Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Maddox.
Hi Kevin, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve been playing music for as long as I can remember. My parents made it a big part of how my siblings and I grew up and made sure we were mentored early by some incredible teachers, including the legendary multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan along with Ed Maina, Brian Wolfe, Simon Salz, Richard Procopio, Vicki De Lys Hyde, Chuck Bergeron, Brev Sullivan, Willie Stewart, and many others who gave us a strong foundation. We all went on to study music performance at the University of North Florida under amazing artists like Lynne Arriale, Barry Greene, Danny Gottlieb, and Dennis Marks.
After college, my siblings and I started gigging around South Florida. We’d trade these hilarious stories and inside jokes from our gigs. At the exact same time, technology had just reached the point where making memes on your phones was possible without photoshop skills. My brother and I began sharing these memes on social media as Jazz Memes. Over ten years later, it’s grown into one of the largest online communities of musicians in the world, with over 700k followers across all of our platforms. We’ve worked with many of the greatest musicians of all-time including George Benson, Christian McBride, Joey DeFrancesco, ELEW, Thundercat, Wynton Marsalis, and many more. It has grown so much that my brother has now expanded into music education and runs his own jazz guitar school, Chase’s Guitar Academy.
Music has always been an integral part of our family. These days you can catch me performing with my siblings as our band, Madd Jazz, where we put fresh spins on jazz and pop classics. I also teamed up with the amazing cellist Stephanie Jaimes, and we perform as Strings Attached, a high-energy cello-and-piano duo that blends rock, jazz, pop, and classical music into a unique experience.
I’m currently working with my best friend and production partner, Jared Dylan, under the moniker, “Dos Leches”, to write and produce an album for worldwide phenomenon, Daniel René. Daniel is not only one of the greatest perfumers in the world, but he has an insane career in music as a performer. It has been a joy to work with him and we are creating the first music album in history that’s completely integrated with perfume. The first track we wrote and produced, Ambroxan, is already out on all streaming platforms, but every track we’ve crafted is so different. Im excited for the world to hear what we’ve come up with.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely hasn’t been a straight line, but I have been given so many gifts that any moment of struggle was just part of the journey. The biggest thing early on was figuring out how to turn passion into a real career. Freelancing has wild periods of work and then absolute silence. I had to figure out how to book my own gigs, manage the business I was creating, and see beyond the daily grind. Building Jazz Memes with my brother to an actual community took years of consistent posting with zero guarantee anyone would care. In fact, everyone said it was a waste of time. There were plenty of moments of stress, especially when I was juggling performing, teaching, content, and now production all at once. The key has been to never stop.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Here are the favorite things I’m a part of:
Jazz Memes – https://www.instagram.com/jazzmemes_/?hl=en
Ambroxan by Daniel René – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqk0qJ6ibuQ
Herbie’s Tune by Strings Attached – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tKcPHMixjQ
Chase’s Guitar Academy – https://www.chasesguitaracademy.com
Chase Maddox on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@ChaseMaddox
What matters most to you? Why?
Family, Humor, and Music. To do what I love, with the people that I love, and have fun doing it. What else is there?
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jazzmemes.myshopify.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jazzmemes_/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jazzmemesofficial/
- Twitter: https://x.com/JazzMemes
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chaseMaddox
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqk0qJ6ibuQ
