Jay Warren – Give Love

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) How would you describe your sound?

A) Bouncy, feel good, a bit funky.

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

A) Michael Jackson, Kanye West, Frank Ocean, John Legend.

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Take It Higher.”

A) I started writing this one a few months before the other, but I didn’t finish it until a few months after I started it. I wrote the first verse and didn’t actually know who or what I was writing about. It wasn’t until a few months later when I met someone at a wedding that I wrote the rest of the song based on her story.

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

A) I think it’s the feeling. It’s just such a feel good. It makes you want to move and dance.

Q) How does the video for the track play into the message behind it?

A) I’m super big on letting creatives do what they do best. So, for the video I turned the project completely over to Myles Ozo and Tristan Gray. Myles is a videographer and director and Tristan is a choreographer and dancer. I knew I wanted a dance music video, but I told them to just make it their own. Do whatever the music calls for. It ended up being a story about this guy waiting to take out a girl, but not getting the chance to. I loved their interpretation.

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?

A) It differs, really. Sometimes I’ll start at the piano messing around with chords, sometimes I have melody in my head that I like and other times a producer will send something that I write too. There really isn’t one set way for me.

Q) How much of hand do you have in the production of your music?

A) I learned early on to step back from production. I’m confident in my writing and one of my strengths is knowing when to let other people take over creatively. Nate Waite executive produced this album as well as the single, “Take It Higher.” He’s brilliant. I gave them the song and the feel and he took it to the moon and back.

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?

A) Anywhere that has people. I love colleges because they’re always so fun. Parties are great too!

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future? I’d love to get

A) Kanye to produce a record. Musically, I think the man is a genius.

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them? 

A) I’m always listening to Channel Orange by Frank Ocean. Do I even have to give an explanation? It’s a genius album.

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

A) I have a love/hate relationship with social media. Naturally, I don’t love posting all the time and staying on my stories and whatnot. I enjoy the occasional pic or video to document the good times, but I don’t love the daily work of it all. Sometimes it seems a bit much. That being said there’s no better way to engage with listeners. It’s a balance I’m always trying to figure out to be honest.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) THANK YOU! Because of you guys this album will be first R&B album out of Utah to go #1 on the iTunes R&B album chart. I’m absolutely buzzing about that. I couldn’t say thank you enough.