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

Jody, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear from you about what you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry and why it matters.

Honestly, I believe the majority corporate heads have traded in talent, the development of talent and, real musicianship for, the most shocking content, look and, the easiest path to getting a song or, songs into the marketplace. I realize that, social media has shaped the outlook of many labels and, their thinking but, creative writing, talent and, musicianship still matters. Simply look at the Motown machine and their legacy. Berry Gordy and his staff, put an incredible amount of investment into their artist’s songwriting, sound, look, ability to address the press and, general development with, great success. Many labels used to. It wasn’t a quick process of, record it wherever, get a mastering job and, it’s pushed to the available outlets without, an extensive amount of critique by the label. That’s why I believe many songs from the 90’s decade and older, still have juice today. The commercials we see, are using songs from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s & 90’s to sell their products. There’s longevity in the music that demanded and, pushed more for talent, musicianship and, development than, the cookie cutter, quick hit songs of late.

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.

My name is Jody Daniels. I am a multi-instrumentalist and, producer. I started early in the church. My Mother was a singer and, my Father played guitar and bass. He bought me my 1st drumset when I was 4. I spent all of my childhood/ teen years, playing for various churches and Quartet Gospel groups. I wound up being a bassist at 11 (by accident) and, flourished into other instruments by the time I was an adult. I sincerely had no intention of being a producer but, via an incident while I was recording bass for an artist’s album at age 17 in Virginia Beach, I was left in the studio and was fascinated with the equipment and, started playing around with some primitive tracking and, the bug hit me to expand into recording things myself, writing and, composing.

Currently as a producer, I provide the ability to compose and write songs, as well as, generally play all the instruments on the song, engineer the sessions, edit, mix and, master the songs to radio/ marketplace completion. A one stop shop, if you will. Problems I have and, may solve are; assisting the client with getting an idea from simply a thought to, a completed song. Additionally, I am fluent in studio editing, mixing and mastering so, I am able to solve quite a few audio issues from sessions that are sent to me, address what songs may be missing lyrically or instrumentally and, I have spent countless hours either formulating or, assisting with composition, harmonies, and even promotional artwork, videos and, social media presentation.

I am proud to be a 7x MLA Awards, a MLA Awards 2x Producer of the Year winner, a Songwriter of the Year and, a multiple time Hollywood Music In Media Award nominee, as well as, a All Black Everything Producer of the Year and, have several of my compositions in current streaming movies totaling over 300 million streams worldwide. I am also the proud CEO of J Deezy Couture; a very fire clothing line!

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

I was stricken with an unknown illness back around 2006 that, took away my dexterity, ability to function and, just continue with the touring and recording I was doing at the time. It too away my ability to play key, guitar, bass, etc. I spent 6 years searching for an answer to what was going on with me. It was the most hurt I had experienced in my life, not being able to perform and play on my productions like I was used to. I couldn’t fully hold a drumstick but, found creative ways to grip them and, still played drums (appearing on the Ohio Players episode of Unsung) and, had to relegate myself to mostly engineering and, primitive pecking on keys. I would still compose as, I had a lot of music in my head and heart. After 6 years, I was blessed with a diagnosis of Myasthenia Gravis, a neuromuscular disease that affects the body’s nerves from communicating with the muscles. When I received the diagnosis, I wasn’t able to even dress myself, much less, play anything like I was accustomed to. However, after that diagnosis on November 7th of 2012, my focus was regaining my musicianship and, my production chops. After not being able to do much for myself for years and, after starting treatment, I played my 1st show on New Year’s Eve of 2012, was on my 1st tour in over 6 years by spring and, since 2021 alone, I have recorded and released 5 solo albums while, maintaining being a face for Myasthenia Gravis, opening and expanding my clothing line and, have accomplished more in the 12 years since the diagnosis than, I had in 20+ years prior to becoming ill. And while Myasthenia is still a thing I have to contend with, I do not ever let that be an excuse. I am known for being timely with my responsibilities in this business. If a client needs the track within 2 or 3 weeks, I have it to them last week!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Where do I start? The biggest lesson I had to unlearn was, the falsehood that, a talented person of faith, has to solely commit their talent to the church. As a younger musician, it was always a guilt trip that, God gave me my talent so, I could only use it for and in the church. Respectfully, the church loved that talent but, never wanted to pay for it, nor did they care that much about me as a young man. It was a conflict that, I would see other musicians I was as good as, getting paid for doing less than what I was always doing in the church. As well, being committed to church scenarios, stunted my growth on other genres of music. I could play the hell out of something that was church related but, was lost on Jazz standards, some Pop, Funk, Rock, etc. It wasn’t until I started taking chances and branching out that, I found out God didn’t send a lightening bolt down on me for playing a gig. As a matter of fact, He opened up other doors via those situations and, through some observation and logic, I noticed that people of other talents in the church, weren’t being held to that standard and, were allowed to flourish. It was then that, I made up in my mind that, a good deal of the guilt that was directed at me, was bogus and, selfish. I never looked back. I still love God and, I still love playing, writing and, producing Gospel music. However, I will never allow myself to be shackled by a erroneous thought process like that ever again.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://iamjodydaniels.com/
• Instagram: @reelphat
• Facebook: Jody Daniels
• Twitter: @IAmJodyDaniels
• Youtube: @TheRMGChannelMusic
• Other: J Deezy Couture Clothing: https://reelphat-media-group.launchcart.store/