Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeremias Lawson.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jeremias. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was born in Cordoba, Argentina. Only nine months after my birth, I was traveling to Venezuela with my mother. I grew up in a big house full of people: my grandfather, grandmother, aunts, uncles, etc.
My grandfather was a doctor; a science guy all around, but my grandmother was (and still is) a multicolored artist. She was a fashion designer and a painter, she also did some sculpting and other artistic things, but her first love was singing. I grew up listening to her singing boleros.
Music was all over the place in my house, world music, Brazilian, Cuban, Mexican rancheras, rock and roll. There were musical instruments hanging from the walls; guitars, maracas, Venezuelan cuatros. There was also an organ that my grandmother used to play. And there were also books, a lot of them! everywhere..! So, the elements of a song were there since the beginning of my days: words, harmony, melody. It was just a matter of time before my curiosity got the best of me and I started exploring these tools.
I was an avid reader already, and when I was 14 years old, I asked an uncle to teach me how to play one song on guitar. It was “Knocking on heavens door” by Bob Dylan. I struggled for weeks trying to play these three chords.
My mother introduced me to the singer-songwriter music that now I’m part of and love. Singers like Joaquin Sabina, J.M. Serrat, Caetano Veloso, Ruben Blades, Juan Luis Guerra, etc., and on my own, I was discovering the music of people like Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, The Beatles, Counting Crows, Matchbox 20, Nirvana, Guns and Roses and countless others.
By age 16, I had written my first song… and at that moment, I fell in love with songwriting.
I came to Miami when I was 20 years old. I knew back then that for the type of artist I wanted to be and the records that I wanted to make, I would have to travel outside of Venezuela and exchange ideas with different cultures. My mother was already living in Miami. So, I took a plane thinking that I would be back in my country in a year or two… but then, I blinked and 20 years past flying, as they usually do.
During that time, I prepared as an artist and performer. I got to learn a lot of music from playing with different people. I took vocal classes, and I wrote a lot of songs.
One day, I met my friend James Joubran at a party. I had made an E.P. with some of my songs, but I wasn’t too happy with the result. I knew the kind of album I wanted to make: bold, ambitious, unique. James is a musician, producer, engineer, and when I told him: “let’s make the best singer-songwriter album we can make” he just simply replied: “let’s do it” and I knew I had found my partner in crime.
A short time after that, James introduced me to Guillermo Lefeld. They were working together at the legendary producer Estefano’s studio. Guillermo loved what we were doing with my album and jumped aboard to produce it as well. Today, they run their own studio called Hit Central Records, which is where my album “Océano” was created.
Océano was released on May the 30th 2019. Since then, I have been on radio stations and TV shows talking about it. A few weeks ago, I was invited to CNN en español to talk about my career and my album with Camilo Egaña.
On October the 22nd, I performed the album for the first time live. Brilliant musicians and friends joined me on stage to take the wonderful audience on a music travel through the notes of my songs… gotta say: here is no better feeling in the world than singing your songs to an engaged audience hanging on every note and word you performed with your friends on stage… well, there is also sex… but that would be a different kind of interview.
I’ll be writing songs and making music until I no longer can, and let them be the compass that help me navigate this thing we call life, this wonderful life; and if it’s filled with music… what can be better?
Has it been a smooth road?
The struggle comes from being and independent artist. Having to pay for everything yourself, with your work. Things take a long time to take shape… but I believe everything happens for a reason. So, a part of me wishes that I could have made this album a long time ago, another part of me knows that this way is better. I have the fortune of expressing my vision as I imagine it. And also, I get to choose who to share it with. Yes, there were times when I wanted to give up… but… don’t we all? The ones that make it big are the ones that stick to the project, to the vision and get up every time they feel they can’t keep going. I want to be one of them.
Tell us about your company. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
My company is my own record label. Alaire, LLC. Is the HQ where everything is ran from. I’m very proud of building it from the ground with my own work. It represents everything that I stand for.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Everybody says that the music industry is spinning out of control. That implies that people that suppose to know how to run the industry don’t really know what to do at the moment. That also means that each one of us, independent artists, get to try things our own way. Music will always be part of people’s lives, then is up to us to figure out how to provide it for them and make a decent living out of our profession… I must say I like the challenge.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2665 sw 37th av apt 904
- Website: Alaire, LLC
- Phone: 7862388179
- Email: jeremias_lawson@hotmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremiaslawson/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeremiaslawsonmusic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremiaslawson
- Other: https://www.jeremiaslawson.net/
Image Credit:
Iralyn Valera
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