Today we’d like to introduce you to Logan Jean.
Hi Logan, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn in the ’90s, a neighborhood that’s heavily rooted in Caribbean culture and black pride. I would say I grew up within a good household, both parents were there, and we had love.
Since a child, I’ve always loved music; my dad was a DJ. He would always play music off of his Technics 2000 turntables in our living room Saturday mornings, particularly House Music and Hip Hop. Every Summer he would hold some type of backyard function and I could just remember everyone just dancing in sync, I didn’t fully understand why everyone was in a trance at the time, but I knew they were having a good time. So, you can say my dad had a big influence on my musical ears.
I fell in love with Hip Hop when my brother introduced me to Wu-Tang, anything my brother did I followed. Whether it be BMX bikes, rollerblading, graffiti, dancing, it was just a fun and adventurous childhood in NYC to say the least. Most of my love from music comes from my family and surroundings.
In 2009 I started an online publication called Jungle Gym Magazine with my business partner Zo after taking a trip to Miami for Spring Break. This was at the time blogging peaked, and Twitter didn’t have the option to upload profile photos yet. Fast forward to 2013, after making an impact in media, I start to manage a DJ/producer. Fast forward to 2017, I finished classes at the Institute Of Audio Research, and I create Play That Back as a party in Brooklyn with my knowledge and experience from being in media and entertainment management.
Without boring you with every little detail to my life, I stand here today with the same drive and love for music and exposing ears to it. The only thing that has changed is the address; I’m officially a North Miami resident.
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?
Life is full of ups and downs, and I have definitely been down more times than I’ve been up. The music industry is an ever-changing landscape, if you pay attention, you’ll see that music changes with technology. Music and tech go hand in hand, they dictate how we communicate and consume in society. I’ve always kept jobs since I was 13, I’ve had a career in customer service, I feel I have a natural talent for interacting with people and resolving their issues.
My path hasn’t always been clear; when I was younger, I didn’t have much examples of success around me, not a lot of examples of what I could become or do within music. I always knew I had to finish school to make my family proud, but I didn’t really have an interest in it. I’ve always done what I felt was right in my heart. On this path, I have lost jobs, homes, and relationships.
2018 was a breakout year for me in business, I was working full-time for Bose and throwing Play That Back parties as a resident at a venue called Kinfolk in Brooklyn (which no longer exists), my parties were starting to draw in more people, and by 2019 I was earning a salary equal to my full-time job. It was a really self-assuring time, and things were looking bright until the Pandemic took the world by storm.
I’ve had to start over since then, I moved to Florida and had to start from the ground up again in a new place.
We’ve been impressed with Play That Back FM, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
In 2017 I started Play That Back as a party in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, out of the need to produce better nightlife events for my city. I hated going out on weekends and being dissatisfied with the DJs and the atmosphere. I’m a full-time worker, and my time is valuable, I hated going to an event and feeling like I wasted my time. So, I took it upon myself to produce the best events with a sole focus on music that makes you dance.
Today Play That Back is now Play That Back FM, a music discovery platform for new music and emerging artists. We specialize in digital marketing and entertainment, we’re most known for putting on events in NYC, but we’re growing and becoming a platform where creativity thrives. We’re telling the stories of creatives and becoming the place where you know you can go to for good music, the party destination for guaranteed vibes.
I’m most proud of creating a blueprint for others to follow; although people may not acknowledge it, we were the first to really bring a Caribbean/FBA crowd to Williamsburg, BK. We started the trend of video flyers, having festival-style DJ line-ups for parties, and we were early to start incorporating crowd responses/interviews from our parties into our social media.
As a company, Play That Back offers up event planning services, artist consulting, and project management. So far, we have worked with brands like Captain Morgan, Via, Old Blue Last, Dumbo House (SoHo House Brooklyn), and W Hotel to name a few.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I wanna definitely big up my mom for allowing me the freedom to pursue whatever dream I want to pursue without criticism. She has always been supportive of whatever I’m doing as long as I’m happy doing it.
My friends help me out too; they definitely have encouraged me and have lended helping hands when I needed them the most. I have a tight circle of friends; they know who they are.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.playthatbackfm.com/
- Instagram: @thankulogan
- Twitter: @thankulogan
- Youtube: @thankulogan
Image Credits
@WayUpTheBlock
