Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonah Cohen.
Jonah, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve been playing music since I was quite young (got my first guitar when I was eight years old) and it’s been the center of my career and life for many years. My family traveled quite a bit when I was young as well, I was born in New Mexico, spent a year in Australia, and then most of my teenage years in Seattle.
Seattle was an incredible place to be a young musician. Tons of bands and great venues and an incredibly supportive community. Out of high school, I focused my attention 100% on music. I played in multiple bands, working as a cook and pastry chef on the side, and learning ferociously about sound engineering and music production.
When I was 20, I got hired as a road tech/sound engineer for Mary Lambert (Macklemore’s Same Love), and started my career touring. I was trained by my fellow techs how to do live sound and eventually became Mary’s primary sound engineer as well as touring with a host of other label and independent artists. After two years, I became Mary’s bass player and have toured with her ever since playing all over the US and in Europe.
When COVID hit, both the music and food industries were trashed overnight. I was left without an industry to work in but some decent unemployment and time on my hands. With the help of some business savvy friends, I started my own media production company JCSound. I targeted developing podcast and YouTube channels, helping creators expand and refine their content to better serve their business and delight their audience. Turns out, it was a fantastic time to be in media production. In six months, I had built a business that easily replaced my previous work, and in the last two years have built a platform that supports me far and beyond what I had before.
I now am a host for Teachable live events, have a host of clients who I develop content for, produce bands and artists remotely, and am building an educational platform for music and media production.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Absolutely not! I have been very fortunate to have consistent opportunities come my way, but with everyone comes challenges.
The music industry is not forgiving. Once you give a little to it, it wants everything from you and with very little return (except for a select few). However, I believe it’s the best possible time to be in the music/media industries as artists and creators have more control and opportunity than ever before.
There have been too many lessons to go over everything I’ve learned but if I were to summarize it all into one big lesson it’d be…
Take your business seriously, invest the time, work hard, believe in yourself. But never, ever, stop having fun. If it’s not fun, do something else.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I have worked with a variety of artists and creatives over the years and have become very proud of my ability to fit into the role needed. As a music producer, it’s difficult at times to see where your efforts and specific skills are most required and where to check your ego and get out of the way!
Most recently, I produced an album for a band named Marble. They brought me in to help the finish the record and I helped with arranging the songs, played guitar, drums, bass, and keys on the record, and overall helped the band take the ideas they had and bring them to the next level. The process was incredibly rewarding and actually worked much smoother remotely than past work I’ve done in person. Every time I would send my ideas back to the band and they got excited and giddy, that was the best reward I’ve ever gotten. I now am working on two albums of my own and have three more production projects with artists in the works.
I think what sets me apart is my ability to see what something can become and help establish the road there. It’s so easy for artists to get side tracked or focused on their perfectionism when really the most important thing is just to finish something. I do this better for others than myself of course but helping artists follow their dreams to a clear accomplishment is an absolute joy and my life’s mission without a doubt.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Too many to even get into!
I learned an immense amount during COVID. Building a new and functional business comes with constant struggles and learning opportunities to be sure. However, the biggest lessons I learned were around mental health. I’m not someone who has struggled with mental health much in the past but COVID tested me to the extreme. I had to develop new mechanisms for staying positive and more than anything prioritize mental health above all else. No matter what’s on the to-do list, if I’m not in a good place, it won’t be done well.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: http://jonahcohensound.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/jonahcohensound
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonahcohensound
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonahcohensound
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_5v31aT6ZcJso5YhflrXBg
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@jonahcohensound?
