Today we’d like to introduce you to Jake Chaffee.
Hi Jake, 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 grew up in Southern California, and once high school started, I knew I was going to be in the music industry. I am a jazz bass player and that was where I thought I was going to delve the deepest into, but I slowly started recording more and more of my friends as the years went on. I came out to Denton for the jazz program at UNT and was a jazz studies major for 2 years before switching to a BA in music to pursue recording primarily. I have been working at recording services at UNT for 4 years now and that is where I met one of my best friends, Austin Martinez who I could not have made this session happen without. As well as working for recording services at UNT I have also been expanding my freelance recording and producing career out of my living room. As well as the Simeon Davis Group I’ve recorded many other friends and groups of varying styles and collected most of them on my JEC Music YouTube channel.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The biggest challenge I go struggle with is professionalism with friends. The thing about starting out a small recording company out of your living room is most of your early recordings are just your friends. My favorite thing in the world is to record my friend’s music and let them hear what they create and show all their friends but the problem with that is still getting paid for it. That also comes from defining my own self-worth which feels impossible to actually set since I live in a sea of imposter syndrome.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWFR7czJCP-olMtymwgMfJQ
This YouTube channel is everything I am. I’ve recorded dozens of sessions starting from the fall of 2020 in my bedroom, garage, and now living room of my small Texas townhouse. I specialize in live band session recordings of any style, and my favorite sessions are the ones where I have creative control over every step from lighting and staging to audio mixing to the video edit. All of my favorite records from my favorite bands are the live versions. I think there is something so special and unattainable in a studio that comes from a fully live session. Some of my contemporary inspirations are Apartment Sessions, Scary Pockets, and Jam in the Van.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
The most important part of being in a creative industry is creating. There always has to be the next project, the next video, the next recording. One step that stunts a lot of creators is putting out something they’ve created into the world because it’s not perfect, but that is exactly it. Nothing I make will be perfect in my eyes, but perfection is just a curse that hurts your creativity. Nothing in the world is perfect, and everything is there to be created, so just keep creating. If I ever spend too long on one project, I will hate the project at the end, and it will take time for me to want to work on a new session again, but if I work fast and go from session to session, the creative process will continue to cycle and beauty will show herself.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jecmusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/basscommajake/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWFR7czJCP-olMtymwgMfJQ
Image Credits
Austin Martinez
