We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Livva Jones. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Livva below.
Livva, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?
Absolutely, there have been times when I thought about what my life would be like if I wasn’t an artist and honestly, the thought of it makes me feel empty. Being an artist has made me a happily healed person, filled with so much gratitude and appreciation to be able to create for a living that I can’t picture doing anything else. I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I didn’t have music.
Although being an artist can have its ups and downs, as I’m sure every career path does, I think there is no greater feeling of hearing and seeing how other individuals connect and relate to the music you create. That for me, is worth all the “downs” that come with being in the music industry. With that being said, it is so important to find those “ups” and that happiness within ourselves first. Songwriting and singing is the way I did that. If one relies on other people, material items, or successes to find happiness, it will remain unfound.
Music has become such a distinct piece of me, that I don’t think my family and friends can separate me from it. It inherently lives within me, so much so that when I’m not creating and releasing my inner thoughts, emotions, and stories, I feel more distant from myself. My parents have given me this life I’m so blessed to live and it is the music that has brought me to exactly where I need to be in this very moment.
Livva, 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 musical journey started before I could even remember or let alone speak for that matter. Do you know how every child has that one activity or thing they gravitate towards? Well, music was always mine.
Growing up in Staten Island, New York with my family, music was constantly around me and I got exposed to various genres and artists from my parents, grandpa, and siblings, some including pop, rap, hip-hop, R&B, country, Motown, 80’s music, 50’s rock, 60’s classics and so many more. My family actually jokes around about how I would sing along to my walkman and iPod nano in the back seat of the car and sound absolutely horrendous. I think it is safe to say I have come a long way since then!
I joined the chorus of my elementary, middle, and high schools, did a cappella in college, and started taking private voice and piano lessons when I was around 14/15 years old and never looked back. I have been singing since I was in diapers, however, my songwriting career didn’t start until I was about 14 years old. My great-grandma sadly passed away when I was a freshman in high school and I turned to music to help process my emotions. The first song l ever wrote was about this time period in my life, called “Broken Hearts”.
Shortly after, I met the most amazing team (Laura Monaco and Joey Martino of ET Studio Productions) that have and continue to till this day make my dreams a reality: writing and releasing my own music to inspire, heal, and help others. As I became older and thought about who I wanted to be as an artist, country music spoke to me and felt like home. I fell in love with the genre’s natural ability to tell a story through its intimate lyrics and intricately layered instrumentation. I have since then become the pop-country recording artist and songwriter Livva Jones, co-writing and releasing over 25 original songs, with my latest single titled, “My Girls”.
In the midst of this all, continuing my education was important to me. I am a nerd at heart y’all! I knew I wanted to go to college but I wasn’t sure what I should major in. I eventually decided to declare an Actuarial Science Major at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. The calculus nerd in me knew I was good at math and it would be a job I could financially support myself with while continuing to songwrite, gig, and record more music. After 2 short months, I called my parents and told them my heart wasn’t in it. I couldn’t picture myself sitting behind a desk crunching numbers all day from 9-5. I had no passion for it. My dad once told me. “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life”. I also could hear my former high school chorus teacher Mrs. Nolemi in the back of my head saying, “we were given the gift of music not to keep to ourselves but to share it with others”.
I began talking to mom about what I could do career-wise within the music industry. Teaching and becoming a celebrity were the two routes in my mind and neither sounded appealing to me. My mom mentioned the field of music therapy to me, which was not something I had heard of before. I researched the field and after watching a Youtube video of a girl singing to her baby brother with Down Syndrome, teaching him, through the music, the only vocabulary he had as a part of his speech, I became overwhelmed with emotion. This is just a glimpse of what music therapy can do for people and I just knew I had to become a music therapist. It combined my two goals in life, utilizing music and healing others.
I dropped my actuarial science major and declared a music major with a minor in music industry and psychology, graduating in May 2020 with my BA in Music. I then went on to receive my Master of Arts in Music Therapy from New York University, graduating in September 2022 with a 4.0 GPA. I passed the Music Therapy Board Exam in September 2022 and started working at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital as their sole music therapist in the Pediatric Emergency Department. These past 3 years have definitely been a whirlwind, to say the least. Busy is definitely my middle name haha
These past three years have been an uphill battle dealing with feelings of grief, anxiety, loss, sadness, stress, and heartbreak amongst others. From pandemics to grieving the loss of my grandfather, to starting and completing the most grueling yet rewarding music therapy program in the nation, working at a children’s hospital in NYC working with oncology, hematology, cardiac, and ICU patients, working at ET Labz teaching piano to children with varying needs, all while receiving new personal medical diagnoses, struggling with my health, and going through two relationship breakups… music and my family have been the two things that have remained a constant in my life, helping me to overcome every one of these battles. I am so grateful to have had them and my singing, my piano, my guitar, and songwriting to allow me to express myself and the surplus of emotion and weight I was carrying. Without music, I would definitely not be the woman I am today. Life has many successes and setbacks and I am so grateful I have music to continue healing, growing, reflecting, and hopefully inspire others!
