We were lucky to catch up with T.J. Cornwall recently and have shared our conversation below.
T.J., 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.
People have always labeled me as a dreamer. When I was younger, I took this as a compliment, but as I grew older, I stressed about becoming the old man who never went after his dreams. I experienced true analysis paralysis as I pondered what to do with my life. It got to the point where it was affecting people around me and my mental health was at an all time low. My friends were saying, “I miss the TEEJ from five years ago.” It hurt to hear, but I missed that guy, too. Something had to change. I found an awesome therapist who helped me better understand my mind and helped me realize I wasn’t getting enough joy from my environment and that is something I need to prioritize. I kept finding myself sitting at my piano, my happy place since I was 15 years old. It’s like the chaos in my life would stop every time I played a note. It was so incredibly therapeutic for me. The childlike wonder was coming back. I saw light for the first time in what felt like years. I finally felt like I could be myself. Songs started pouring out of me. I was recording music every day and knew this is something I had to be intentional about all while keeping a roof over my head. You don’t just snap your fingers and become successful with music overnight so I devised an action plan. It’s hard to say this without coming off hokey-pokey, but this is when the universe started to shift for me. It was kismet.
Step one was to write as many songs as I could in a year and to start posting on social media. Step two was to surround myself with a top notch team. My best friend in the world, Robby Swiech, also so happens to be a fantastic songwriter so we joined forces and wrote over 200 songs and beats together in the last year. We knew it was important for us to build a catalog of material before we released anything so we spent many 12-16 hour days in our studio that we dubbed The Purple Room. Next, I met up with one of my longtime friends, Will Dzombak, who is the CEO of Taylor Gang (Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla Sign, Fedd The God). Will instilled so much confidence in me that night. After listening to a song that I recorded, he told me that he had no doubt that I can make a career out of this. That’s all the motivation I needed. In his words, it was “go time, all gas, no brakes” from here on out. I had to take this opportunity. I needed as much time to allocate towards music so I made the difficult decision to quit my corporate job and give up financial security in order to spend more time creating. Thankfully, I’ve been able to lean on my book of business in real estate in order to stay afloat, but most of my time has been spent in the studio.
Will introduced me to the legendary producer/engineer, E. Dan (credits include Wiz Khalifa, Mac Miller, and so many more). E. Dan reached out to me in order to lay down a piano track for an upcoming Wiz song, and from there, our relationship progressed, and E. Dan ended up mixing the first four TEEJ singles. He introduced me to the literal GOAT mastering engineer, Chris Athens (credits include Justin Bieber, Drake, and everyone under the sun) who mastered the first four TEEJ singles. I am so grateful for this experience. It’s sometimes hard to believe.
My first single, “Twilight,” came out on September 9th, and a video of me performing the song went viral on TikTok racking up over 3.4M views which earned me more monthly listeners and a sponsorship from one of my favorite music companies, Arturia. My second single, “The Flood” came out on October 7th. My third single coming out in November, “Millennial Gideon,” features Fedd The God, who is one of the best up and coming rappers in the game. The fourth single, “Wiffle Ball Saturdays (Hoopers),” comes out in December, and I’ll be releasing a single every month thereafter.
On top of everything that I’m releasing as an artist, I am producing and mentoring an incredible up and coming talent, Chandler., someone I’m confident will be a household name in the next couple of years, and I’m currently accepting new artists who need a producer.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My parents made me take piano lessons when I was 7 years old. I HATED THEM. I quite literally faked being sick so I didn’t have to go to my lessons. Playing sports was my first love. Thank goodness I took lessons for two years though. I injured my knee in high school and was bored out of my mind so I sat down at the piano to see if I remembered how to play anything, retaught myself how to play, and started writing songs.
Everything that I learned about the music industry came from when I was in a band in college at Penn State. We played numerous shows with under five people in the crowd, but we kept pushing and pushing and eventually had the opportunity to open up for some massive artists/bands such as OneRepublic, Dashboard Confessional, and Hanson to name a few. I was never the most talented musician or the best singer, but I’ve always been a hard worker and continuously worked on my craft. That is what sets me apart from others. I know my abilities and my blind spots, and I’m not afraid to admit when I’m bad at something. I have put in well over 10,000 hours into refining my craft in music, and that’s where my confidence stems from.
As a human, I try to be as vulnerable as possible. I hope that shines through in my music, too. As a producer, I’m different from most since I am a songwriter first. I create my own samples, play all the instruments, build my own beats, and see the song through a different lens than most producers. I don’t typically charge by the hour. I always play the long game. I want the artist I’m working with to feel heard, understood, and empowered. In order to do that, I have to put myself in their shoes almost like a method actor would. Making music is such a mental game. It should also be a lot of fun. We are bringing a brand new idea into the world that didn’t exist before. There is a responsibility that comes with the territory that I take seriously. I want to make sure the artist I’m working with is nothing but happy with their product, and I lead by example by always showing up and putting in the work.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
My debut single, “Twilight,” is a song about resilience. The song is about going through an emotional trauma, in my case, a breakup, and all of the thoughts and feelings that come with it. Walking out the door of your home for the last time and getting into your car having no idea what is ahead of you is tremendously difficult to do. With that being said, when you know who you are deep down, it’s important to not let someone else’s opinion of you define you. It’s a waste of time. Take responsibility for your mistakes and keep moving forward because there is a whole world of goodness waiting for you.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
My ultimate goal with this creative journey is to help people realize that they can do anything they put their mind to. I want to lead by example that it’s never too late to start fresh. I wish I had someone when I was 15 years old encouraging me. I try to be that for other aspiring musicians, producers, and business owners. Helping others is what fills my heart. I hope to achieve that as much as possible through my music.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Www.instagram.com/
tjcornwall - Linkedin: https://www.
linkedin.com/in/tjcornwall - Twitter: Www.twitter.com/
tjcornwall - Youtube: https://www.youtube.
com/c/TJCornwall - TikTok: https://www.tiktok.
com/@tjcornwall - Spotify: TEEJ on Spotify
Image Credits
Conner Key