We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Joseph Robinson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Joseph thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

There are a lot of cute quotes I come across when it comes to finding success, but what I’ve learned is there isn’t a single person in this world that can really validate whether or not you’re successful. Searching for the validation of others will only bring disappointment because you eventually learn nobody cares if it isn’t beneficial for them. I believe success comes from whatever your individual goals/plans are. We all have little success stories in every era of our lives, and once we achieve success, we move forward to the next challenge or goal. The masses will measure success by your finances, or how many people know your name, but if you pay attention, those who have more than most also have stress in their lives. “Things” are I’ll never make you feel successful, it only makes you want more. When you complete a challenging task, finish a project, those things make you feel good…that’s success!! For me I always wanted to provide for myself and my family by producing music and engineering, I achieved that goal. For a moment I felt successful but then I created another goal for myself and that’s what I’m working hard to achieve. In order to do these things you have to be consistent and, in short, just not quit. The difference between people that have achieved something and people that have failed, they didn’t quit. Resilience is something you need for any task, and with that you realize you’ll never fail at anything, you just learned something you didn’t know before that moment. Those who feel they are successful, have achieved every goal they set for themselves.

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

I go by Seph, short for Joseph and I was born and raised in Philly. I started to make music back in high school, when a friend of mine from a church my dad once went to showed me how to use fruity loops. I only used the free version so I had to finish the track the same day or leave my desktop on for days until it was finished. I was introduced to Pro Tools once a friend of mines dad built a studio in his home for him. Since I was the only one who didn’t rap, I’d record him and his friends when I was there. From that moment I knew this is what I wanted to do. Fast forward about 20+ years, I met my now fiancé, Ekela, who also happen to be an artist, as well as manage artists, and vocal coach, and song writer, a woman of many talents, who wanted me to help out with her company “The Voice Box”. Through working with her I met her sibling, Iniko, and we made “Caught and Body” and “Motion”during the artist boot camps Ekela would host. From there, I became Iniko’s producer and mix engineer and we went on to create “Kings Affirmation” and “Jericho”, produced along with Ekela and LMR, who also produces for both Ekela and Iniko. I never imagined how soon all this would flourish into what it is today! I’d say I was lucky but I would stay up hours after everyone was sleep to finish projects for them, sometimes over 24hours. Raising 3 boys, touring (I also am the production manager and Front of House engineer for Iniko’s live shows), preparing for a wedding, mixing an album, producing for other artists, and attempting to spend quality time with my fiancé all at once is difficult, but there are no excuses and that is why we are deserving of the position we are in(myself, Iniko, Ekela, LMR), and the position waiting for us ahead!!! ALBUM COMING SOON, or probably out by the Tim you read this!!!

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

I want to make my kids extremely proud! That’s the main goal. Raising all boys gives me a lot of motivation to make sure I set a standard for them. I also want to be able to get them everything I never had, without spoiling them.

My own personal goal for myself is to also make sure I look back at my life and have no regrets. No matter how difficult this gets, I want to look back and say “I did it”!!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I use to compare my mixes and productions to the greats on the industry. Doing that made me always doubt my work and try to make my songs sound like their mixes or productions but eventually I unlearned that trait. I realized what makes each individual great is how we all individually hear music. My mixes give you a glimpse of what I hear, or at least as close as I can get to what I hear with the resources I have. When that time comes when I get my own studio and get it where it needs to be for my ears, the world will be able to enjoy music the the way I hear it, and I absolutely believe that’s a gift!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soundsbyseph?igsh=czh4cDBkZzl5a3l1&utm_source=qr
• Other: Seph’s Discography: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6lMsk0F3yFmayc5LTcEztB?si=tWIFRbJHTPKLi1WNwK4Biw&pi=u-ggzbQe_YTC2P

Image Credits
Some images by Kyle Lynch @abovereproach Profile URL: https://www.instagram.com/abovereproach?igsh=dXZvb2xlZTA1N3g=