I recently spoke with Toronto-based artist and producer, Jonny Brown, about his new single titled “Minding My Business”. He spoke to us about how he creates impressive beats from his home studio, mixing childhood theme songs into cold, nostalgia-driven bangers, and his passions for performing live.

Who or what inspired you to make “Minding My Business”?

Johnny Brown: As everyone sees now online, [on] social media, somebody will post something really wholesome or honest. And there's always people that feel the need to give their opinion in a negative way. I find it really strange. I just don't really understand why you would want to be proactive and go out of your way to put energy into doing something like that [when] you can just keep scrolling. My whole theory about it is, I'm minding my business. I think you should too. I don't care what people are doing or who they're with. I just keep scrolling. I don't need to give my opinion on everything in life, and I don't think anybody needs to unless there's harm being done, then you step in. Other than that, shut the hell up.

Valid. I'm loving the Homer-into-bushes cover. It's got your iconic hat and glasses look that we've all grown to appreciate.

Could you describe your current sound in three words?

Catchy. Honest. Thoughtful.

What was your first introduction to trap music and how has it influenced your work today?

I started listening to trap music in high school, early Gucci Mane, Lil Wayne “Mixtape” era. I was not really for it at first because I like old school hip hop, [I’m a] big sample guy. But something about trap music became a huge part of basketball culture and I was playing a lot of basketball so I used to listen to a lot of those two artists. Diving into the Atlanta scene when it really took over, I ended up loving it. I didn't make trap music until around 2015, 2014 maybe. I started producing my own stuff, and I was mostly doing old Kanye style sample, heavy stuff. I was trying to spit bars a lot, and I didn't realize that I'm more of a create-a-vibe type of artist.

So once I learned how to make trap beats, I met a friend of mine, Trey Timeless, who’s produced a lot of my music. And once I realized he could make trap beats, I was like, “oh, I can make hits, let's make some hits”. So that's how it all started. I'd say in my 2014 mixtape. “For Your Love to Hate”, there's a display of that.

How has the way you define your music changed from the last song that you released?

It's been two years since I released a song. I made this song maybe a couple of months after that, and I’ve been sitting on it for a really long time. My sound is changing away from trap into more alternative stuff. So this song is kind of the first part of that change.

I just really felt like I had something to say. But the difference from this one is that I sat on the song for two years and really made it the best that I could, and it was almost inevitable. I actually didn't want to release it.

What changed your mind?

I don't show a lot of people my music, and I really should while I'm making it. And everyone's reaction was really what did it for me. I listened to the song over and over again, I made it, made the beat, mixed it. It takes forever. And then I show someone. At this point I'm thinking “this is trash”. And they'll say, “Wow, this is amazing. This should be on the radio”. I say, damn. Why can't I feel that for myself immediately? It was mostly friends and family that pushed me to move forward with it.

Sounds like you have a really good support system.

Definitely. This whole comeback has been so supportive. It's been so nice. It brings me to tears at times.

I want to throw it back, way back now. How has the way you make music changed since your first album?

I really learned how to record myself and how to make good beats. I spent so much time going the audio engineering route as an artist. I've seen people say, not to do that and say “just get someone else to do it”. But I didn't do that. I started because I felt a lot of people were unreliable and I felt like my personality and my sound was too weird for the average person to connect to. I'd rather build something from the ground up.

A lot of my favorite artists make their own beats and record themselves. I wasn't really doing that well back then. And now I really feel that my approach to music is very topical and honest, and I can do it all from scratch, in my bedroom or with one or two friends at a studio.

SPARKY: Could you tell me about some of those artists that you mentioned, who inspired you to record from home?

Old Kanye is my number one artist of all time. I mean, he's changed a lot and it's unfortunate. Personally, I think his music isn't as good as it used to be. Kanye, J. Cole, Eminem, Travis Scott. These artists produced themselves. They're so influential in the entire sound that I feel that's where I sit best. In just doing vocals on a track, I don't feel I really connect as much as putting my hands into the vibe.

Tell me about your typical creation process of an original song from idea to recording.

