We were lucky to catch up with Justin “Zeph” Griffin recently and have shared our conversation below.
Justin “Zeph”, appreciate you joining us today. 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?
As of 2 or 3 weeks ago, I started working full time in music;
I’ve worked in customer service for over 11 years while pushing my music career; if there anything I learned over time, It’s honing in on the value your product or brand brings to the table. The industry is saturated, and many people are selling similar products that you do. So how do you stand out? Value. I defined my strengths and weaknesses, identified my talents, and honed in on what makes me valuable.
I don’t really sell anything different than any other producer/engineer. I do make sure that in anything I do, that I sell feeling.
At the end of the day, evaluating myself with honesty and figuring out how to navigate with my skill set for me here. No one will bet on me harder than myself. So I bet on myself more.
Justin “Zeph”, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I began my journey in music in high school about 15 years ago. I was heavily inspired by my father, who had great success in his youth as a writer/pianist. The thing that ultimately propelled me into music wasn’t his push in anyway, but playing musically interactive games such as Guitar Hero 3 and Rockband. I had a natural skill in those games and made me feel like I wanted to do music for real. So I did.
Throughout it the 15 years I’ve spent in music, 10 years were spent as a performing artist. I played bass guitar primarily, but also guitar. I’ve toured the east coast/Midwest of the US, through Germany, and all over the UK. I’ve played in hard rock, metal, reggae, Latin jazz, indie rock, alternative rock, and post punk bands, just to name a few. I’ve also achieved my bachelors degree from
FAMU in the music industry program.
After performing for years and not making much money, I came to a middle ground of wanting to either quit music, or find a way to make it lucrative. I started producing more seriously (before I mainly produced to compose demos for my bands) and picked up engineering. I interned at a local studio and worked at another down the line; from there on, I knew I wanted to start my own recording studio called VEZ Productions here in Tallahassee, FL.
My goal with the studio was to provide a community for different artists seeking deeper solutions to their musical roadblocks. Many of us artists suffer from different aspects that stop us from stepping into the best role we can play for ourselves. I do my best through my experiences as an engineer/producer/artist to relate and help unfold the various dreams of my clients. I feel that’s where I’m the most valuable; extracting the very dreams dreams from the troubled mind of my clients and bringing them to fruition, sonically.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Yes there is; musical preservation is one of my biggest goals. Talent is not as much respected as it once was, at least on the artist’s front. Talent has shifted heavily into the hands of engineers, producers, and writers. There are performers on all types of instruments that put hours upon hours into their craft, and I feel they are being brushed over these days. I want to assure that these talents are still respected in the days to come.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I used to be very pretentious about how I spent my time musically; Once I relaxed and adapted with the times and opened up my mind to anything, it only created more opportunities. I watch a lot of people kill their careers by being stuck to one thing and only one thing. Making it in the industry these days requires great flexibility in your skill set and musical approach. This changed everything for me.
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Image Credits
Photos by Justin “Zeph” Griffin