Today we’d like to introduce you to Jesty Beatz.
Hi Jesty, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was always interested in making music, but I got started in high school. A few friends had drum machines and keyboards and I really took to it. One day in tenth grade, a friend named Christian Love introduced me to Fruityloops and it changed the course of my life. I started making beats every night on the family computer. I’d be in the basement until it was almost time to wake up. My career as we know it started in college at Ohio University. I was a college musician who had the opportunity to tour throughout my junior and senior years. As a full-time student, that time was really crazy. What we were doing was so special that I got was granted independent study credits to perform internationally. I’d say that the students, faculty, and staff at Ohio University, and the surrounding communities gave me my start down this crazy road.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
When I got started, I was very defiant and very anti-music industry. I’ve always had an independent and DIY mindset– and that road will always be a bit longer and a little more difficult to navigate. Vying for people’s attention and building momentum is hard and constant work. Late nights, and losing loved ones. Self-doubt. Sacrificing for big goals were all things that are hard to deal with.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
It all depends on how you were introduced to me! I’m a guy who is involved in all things audio. As, Jesty Beatz I am an independent musician, songwriter, and producer. I’ve written some songs with and for some pretty big artists. My alter-ego “Holy Mattress Money” had a few songs go viral. My song with HENAO, “Crash Into You” hit #1 in Poland and UAE on their respective iTunes Dance Charts. Before my return to Ohio, I lived in Los Angeles and worked with my mentors Da Internz and E-Dub from Silent Giant Entertainment for a few years. Using the knowledge from those times I founded Declared Major Records. I found my first artist, Evann McIntosh. I developed and produced their first project — which lead to the viral single “What Dreams Are Made Of.” My scoring and audio mixing work has been nominated twice for MTV VMAs. I’ve placed hundreds of tracks in TV, Film, and Ads. I recently started to contribute to magazines and speaking. I think my main mission is that I’m an advocate for artists and encourage them to take action. I believe that taking your abstract ideas and making them tangible is your duty as a human. I honestly believe if you have an idea then you can spearhead its creation. As a real-life illustration of my mantra, “Every Single Note” I have made time to release an instrumental bi-weekly on all streaming platforms. I am obsessed with getting out all my ideas and hope to inspire other creatives to do the same.
What does success mean to you?
Success is a mindset and a lifestyle. Success is doing exactly what you set out to do. For me– success means being creatively fulfilled while being a great husband and dad while being financially free. Money isn’t the end-all/be-all but it definitely makes all that a lot easier.
Contact Info:
- Website: justjesty.com
- Instagram: jestybeatz
- Facebook: holymattressmoney
- Youtube: youtube.com/declaredmajor
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/holymattressmoney
Image Credits
Lindsey Poyar
Thomas Fox
JR Strickland
James Dilg
