Today we’d like to introduce you to Caleb Jerome Morales
Hi Caleb, 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?
My name is Caleb Jerome Morales, and I am a recording artist, session musician, and sync writer based in South Florida. I release a new song every two weeks, spanning a wide variety of genres fused into my unique brand of pop music.
While music has been the central fixture in my life from four years old, I have experienced a significant level-up over the past year.
For years, I viewed myself as an overqualified amateur: too experienced and skilled to be a hobbyist, yet disengaged from a life as a professional musician. While I had played in bands from age 14, I was hesitant to take the leap, fearing that monetizing my skills would drain the fun from playing music.
However, as I have aged, I have learned that life is not so black and white. Capitalizing on my musical abilities can have both challenging and rewarding moments. Failing to do so in years past may have felt right at times but also came with feelings of longing and regret.
Approaching my thirtieth birthday, my calling towards a life fully engaged in music had grown too loud to ignore. So in the summer of 2023, I opened my LLC and hosted my first single release event for a guitar-centric Progressive House track called “Face to Face.” Six months later, I finished writing a thirteen track album that I thought would be my first album as a dedicated recording artist.
To my surprise, a fateful Google search for a Latin horn sample to complete the album’s intro would change my trajectory forever.
The sample I deemed perfect was from a track called “Funk Heaven” on a site called Free Music Archive (FMA) by a producer from London named Ketsa. Curious about Ketsa’s work, I explored his music more. Sure enough, Ketsa’s portfolio was nothing short of prolific. He had over 1,500 instrumentals on FMA, a site dedicated to matching producers with opportunities to place their music in TV, ads, film, and more.
Enamored with “his sound,” I reached out to Ketsa asking to license some of his tracks to “topline,” or write lyrical songs over his instrumentals. Thus began a fruitful, collaborative relationship. Since then, I have written on nearly forty of Ketsa’s beats, writing two and half albums and several tracks ready for placement on TV shows.
The first of those albums, “Fast Casual,” will be released on my thirty-first birthday, December 17th, although I have been releasing each track from the record every two weeks since May.
Ketsa has been a critical mentor and the single most important catalyst to my upward musical trajectory. He made the process of completing tracks more cost-effective and efficient than I could ever imagine while guiding me on an alternative path towards monetizing my musical skills outside of the conventional music industry.
While recording and mastering – the processes required to complete “radio-ready” tracks – is as low as I could hope, it is still non-zero. With this new overhead and a goal to make this business profitable within three years, I started a website partly dedicated to seeking out session work, or for-hire opportunities to play on other artists’ shows and recordings.
One day after launching my site, I got a phone call from South Florida’s top country artist, Gabriel Key, asking to substitute in for his bass player who had to drop from a gig last minute. Three hours later, I was playing country tunes, most of which I had never heard before, with The Gabriel Key Band. We have since played nine gigs together. I serve as Gabriel’s Swiss army knife, filling in on bass when needed, acoustic guitar on select duo gigs, and playing guitar and keys for full band sets. These gigs fund my recording projects and have allowed me to continue creating songs that can one day reach a devoted audience. I am incredibly grateful to Gabriel and have fallen quickly in love with his brand of country music.
Shortly after joining Gabriel, I joined the esteemed dance and funk band, Neon Nights on keys. The band holds a very special place in my heart, filling a funky gap I have had since my previous dance band, Xotic Yeyo, closed up shop in 2020.
With abundant recording and performing opportunities filling my schedule, I feel more connected to music than ever before. The road here has been bumpy, but perseverance, meditation, and manifestation have guided me to the smoothest period thus far in my beautiful musical life.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road to this point in my musical career has been twisting, turning, and quite bumpy. Deep down, I have always wished to be part of a lasting musical project that reaches a large, loving audience. However, the versatility that has afforded me with so much opportunity in the past year has also been a barrier to my own success.
While I now feel very comfortable stepping into many musical settings on several instruments, that has not always been the case. I always had a great ear for music, but every instrument one plays is a vocation that requires tens of thousands of hours and focused practice to gain mastery. In my youth, as a classical piano student, I was not the most dedicated to my studies. I had many different interests where I invested significant time, performing at the top of my class in school while playing and umpiring baseball into my teens. This split focus showed in my annual exams, where I would watch my peers play their pieces more cleanly and fluently than I could, year after year.
