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

Alright, Jeremy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?

Ever since I first started pursuing a career as a solo artist or “singer-songwriter”… I feel like over the coarse of the last 25 years that I get boxed into certain genres or get misrepresented as to who I am as an artist and what I am trying to convey.

To clarify… I have released over 15 albums, 4 EPs, I’ve done 3 compilations and countless other musical works to date and not one of my albums have sounded like the previous one. I am always evolving, growing and learning as a musician and songwriter. I get misrepresented as all doom and gloom, but I write as a means to escape, for therapy, to communicate mental health awareness, sometimes in metaphor, sometimes completely open about my own struggles, journeys, stories I’ve long wanted to tell, or a mixture of everything. In the end I want the listener to draw their own narrative to my songs and gain something positive from them. I want people to know that I relate on so many different levels and I want everyone to know they are never truly alone, even when it feels that way.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

For sure! My name is Jeremy Squires. I’m a full time musician, songwriter and photographer. I am a self taught multi-instrumentalist from New Bern, NC.

I was completely in love with music since I can remember and started playing guitar when I was 10/11 years old on a vintage acoustic my mom brought home to me from an antique store. I learned how to write songs on that at a young age. I got my first electric guitar when I was 12. My granny had surprised me with it.

I started playing in bands from there on out.
I guess I got into the industry so to speak from playing shows, releasing a lot of albums, songs, word of mouth as well as meeting other musicians and labels along the way.

Ughhh. That’s a hard question to answer… “What sets me apart from others…” it’s hard because I have humbled myself a great deal.
(that answers your question on discipline)
I think that ultimately in the end we all want the same things and that truly goes without saying if you’re genuine and passionate about what you are putting out into the world.

I’m proud of everything I’ve done. I worked really hard to get where I am. I’ve had a lot great things happen and even more bad things that will just knock you down a flight of steps and you just climb back up and keep doing what you love.

I truly am proud of every album that I’ve ever made. They each represent a specific moment in time in my life and I feel they chronologically tell a story that I don’t even know if I’m sure what the meaning of it is.

Honestly, half of the time their meanings change but the feelings I get from them never do… Hopefully they will carry on and listeners will relate and get lost in the songs and the imagery that I strive to create.

The same goes for all of my photography. Each photograph is uniquely special and tells a different story in a captured moment.

But just like music… everyone will see them, feel them and take away something different all together and that is amazing and magical.

That’s what I love about music, photography, poetry, videography and all art.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

When I decided to do music full time around 2008, it was initially about trying to find a way to get all of my emotions out. I had so many different feelings and I was angry, sad, depressed, crippled with anxiety among other things. It was an escape and somehow along the way I realized that what I was doing, saying, writing about and creating was helping a-lot of people. I then saw the positive outcome (the light in the dark, so to speak) I feel driven to advocate for mental health awareness. It is a mission for me to help people in any way that I can. Even if it’s just a song, or a photograph or a listening ear. I will keep creating, making music and singing for the people that feel it and need it the most.

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

Without a doubt, the most rewarding and meaningful aspect of what I do is when someone comes up to me at a show and tells me how much my music has helped them, or saved their life… it’s when someone sends me a message that says that one of my songs kept them out of a dark place or kept them from doing something that can never be taken back in that moment of despair. I do this for so many reasons but those are what I keep close to me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jeremysquires.org
• Instagram: @thejeremysquiresmusic
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/jeremysquiresmusic
• Twitter: @jeremysquires1
• Youtube: youtube.com/@jeremysquiresmusic
• Other: jeremysquires.bandcamp.com

Image Credits
The portrait of Jeremy Squires was taken by Violet Squires. All other photographs were taken by Jeremy Squires.