By The247
The247: As a musician who came up before the real height of social media, how did you start using social media? Why did you start using it?
Jordan: All of us as artists who got our start before social media came about have followed it through so, so many changes. I got excited about the idea of connecting with people through the Internet, social media, pretty much when it was just getting off the ground. And how I could use it as a way to really interact and bring people together and play music as well. For example, there was this platform back in the beginning called Vokle, which was a video chat platform where you could bring other users in and have a live dialogue. Really similar to how Instagram Live works now. I've been excited about social media like that from the beginning because I like to share.
One of the things I love to do musically is improvise. So (social media) makes it really easy for me to share those moments off the cuff. Like I can turn on my camera, whether it's on Instagram or Facebook or whatever, and just start playing, and just play whatever comes into my head. And I love that because it just allows me to connect with people.
I like social media because it’s both fun and rewarding, and entertaining. I think when I look at who I am, I'm kind of a perfect candidate to use social media because I genuinely enjoy it. I like the creativity of it. I like people.
Have you found that the enjoyment of social media is what keeps you there? Or is there something deeper?
Jordan: I think it fulfills some of my creativity as well. And I think social media is a kind of playspace for all of that creativity. I like playing with the tools, with the visuals, with all the cool stuff you can do with the graphics these days. I just kind of have the eye and the ear for things that I think are cool. And then I want to be able to share them.
You were an OG musical creator before social media even came about. Yet you chose to start creating content and gained this online following when you already had an established musical career. Why did you embrace it?
Jordan: When I was in my later teens, after I'd been to Juilliard for many years, I made a big shift. Much to my professor’s dismay, I strayed from my strictly classical training and started to turn on rock music, progressive rock music, amazing keyboard players, interesting synthesizers, the MOG synthesizer. And because I allowed an entirely new genre to influence my musical upbringing, my whole perspective changed.
So as technology develops, I try to remain open to it. It kind of fuels my imagination, and it helps me keep on growing and sharing. That’s why I’m very interested in the iOS app space, and I create posts with Videoleap or my GeoShred app. I’m so glad, when I look back, that I made the choice to embrace new technologies because I was able to open up to things that have allowed me to be a larger creative source for others.
Tell us more about how you’re combining these passions with your company Wizdom Music.
Jordan: So the Wizdom Music thing came because I had this kind of creative idea and I found a way, kind of a means to express myself in this platform of releasing apps like MorphWiz, SampleWiz, and SampleWiz 2. And MorphWiz actually won the Billboard Best Music App Award that year. It was before any of the big companies were even in that space. It was perfect, you know, it's kind of like GarageBand where anybody can put it together and then release it. It was so organic. I wanted to offer people something that made it easier for more people to make music.
The technological advancements you’ve made in these apps have made music so accessible and inclusive. What would you say to the purists, who might say that making music through an app isn’t really making music?
Jordan: You know what? I have very little patience for that notion. Because I think there's so much joy in creating tools that allow people to make music. Are they gonna be the next musical prodigy? Well, probably not. But it's going to open up a whole other joy for people to not only be listeners of music, but to also be making music. So I'm not afraid of things like that. I'm not afraid of technology replacing real music. I don't even buy into that. I'm like, “Give people tools to allow them to do something beautiful.” And then, whatever advancements come, that's all positive to me.
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