.

Death of the Artist is a very important concept to us, and the lore is our way of extending these lyrical metaphors to a more grandiose scale for people to dissect and take their own meanings from, whilst there still being a clear narrative direction that isn’t too cryptic and a clear ending to the story once it’s all complete. I guess what I’m trying to say is that we want to make cinema with our music.

Jay, 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 Jay Payne, and I am a music producer & creative director. Music & Art has been a huge part of my life from as early as I can remember. One of the earliest persons who was influential in my musical come up was my elementary school music teacher Mrs. Carr. Her music class was always one of favorite classes, and I appreciate the level of care and attention that she gave to nurturing the students with patience and care. She would also show these cool videos or music and movements from around the world.

Another huge early influence was being a part of the Youth Music program at my childhood church. Mr. Gibson and Ms. Rainey were the mentors that were most involved in the program when I was a part of it, and I have fond memories of learning about rhythm, pitch, and harmony from them.

The first time I ever felt a magical connection to music was when I was about 7 years old. I was at one of the Wednesday night Youth Choir practices, and we were taking a break. There was this piano in the main loft of the church, and I had always wanted to play it. I remember sneaking away to play the piano, and feeling like I had to be some super spy to get to it. In retrospect it wasn’t that intense of a journey, as I literally only had to travel down a couple flights of stairs, but there was definitely this rush.

I approached the piano with caution, and just pressed a key. I remember the immediate feeling of magic that came with that touch of a key. There was something powerful about realizing that I could create and control sound by pressing these keys, and hearing the strings of the piano respond back to me. Instantly I knew that I wanted to learn to play this thing.

Mr. Gibson had caught me sneaking away to play the piano, and I remember being so scared that I would get in trouble. But he was very encouraging and I’m grateful for that. I still have dreams about that moment to this day, replaying it in my head as I sleep.

Music also runs on both sides of my biological family, with my dad being a local musician in the Hampton Roads area, and my great-grandmother Eleanor (on my mom’s side) writing some hymnals. My half-brother Ridge from my dad’s side also is a musician and had a few bands.

My goal as a creative and a musician is to enable and inspire others to also find their purpose and what brings them absolute joy in life. I also want to remind everyone of the power of love, and how it can bring us all together (as cheesy as that sounds haha).

Times have definitely been tough for a lot of people, if not most of the world, and I also feel like a lot of people in my generation are struggling with generational trauma and severe family issues that have gone unresolved. A lot of people I know don’t feel safe and feel like they don’t have a home. I hope that at the very least that I can inspire people to break free of cycles of pain and to go out and find their place in the world.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Most of my life I’ve dealt with mental heath struggles. I was diagnosed with OCD & ADHD in my teenage years, and the combination of the two have been brutal in my day to day life. I barely remember my teenage years as most of that time was spent just going into a walking daydream state to survive. I found it hard to fit in at school and I felt like everyone hated me, and I felt truly alone. I developed this severe social anxiety that wrapped around me like a python, and I wanted so badly to connect with my peers and classmates, but they felt so far away. This was nothing of their doing and was all in my head, and I wish I had the tools and means to overcome my brain and have had the experiences that everyone should have.

I was convinced that I wasn’t good enough. At a certain point I couldn’t stop thinking about death and wanting to die, I hoped that there was nothing after death as I so badly wanted peace. I came to my biological family with these struggles, and they didn’t take me seriously and told me that I was threatening suicide. This made me feel like a bad omen and a burden and I then became scared of death, which in a dark ironic way is probably what kept me alive. I was so scared to piss off my biological family if I couldn’t take it anymore and checked out.

As I grew older I realized a lot of my mental struggles came from years of mental and emotional abuse & neglect from my family. This interview is probably the first time I’m being publicly open about this as I have been so terrified of the people who have hurt and abused me somehow finding a way to hurt me more. But I realize now that I can’t be scared of these people, and that I have to be strong for myself and the others I hope to inspire. One day when I have kids I want to be the best I can possibly be and raise them to love and appreciate this world, and to be prepared for life’s challenges. I want them to be superstars.

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

The main goal driving me is the idea of us all reaching a point in time where love and understanding is a common courtesy, and where everyone is finding their purpose and helping each other up off the ground. We are all stronger together, divided we fall.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nestedforrest.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nestedforrest
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nestedforrestofficial
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/nestedforrest
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nestedforrest

Image Credits

Chai Miller

Vita Nocilla

Jay Payne