As I picked up the guitar in my teens, I insisted upon being self-taught, utilizing lessons on YouTube and learning the songs I liked to listen to. However, in my developmental years on the guitar, I listened mainly to pop rock and punk music, which left me quite mediocre at my instrument. Dividing my practice hours with my piano studies lowered my ceiling on both instruments.
Picking up several other instruments along the way expanded the breadth of my skill set but held me back from achieving mastery on any single instrument. My time and desire would only divide up further as I began learning to sing, to produce, and to record my music.
My trajectory has been a classic case of “jack of all trades, master of none.” I wanted to “do it all,” but a good brand is clearly defined and easy to understand. Despite my academic and professional expertise in marketing, I often struggle with how to define and position my personal brand. While I think of myself as being somewhere close to Bruno Mars as a musical figure, I wonder if I will one day be recognized as such. Perhaps I will be recognized in a way I cannot currently foresee.
I often struggle with self-doubt. I know I’m “good” at a lot of things but am in constant pursuit of “greatness.” It has taken me many years longer than others to reach certain levels of competency on each instrument I play, and I still feel that there is a long way to go before I am the singer, recording artist, producer, and songwriter I aim to be.
However, twenty-six years into my musical journey, I have begun to see the benefits of my choice not to specialize. While I may be passed over for a better guitarist, keyboard player, singer, or recording artist, I recognize that few are as flexible as I am to step into almost any role in a band or perform to any genre of music. Few can communicate musical ideas the way I can. I have found my way into bands and partnerships that appreciate the unique blend of abilities that I bring to the table, and it certainly feels like I am on a rocketship towards success that is uniquely my own.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
In the South Florida music scene, I am known as one of the most versatile musicians and artists, for releasing a new song every two weeks, and for my insatiable work ethic.
I am sought after as a keyboard player, a scarce resource in our scene, and I am called upon as a utility player – a band’s secret weapon.
Recently, I have teamed up with The Independent Music Licensing Collective and The Sync Opps to forge a career as a Sync Artist, writing songs with the specific intention of placement in film, TV, ads, and more.
My greatest source of pride is seeing the years of investment, struggle, and hard work begin to pay dividends this year. My entire music career has been self-funded and self-made, much more akin to a small business than a singular music project. I don’t have a singular focus as a session musician, sync artist, recording artist or otherwise – I follow the call of music wherever it takes me.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
First and foremost, I am always looking for opportunities to support artists on their recordings. I am a strong pianist and guitarist, a very capable bassist, and a lover of synthesizers and soundscapes. I sing, rap, write new songs every week, and am very open to co-writing. Artists consider me a one-stop shop for a plethora of sounds to enhance their recordings.
At this time, I also would love to join a rock band, particularly with a 90s-2000s sound ranging from Smashing Pumpkins to Two Door Cinema Club to Creed. While the funk and country bands I play in are deeply satisfying, my love of music was seeded by the rock music I grew up with. It would be delightful to join an established band with frequent gigs on the calendar.
To book me for such session work, I can be reached via any of the links below, and all of my contact information is on my website. To anyone who needs a versatile artist that can step comfortably into dozens of roles, I can be an artist’s secret weapon!
Beyond session work, I am an ambitious recording artist, releasing a new song every two weeks. All the session work admittedly takes away from self-promotion, so I have certainly struggled to build a consistent listener base. However, if you are a modern music listener who enjoys a wide variety of musical styles, you may be interested in checking out my music that ranges from Alternative Rock to Hip Hop to Dance to Pop, and far more. You can find my music on my site, YouTube, and all streaming platforms!
And of course, come to a show and dance! There is no greater reward for me than looking out to a happy audience fully experiencing the unique beauty of live music.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.calebjeromemorales.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calebjeromemorales/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CalebJeromeMorales
- Twitter: https://x.com/CalebJerMorales
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz58c2Q4quX48Kv6VCEDdiQ
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/caleb-morales-334761004
- Threads: https://www.threads.net/@calebjeromemorales
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4vaXZj3j7KdrQtVOuhJg2x
- LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/c.rome
