We recently connected with Jill Boyd and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jill thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Oh, boy. So, there are many choices in this life as far as careers go. From attending college, receiving a certificate, training under a professional, or building from the ground up, there are many options. I wish more young people knew this.

When I was younger, I was told I couldn’t make any money from music. Risk is an interesting word; based on context. I played “the safe side” for the first few years of my career. I attended business school and eventually landed a few “regular jobs:” one at a University helping students enroll into school, another in the customer service dept. for a big online store, etc. The decade from 20-30 was me floating through the “norms” of what others might expect of me. Before I turned 30, in that last week of being 29 I realized I hadn’t explored my dream: becoming a music composer. I decided right then and there to dedicate my next decade to music, and wrote down 5 things to accomplish in my music career over the next 10 years. I finished those goals in 2.5 years. I then wrote “bigger goals…” such as “win a competition, write for a full orchestra, hear it performed live..” I accomplished those within the next year and a half. I found myself at age 34, having finished all of those, and deciding “I’m going to make composing my full-time job.”

Covid hit somewhere in there, and my concert sheet music had to shift to music production for tv and film. Within that shift, I found great mentors and teachers to support me through the journey, and I now (…3 years later) write full-time for a production company that sends my music to popular tv shows.

What was the risk that I’m speaking of? 10 years prior to me turning 30, composers in the production music industry were full-time, making music. The risk was “playing small” for 10 years. The risk was going with the crowd, and what they wanted for me. The risk was delaying my dream job, for 10 years, to “play it safe.”

Once you decide what you would like dream job to be, make that decision. Find someone doing it, and follow their guidelines. You’ll save yourself a decade of wandering!

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

I started writing music when I was young but really dove in around the age of 30, when I shared music with a few friends and they started asking me for music. I wrote and sang a piano/vocal piece for a local church class. I then wrote for the children’s choir, group choir, and a piece for a women’s choir in a regional conference. I then played a piece I’d written at the County Fair and earned 1st place. I posted the win on social media, and expressed that it was originally written with full orchestra in mind. Someone tagged an orchestral conductor in the area, and I reached out to him. The local youth orchestra was willing to play the piece, so I wrote full orchestra for them. The premiere of that piece live was unreal. I had “made it,” as an official composer. I will never forget that feeling.

During this same timeframe, I had created some production music for a music class grades k-6, and was approached by a podcast. They wanted an intro that was “bold, revolutionary,” I sent them a track. This track ultimately didn’t land, but I liked the music enough that I sent it to one of my music friends who conducted a youth orchestra. She said, “Can you make this for strings? This might make a great chamber orchestra piece!” With a bit of help from her, I wrote the music for strings, and they loved it. I asked if I could write another piece; and hired a local composer who’d written great pieces, for help. This piece was even better than the first. I then asked if I could write another, and if they would like an “in-house” composer. This is how I wrote for 5 years for that youth orchestra. I then wrote a piece for their chamber orchestra camp, which included a professional quartet. Members of that quartet were in professional orchestras in the area, and after the camp they’d asked me to write additional pieces for them. This had to be paused; as another opportunity came along, in the production music side of things.

When covid hit, all concert music stopped, and I was inspired to take a direction in music production. This path led me to be able to write a piano album for my publisher, and I was able to perform and record my written pieces in a recording session at EastWest Studios, in Hollywood. This opportunity was promptly followed by working with a well-established composer in the production music industry, who led me down the path of writing powerful piano-based orchestral music for tv shows. With his guidance, I wrote pieces as slow or fast as I could, and sent them to him for review, with intentions to build on the quality of each one. After I’d written “enough” pieces, I took the best three, and sent them in a demo reel via email to a few great publishers in the industry. I got a response, and have been writing for them ever since. I’ve also, in the meantime from that first publisher, seen my piano music travel around the world to many different countries.

I believe that the best way to do what you love, is to find who you can serve. I’ve written music for friends who have lost loved ones, for friends who have made political campaigns, and for the background of tv shows that play around the world. I’ve written music in Sibelius for musicians to play, as well as in production workstations for no one to touch, but to put in the background of a tv show. I love the vast amount of ways I can create beautiful, moving pieces to support others in so many ways.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Well, this is an interesting question. It was a long period of time between when my first piano album was recorded, and when it started showing up in tv shows getting paid gigs. I believe the period was 2 years before I saw any royalty payments. In the meantime, I’d been working diligently to grow my skillset in music production: specifically orchestral music. I’m not prone to being technically savvy when learning new computer software or programs, and struggled through making the music sound “real and alive” through the computer. I had so much doubt about this, that right before I created my demo reel, I enrolled into business school for marketing. I even received scholarships for returning back to college.

One month after enrolling in school for the upcoming semester, I sent out my demo reel. I didn’t think I would get any responses, because of how long I had struggled. To my surprise, I did receive a response. They loved my music, and wanted me to start writing for them right away. They wanted both orchestral, and piano pieces. I started writing music for them, and then shortly after, school started. I was taking 16 credits, and on top of that had family to take care of. There was no way I had time for all of it, unless I cut out sleep. So, I came to a decision-point. I can either say goodbye to the music I’ve been working my whole life to achieve, or…. I can drop out of school. I dropped out of business school.

Looking back, if I were younger, I suppose I would’ve just gone to music school in the first place.

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

Yes! A resource I didn’t even think about (perhaps other people do think about this..) is: connecting via “the internet.” I say that in a somewhat sarcastic tone, because it’s at many times underrated. When covid hit, and I stopped writing for concerts, I went online and found out how many groups there were supporting music composers. I had, in my life, only met one composer before this time. I found hundreds! And, a few of them I’m still friends with to this day. Some I’ve met, some I’ve collaborated with, and many I just read tips and tricks in certain groups or forums I’m in with them.

There are composers who have been down the same road I’m starting down, and gave me things to avoid, things to make sure I do, and things I’m wasting my time with. This has got to be the biggest asset in my career, thus far. Those people are gold.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jillboydcomposer/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jillboydmusic/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jill-boyd-11a062125/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jillboyd7083
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/jillian-boyd-87998058

Image Credits

Jason Kutchma