We were lucky to catch up with LaynoProd recently and have shared our conversation below.

LaynoProd, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

The life I have is the life I chose. I chose this life of being a full-time music recording artist. It’s one of the riskiest decisions I ever made back in high school in 2011 when I started to record my rap songs and produce beats. Fast forward to 2015 and I decided to go to college to get my foot in the door in the music industry. Fast forward to 2019 right after graduation I land my first professional job in the music industry in audio tech in Silicon Valley. It was the most money I ever made, but I decided to risk it all and leave the job to pursue my artist music career back home in Los Angeles. Then the pandemic happens 2020. After a few months of being unemployed, I land a remote job online working for a music producer podcast and sound design company. Fast forward to end of 2021, I decided to resign from that job as well. I had a few good living opportunities in the music business, but the artist in me was too strong and wanted to focus on giving my all to my own creative projects. I have a story to tell, I’m living the dream, and I am inspired by others above and around me, and others have personally told me that my life choices have inspired them as well. Life is short, why play it safe? My mindset was, if I wanted to make a livable income, why not just get a typical 9-5? So after several part-time jobs in 2022 and multiple music-related side hustles, we arrive in 2023. I still have a few music-related side hustles and skillsets that I learned from my past jobs such as audio engineering, music production, sound design, marketing, branding, networking, social media, and ecommerce. But I also have a 9-5 as a cashier at this food spot in LA. 2022 was the year that I fully experienced living as a full-time artist and ended up releasing 3 albums that year. Creatively I was free. However, it was difficult financially, but time was my asset and I chose to use it wisely and had to make a lot of sacrifices such as missing out on events, losing relationships, and delaying my gratification in my 20s while everyone around me was “living their lives”. I wanted this ever since I fell in love with making music and expressing myself through albums and songs and visual art back in 2011. I’m still going, learning, and taking risks consistently in 2023. None of my decisions make sense, and I don’t advise everyone to look up to me or follow what I do. I think people should continue learning skills, improving their health in all aspects because health is wealth, and connecting with others. You can’t do this alone, and I thank everyone who has supported my music career decisions and is still doing so. I took this risk, and I enjoy the rewards, but the process of it all and the journey itself I find the most joy in, both in times of pain and struggle, and of celebration and ecstasy. With gratitude, LaynoProd

LaynoProd, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is James Layno aka LaynoProd aka Layno. I’m a Filipino-American artist, music producer, and audio engineer from the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California (818 area code). After recording hundreds of songs and making hundreds of beats, I figured out that my sound is Soulful Autotune Melodic Rap. My visuals showcase my love for berets, film photography, and cinematography. Born in 1997 to two immigrant parents from the Philippines, and being the youngest of 3, I developed an “old soul”. I love 70s and 80s music, art, and style as much as my current love for Hip-Hop, R&B, and EDM. I am well-traveled, having visited Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Malaysia, Mexico, and various cities in the US outside of LA such as Las Vegas and Atlanta. I love geography, history, and culture, outside of my love for Filipino, Asian-American, and Los Angeles culture. I grew up with a strong Filipino identity being around my family members of 40+ people as well as my friends from the San Fernando Valley and USC representing multiple ethnicities. I love to connect with people through culture, but mainly through art. Before doing music in high school, I did a little bit of drawing, painting, and graffiti art from elementary to middle school. As a shy kid, my art allowed me to express myself to others and open up my life to others, as well as educate, entertain, and inspire.

Professionally, my LinkedIn profile James Layno aka LaynoProd will show my work experiences with the companies Producergrind, McDSP, USC and more. My skillsets and services in my resume include the following: Branding, Marketing, Sales, Customer Service, Ecommerce, Instagram, Recording Studio & Mixing Live Sound, Pro Tools, FL Studio, Music Production, Songwriting, Premiere Pro, Video Editing, YouTube, Podcasts, Photoshop

I’m most proud of my consistency and energy/soul. Ask anyone in my circle, they will tell you that I am the most hardworking, dedicated, and consistent creatives they have ever witnessed. I will not give up my dreams, in fact I realized I am actually living it, because it is the journey and process in which I find the most joy in, the end results and rewards will come in due time, and they are extra and fleeting. I tend to think in the future too much, but recently I been more in the present, and as a result, have more gratitude. Aside from my many accomplishments, both in school, professional work, and in my art, the best thing is that I can wake up every morning and look in the mirror and tell myself truthfully that I am consistently growing in my personal life as well as my creative skillsets and endeavors. Lastly, people tell me that I have good energy and a good soul. I personally cannot stay long doing something in which I cannot pour out my pure soul into. If my soul is not in the work I’m doing, then I cannot do it creatively, but for a means to an end, such as a financial incentive. But if you give LaynoProd a creative task or challenge, you know that he will put his heart, mind, and soul in it.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Freedom. Time freedom. A freedom mentally, spiritually, physically, financially and emotionally. Wealth is balance and wealth is freedom. I’m currently working hard in my health in all aspects, especially in the past 2 years. This hard work over time allows me the privilege to have time and a space to create art, especially record and produce my own music. I have the most fun in the creative process, whether it’s hearing my voice freestyle lyrics with the autotune sound going through my headphones in my bedroom studio, or whether it’s hearing the 808 drums bang in my studio speakers when I’m making a beat. I have a lot of fun with visuals too, such as doing film photography photoshoots with my homie Paolo Panlilio and doing music videos and short films with my homie Nefty Quijada. The process itself is the most rewarding. I’ve learned to realize that recently and also be as present as possible when I’m creating art. Everything else can be a distraction or can rob my joy. I treat the creative process sacredly and be in the best health as possible so I can continue living this music artist life for as long as possible. The rewarding aspect begins with myself when I create my art. The second part of the rewarding aspect happens when I share it with others. What’s the point of making art when you cannot share it with others? When my art connects with people in real life, or through someone’s phone or computer online across the globe, it is amazing how I can just channel the energy God put in my head and heart and technically style it and paint it with sounds and visuals to impact someone else’s life positively. It is an amazing and rewarding feeling and gives me a sense of peace to keep creating and keep enjoying it.

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

I am in a constant mental battle with my own ego. Artists require ego to drive them to do amazing things, but it can also hold me back. My ego can get in the way of making a “non quality, cringy” post that otherwise could’ve been the post that brought me new fans and connections and business opportunities. My ego can get in the way of me working with someone I am inspired by, and my ego can get in the way of being open to things and can leave me being close-minded and shallow. It’s all an experience to learn from when I make these mistakes, but it’s a process and everyday is a chance to grow or regress. I have to have times to check in with myself or have trusted people around me that will check my ego if it’s hurting my life and career goals. The ego is a double-edged sword many artists experience. I can’t avoid problems in life, but music and art problems are the ones I rather live with and constantly try to solve and work towards improving.    

Contact Info:

• Website: https://withkoji.com/@LaynoProd
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/LaynoProd/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaynoProd/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laynoprod/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/LaynoProd
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/LaynoProd

Image Credits
Film Photography by Paolo Panlilio @potato.paolo