On my Notes app, there's 500 f*cking notes. There's so many notes. And just everyday life, the best way to get inspiration is to just live. I'll constantly be pulling up my phone while a concept comes up or something that's happening. And I'll just put that as a title and usually leave it blank, unless I have some immediate lines I'm thinking of. And then when I'm sitting down and making a beat I’d say “I actually want to hop on this one. I don't want to sell this one”. I would look through my phone at all the concepts that I already have, and start from there and then get into what I want to say about it.

And I saw someone- he's this YouTuber that breaks down music- he explained that the beauty of music is you take this massive concept and then you try and boil it down to this three and a half minute piece of art and you strip it and boil it down to this thing and the audience takes this little thing and expands it back into the original full idea that would take hours to explain.

But you can get it all done within three and a half minutes and have everyone know the full story. That's what, in my opinion, good songwriting is. I'll take that concept that's huge, that's too big for me to explain and write it all down. I have it with one word or one title and then boil it down to a small thing so that the audience can expand and have their own interpretation of it, hopefully understanding what I mean.

I saw that you recently performed at Dream More Studios, and that was your first time on stage in three years. How were you feeling about stepping up there after that break, and how did you prepare yourself?

I was so nervous. I forgot that performing is actually my favorite part. You spend all this time making the beats, mixing it, doing the artwork and then releasing the music - but the truest part is being there in front of people and connecting with them on so many levels. It's its own thing, the art of performing. I forgot that that was my favorite part, and what I think I'm best at.

Getting up there, I was so nervous. Usually, I'm nervous five minutes before going on, but I was nervous for a week before. So that was tough. I was pretty scared because it's just been so long. But it ended up being like riding a bike.

I always said this, as soon as they call your name and they give you the mic, something else takes over you. It's now or nothing. It's almost like my persona changes because typically I'm a very soft spoken, chill guy. But I get on stage and I let everything out. I love to jump around and get all around and get people going. That was a really really powerful moment for me.

I came off stage and I got so much love. I could see as I was performing, people back against the wall and they're leaning and head bobbing. And then I got to reel them in. When you're performing and it's not just about doing the song well, you’ve got to look at people and engage them. I could see people starting to get engaged and you pulled them in with some attention. And when I got off, I was almost in tears. I felt the overwhelming feeling that this part has been missing from my life for three years.

Sounds very special.

It was. It was such a big moment.

I am also a big fan of the videos you make when you turn theme songs into trap beats. Who or what gave you the original idea to make such stank face worthy music?

That's awesome. Thank you. I love films. I took this course in university. It was music and film. I took it just because I went there for psychology. I only started making music when I got to university, so I didn't know that I should have gone the music route. This is my fourth year now. I'm already making music. I've released some mixtapes and I need some music classes. I took this film class, it was about score and popular songs that movies made popular. And I just fell in love with soundtracks. And you know when you're a kid, Disney, the soundtracks they’re the best. They try their best to make sure that those songs are memorable.

I watched Psycho from 1960. And there's the iconic shower scene where the woman gets killed in the shower. And the score behind it is so grueling -those high pitch strings. And I was watching it and I was like, I have to sample that. And I wrote down on my phone, literally two years later, I found it, cut it up and then made the video and it just got so much love that I said “oh, this is fun” because I love film. Maybe there's something to this. I love being nerdy with movies. I could make it fun slash funny.

The stank face thing, I make that face a lot in life. I did it a few times and people seem to really like it.

I see that you do a lot of producing out of your home studio, what can you say to those who are hesitating to mix on their own?

Start now. Whatever it is, especially when it comes to production, use whatever you have and start as soon as possible. Even just a little bit, if it sounds terrible- that’s part of it. Ask for help. That’s something that I didn’t do enough of. Just make sure that you do it right now. Don’t say “I need this piece first” or “I need to get a new whatever”, there’s DAW’s that are through the internet- online- you don’t even have to download anything. I think BandLab is like that- it’s completely free. Just get started, figure out a process for yourself and how to mix things together. Sound selection is so important. There’s no excuse because it’s free.

My personal fave from you is definitely the Bippity-Bobbity-Boo from Cinderella mix. My phone may have felt a little toastier after that one.

