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

John, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

When I was in high school I had a group of friends I used to make some of the most outrageous and pointless content with. At the time it felt like were just a few kids trying to make our friends laugh at birthday parties and in our video classes. But when a few of those same friends made the decision that they wanted to go to film school it made me realize that having a creative career was actually possible. I was just a kid from a small town in Massachusetts without much context of the entertainment business. Without choosing to carelessly putting myself out there with my friends simply by being myself I’m not sure I would have had the thought or courage to take this path.

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

After graduating from college I started out working in Location Management and Scouting for movies and TV shows. If you’re unfamiliar with what it is that job entails don’t worry; most people that I’ve worked on set with have no idea what the Locations Department does either. Not to any ignorance on their part though! It’s a bit of a quirky department that wears a lot of hats. Tasked with everything from finding options for filming locations to municipal and neighborhood outreach to solving general production logistics to putting out fires on a daily basis. It was in this role that I was given an insane crash course on the ins and outs of Production – all while still exploring my own creative endeavors. Now having been afforded the opportunities to work as a Producer, I’ve realized that my foundation to hold the responsibilities that role were developed through the skills I learned by working in Locations.

I’ve spent much of my time simultaneously building a parallel career in music. From an early age I knew music would be a large part of my life. When I was 5 years old my Great Aunt sat me down at a piano and taught me to read music. My goal for a long time now has been to solve how to connect these two facets of my life and fuse them seamlessly. I’ve been fortunate enough over the past few years to have my music placed in great projects. These opportunities have allowed me to shift my focus and recognize that the fuse of these important two aspects of my professional and personal life is finally happening. This is something I have been continuing to pursue aggressively and a pillar I’m building my brand on.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is hearing how a project or piece of music has impacted someone on an individual level. There’s certainly been times where it felt like some of my work was lost out there somewhere in the void and then I hear a personal story of how it made someone feel or changed their mind about something. The reward of putting something out there in the world and finding out that it made someone feel something is one of the most simple ways of describing the overall gratification.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I worked mostly behind the scenes in the beginning of my career as a skilled laborer which at times felt like just another number. Now that I’ve been afforded some incredible opportunities in a creative / leadership role, I’ve caught myself trying to remember that I’m allowed to be more vocal in the important conversations. After years of being taught to not be seen or speak up about much, it’s been quite an interesting lesson to unlearn.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://listen2johnny.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/listentojohnny
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/listentojohnny
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/listentojohnny_
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@listentojohnny
• Other: http://imdb.me/johnwhoriskeyjr

Image Credits
Image credits: -Live performance photo shot by Ken Francis -Silhouette photo shot by Tommy Whalen -Couch photo shot by Sean Yopchick -Director Slate Photo shot by Aaron Strader