l am most proud of myself for continuing to show up for myself even when it felt like life was throwing one battle and challenge after the next my way. I dove into my music using it as an outlet, trying to not lose hope, keep my faith strong, and continue to spread kindness. I try and bring happiness and sunshine into the world even when I don’t feel entirely happy myself. Family and friends are the most important things in my life, along with the music of course, and making sure everyone I care about feels loved and is happy is a priority of mine.I think one thing I am known for is my playful and bright energy, I am always smiling! My songwriting cap is also always on no matter where I am. I find myself constantly saying “oh that would be a great song lyric” or “I should write a song about that” even in the strangest places haha
One thing that I think sets me apart from others in this industry is that my passion is fueled by connecting with others. I was never interested in the fame or fortunes that come with being a superstar. The fact that I have the ability to write and release music that can connect to someone across the country or world is mind-boggling to me. Hearing people tell me that my singing, writing, or playing has touched them, helped them heal, and has been relatable to what they were going through makes my heart so full. That is why I do what I do. And that is why I surround myself with people that push me to be a better person, musician, artist, and writer. From growing up in a super loving and close knit family to having friends be by my side since childhood, to having a team at ET Studio Productions that helps me write, produce, record, and release original music, to now being a part of a new music therapy community where I can positively impact patients and families lives, it is always about connection for me. There is something so special about using music to feel something with other human beings. Not many things in life give you that sense of fullness and catharsis.
I would like to leave off with one piece of advice my vocal coach, cowriter, boss, and mentor, Laura Monaco, told me, which is “Dare to suck”. This has always stuck with me. There is no right or wrong when it comes to doing something you love and putting your all into your passions. Don’t let anyone tell you that your dream is too big. If your dream doesn’t scare you then it is definitely not big enough. I say go for it because there is nothing worse than saying “what if?”. Everything happens for a reason and life is too short to be unhappy y’all. Let life unfold, trust yourself, and don’t look back!
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
One thing I had to unlearn is to not compare myself to other artists and creatives. I wouldn’t call it a lesson because this wasn’t something that was taught to me or instilled in me by anyone. I think this has just been an internal battle of mine since I was a young girl. Growing up, I was constantly hearing great artists on the radio, seeing up and coming artists on talent competition television shows, and was surrounded by talented individuals in school and at music studios. You can’t help but compare yourself, not only musically, but physically as well. Making statements like, “I wish I could belt like her”, “I wish my body looked as thin as hers”, “I wish I could play the piano like them”, etc., was a daily occurrence for me. I think this is partially because of this unrealistic standard society has set for any human, whether they are an artist or not. We are told we have to look a certain way, dress a certain way, act a certain way, live a certain way, be a certain way, and sound a certain way or else we are deemed “not good enough”. Over the years, I have been giving myself more grace and embodying the mindset that everyone is uniquely beautiful and talented in their own way. If we all tried to be like someone else, there would be no space for individuality, expression, and color. Being authentically you is more than enough, in fact, it is all you will ever need! Being fully you is your superpower.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
Being involved in music in any shape or form means constantly exposing your deepest emotions and truest self, which comes with the IMPOSSIBILITY of pleasing everybody who sees and hears your work. It is simultaneously the most terrifying and rewarding position to be in. There will always be criticism and negative comments. With that, some may say, “you knew what you signed up for when you wanted to be a part of the music industry”. Even so, I don’t think it is ever okay to be purposely hurtful. Have your opinions, of course, but to direct hatred on someone because of their art is something I will never condone. Even with all of that, I continue to create despite these mentally damaging experiences because I know my music is helping me heal and grow, and hopefully doing the same for countless of others. And even if it’s solely helping one person, that is successful in my eyes. If it takes me doing this so one individual can know they’re not alone in their thoughts and feelings, then I’m okay with letting those negative comments graze my skin. However, words do have a large impact on one’s state of being. We’re all just trying to live our happiest lives, let’s all try and be kinder y’all!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livcentonza/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/livvajonesmusic/
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2ypj5KLvzDln69tGtAvHLL?si=5f1e9_7bQmCdORyJ4OGAew https://music.apple.com/us/artist/livva-jones/1281755429
Image Credits
Alexis Marzo Photography (Instagram – @marzophotographs) Alexis Marzo took the professional portfolio pictures of me that I attached (6 photos out of the 8)