We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jp Warner a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
JP, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
I have been so fortunate to be able to make ends meet as a full-time creative, but it certainly took me some time to get there. It wasn’t until year 7 of releasing music professionally that I could finally quit my day job, and even then I lived mostly off savings for the first 2-3 months as I ramped things up.
I began taking music seriously in my sophomore year of college, at that time as half of a DJ duo making electronic pop music. The group did as well as I could have hoped, playing plenty of shows & releasing music via relatively high-profile EDM labels including Armada (Armin Van Buuren) & Revealed (Hardwell). I graduated college in 2019, around the time as a shift in the EDM industry away from the style of music that had so inspired me up to that point. I took that as an opportunity to leave that artist project and focus more on back-end songwriting, production, and audio engineering.
I worked behind the scenes from 2019 – 2022, moving more into the Pop music space. I had a handful of cool wins in that time (placed songs with Excision, Besomorph, etc) but candidly, did a LOT of second-guessing if I was on the right track.
Fast forward, I was able to leave my day job in January of 2023 when a project I had audio-engineered went viral. “EPIC: The Musical” blew up on Tiktok & charted on Spotify from its first release. The success of this project brought so many new opportunities across my desk, the main one being the opportunity to build the TE/MO project by Teagan Earley from the ground up. We launched TE/MO in March of 2024, and have released 2 albums & an EP in the time since.
The snowball effect has been very real for me – the success of EPIC led to TE/MO, and the success of TE/MO has led to even more opportunities. If I were to go back and change anything, I would have given myself more grace & patience during that 3 year transition period! It felt extremely uncomfortable at the time, but it absolutely put me on the right path.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m a music producer based in Chicago, offering artists everything they need to turn their ideas into radio-ready hits. I’m equipped to help them through every stage of the process, from co-writing & producing initial demos, recording & editing the perfect vocal takes, to dialing in a final mix/master that makes their song sound just as good as the artists they love.
It’s important to me to use my platform to advocate for the causes I believe in, particularly the destigmatization of mental health. I wouldn’t have the chance to be making music now if I hadn’t had support through my own difficult times, so I aim to share resources every chance I get for those in need. Music is the medium through which I express myself, but my main goal with all of this is to create a safe space for people to feel less alone.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Free self-expression. For the longest time I felt as though I had to conform to what I perceived society wanted me to be. I learned in time that I was fighting a losing battle, but that journey was extremely confusing & diluted my sense of self for many years.
Nowadays, I follow my intuition & trust myself. I surround myself with individuals I admire, I fight for what I believe in, and I let things pass me that do not serve me. It has been incredibly freeing to just do my thing, and embracing being an artist is a big part of what allowed me to get there!
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
The Way Forward by Yung Pueblo. It’s a collection of poems & short prose empowering readers to trust themselves & what they know to be right. As someone who has historically struggled with knowing their identity & finding their way, this book helped me feel grounded in my values & know how to recognize & foster the right relationships. I can’t recommend it highly enough!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jpwarnersound.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jpwarnersound
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jpwarnersound
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpwarnersound/
- Twitter: https://www.x.com/jpwarnersound
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jpwarnersound
Image Credits
Jessica Ivey, Nadia Tolar, Amanda Jarosik, Asher Goldfinger