[laughs]

Now, for the people who don't know what you've been up to concerning higher education. What made you want to pursue a music business degree after having graduated from Carleton University?

I worked a couple of jobs. One of them was being a driver for FedEx. This is through COVID. Then I left that and I went to the sales side for DHL, so same industry. This one's nine to five. I'm calling people every day, trying to get them to ship. It was so boring. I was pretty good at it, but I was so miserable. I never really thought about business at all until that. I worked at Bell Media before that, the promotions team, and more interactive things. But this one, it was just: hit these numbers, blah, blah, blah. I never liked that about life, but I was good at this.

I was thinking, if I am willing to work nine to five at this thing I don't care about at all, why not go back to school and do the same thing in a music environment? And if you do have to land at a desk working nine to five, why not be at a record label or a management company or something that I at least care about in here [points to heart] and not just for the money?

Who cares about shipping? It's literally so boring.

Have you found yourself applying what you've learned in your current career?

One of the biggest things that I realized through the program was that I was doing everything wrong. I do too much. I need to start delegating jobs, but once the success comes, that'll be easier to do. I've been doing so much on my own, booking shows and all this crap that I realized that I was doing so much of it wrong where I got screwed over a bunch in the process.

In what way?

Pay-to-play type of shows where you can only do the show if you sell this many tickets. That type of shit happened a lot. I did maybe 25, 30 shows when I was in Ottawa, and most of them were like that. I remember asking one of our profs that question and he said “you should never do that”. I said “Oh, okay, cool”. I’m managing myself with this release, just trying to make sure everything's in order and hitting every avenue in a timely manner. The program really showed me the right way to do that.

How has your experience been managing yourself?

I'd like some help. That'd be tight. I feel that it's on the way, but the manager thing is tough because you want someone that really believes in you. Someone you can trust. I've trusted some people in the past and it didn't work out. I think that this single is going to spark something. I smelled blood when I was on stage, so I'm ready to attack some more shows.

Where would be your dream stage to perform?

Budweiser.

Take me through that choice.

My original one is TD Place in Ottawa because when I was coming up, that's where when I was working for Bell Media with TSM, I would do a lot of hockey games and Red Blacks games there. They have an indoor stage. It's a real venue and it holds, I don't know, maybe 1,500 people. I was thinking, I'm going to do this one day. But now that I'm here [in Toronto], my equivalent to that is Budweiser, which is much better. It's outside. It's such a nice venue. The sound is so good and the tickets aren't too expensive for people that want to be on the lawn.

I've seen some great artists there. I saw Kehlani there last year and she knocked it out of the park. I'm just thinking, “I want this so bad”. Obviously, Scotiabank or the Rogers Center. I don't think that's the best sound, personally. But shoot for the stars, hopefully. You know where they say shoot for the stars hopefully you land on a cloud? I hope something like that happens.

What can we expect as fans of Jonny Brown to see from you in the next couple of months? Plug in all events and places where you can witness your magic. Don't be shy, Mr. Manager.

I'm hoping to release something every two months from now on. I have so many songs I've been making over these two years that haven't been released.

You're not holding out on us are you?

See, that's the problem. This is the beginning of that. I've been working on an album for four years that's almost finished, and I'm going to release that next year. And we'll definitely do this again for that. I'm hoping to just perform a lot, get my name around the city. I'm going to put on a show of my own, and bring in some artists that I really appreciate. One being our classmate, Malone the Chemist.

Shout out, a fellow SPARKY star!

He's awesome. That's going to be the one where I want to really call in my IOUs and get everyone to come through. And through this course, we learn how to put a show together. I'm really excited to do that. And I'm aiming for November. Check my socials. You're going to see a lot more remixes of movie themes and nerdy, anime songs that I love and grew up with. I'm a big Dragon Ball Z fan so I got one coming up about that.

Check my Spotify Apple Music for the tracks that are coming out every two months and I'll see everyone at the show in November.

I can't wait. It's going to be so special. Thank you for your time. And I can't wait to see you continue to flourish in your element.

Thank you.

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Written By Kimberly Moon-Chong

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