Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasmine Valdes.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
It’s hard to pinpoint a start, it all just feels like I woke up one day and figured out what steps made sense and what didn’t and where I needed to go. Don’t get me wrong I spent most of my life dabbling around music, instruments and musical settings knowing that music fit just not in what context exactly.
I would say as far as being a stable musician, the “start” wasn’t until I graduated high school and decided to study music business, working in the entertainment industry and working on my own original music. That’s when I felt like I finally found my direction, everything just started clicking. I knew that I was in the right industry and I knew that I wanted to release my own music and that’s been its own journey.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
On one hand, I wish I could say it’s been smooth but on the other hand, I’m glad it hasn’t been. My uncle always says “If it was easy, it would be boring” and I believe that wholeheartedly. The rough parts are what make the journey so meaningful and worth everything.
I also remember so many moments where I would tell people I was a musician or pursuing a career in music and their instant reactions were “how are you going to survive? That’s not a stable career you should have a plan B” and I would sit back and freakout because there is a bit of truth to some of those things but I know who I am and how determined I can be when I love what I do and that’s enough to reassure me that this path is exactly where I need to be and I’m capable to getting to exactly where I want to be.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I’m a singer-songwriter and a music industry enthusiast. To make a long story short, I started out by playing multiple instruments for a few years growing up and then I took a break to work in the events side of Miami’s music industry and event planning, later working in radio also doing more events and social media. I got back into songwriting and instruments somewhere in-between those jobs and haven’t stopped writing since.
I think I’m most known for being a concert and music event junkie, going to north of 60 shows a year. But on the other end, many people know me by my music taste and its’ mellow, sad, vulnerable features.
I’m most proud of where I am in my songwriting career. It took me a really long time to confidently say that I was a singer-songwriter and a full-time musician. I was so shy and so embarrassed to tell people that I did music because of what I mentioned in the previous question, but now I don’t hesitate when people ask me and I can confidently post my music online and be happy.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Honestly, one of my proudest moments was almost a year ago. It was the moment I started taking my songwriting seriously and wanted to better my craft. So I searched for songwriting retreats and I found one in northern New York hosted by Judy Stakee. It was a week-long in the middle of a mountain, and I submitted a random song, got into the retreat, bought a flight, booked a bus and suddenly was there. Alone, 18 and living with 13 strangers, wiring songs and doing yoga.
Sitting in those rooms with such beautiful and talented people, co-writing alongside them really made me reflect and see what I was capable of and I was and still am so happy that I took that risk and proud of myself for all the breakthroughs I had during that week.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 786-257-8207
- Email: Jasminei.valdes@gmail.com
- Instagram: @Jasmine_Valdes_
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