We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lewis “gmk” Johnson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lewis “GMK”, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

I hope to be remembered for my unwaivering commitment to people, my community and the arts. Presenting new ideas and encouraging the next generation to be self sufficient and proud of their path.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Born in Seattle, WA. I grew up in a highly creative family. My father from a small town, Marysville, Kentucky where he first self taught himself guitar by listening from his window to family play at the local music clubs. My father would go on to also teach himself piano and organ. I would come to inherit his abilities. My gift would be piano and main instrument which would later influence my career and role in music. The youngest of 3. My middle brother influenced my understanding of music production through the art of beat making. Seeing a record be sampled and turned into a recorded song at age 5, by age 8 I was now using drum machines, 4 track recorders and even creating my own albums. In the mid 2000s my childhood home became a fully operating studio in which I began recording, producing myself and brothers friends year over year. We as a family established one of my current brands/business The Truth Studios (not the LA based studio, Truth Studios). Through this channel I have worked with about 3 generations of music talent in the PNW. I familiarized myself with the ins and outs of being an independent artist. As I released solo albums, written, produced recorded by me and toured and performed in an out of state. Some amazing moments is building no only The Truth Studios, but two other brands and companies I’m proud to be apart of founding and operating is BCNF (By Choice Not Force) an entertainment based company responsible for developing and managing artist. Most notable, Royce The Choice whom has navigated the music industry with grace and greatness. The younger generation of BCNF is doing fine work in the past two years touring the states for multiple tours spanning East Coast and West coast. The other being a production company (team), The MNVRS. Under this brand I alongside trusted music partners help create whole projects and singles for artist.

I’m truly proud of all the work and continuing work the team is doing. As an artist one of my favorite moments was being featured on Grammy nominated, NW legend Jake One’s “White Van Music” album for the song “Big Homie Style”. As well as recent projects with Royce The Choice for albums, “Aesthetics by Choice” and “Aesthetics Again” now streaming. A collaboration with NW artist, Livt whom is a sensational multi talented artist whom is a filmmaker in addition to being a singer/songwriter on song “Let It Go” feat, Dave B another noteworthy NW artist whom I worked with early on in his career to now. This song has half a million streams in counting and is heard all over the world. To my kid self whom really just wanted to be close to his brothers and father. I now don’t know a life without this gold, called music and artistic expression.

What sets me apart is my keen ear, music study is a daily practice for me since my father began teaching me. So I am constantly diseccting music, learning new approaches, open to the future of creation and how it’s made. It is essential to me to put yourself inside the work you are apart of. The technical skill set only help you live more freely in the moment where all great ideas come from. I have also took a listeners approach to working with artist and providing production and development help within the music industry.

I’d like the people I work with next to understand the power of contribution and ownership. It is my no fault that as creatives are art is out intellectual property and that means we have real estate in this space.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source for new clients for me has been one of the purest and rawest forms, word of mouth. For every performance, studio session, conversation in the street. It has led to more conversations and more opportunities. While I love social media for certain aspects and automating the process. Nothing has been more effective in my journey than word of mouth.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think what helped build my reputation was the work, whom I serviced and how I approached working with each artist. Willing to truly build things from ground up as opposed to shoving a product or distasteful integrity when it comes to the art. I’ve for years developed a make it yours philosophy. So with things such a music production. I work with artist to build their sound. Something they can take with them whether we continue working together or not.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://itsbychoicenotforce.com
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/gmkthegreat

Image Credits

Photos courtesy of BCNF