Today we’d like to introduce you to Juan Pena.
Hi Juan, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
How it started was me looking for an opportunity to better myself somewhere and my friend that was working out of circle house studios told me about an internship at record room studios which is now called Redlight Studios, owned by Cool and Dre. Interning at record room studios was a blessing for me because I was determined to do whatever it took for me to excel in the music industry. If it meant doing what most people don’t like doing then I was determined to be the best at that and all do it with a smile. Working out of record room studios, I worked with a lot of the biggest artists in the music industry. I started off working with Fat Joe. I was his engineer before he got locked up for tax invasion and then me & Dre started working heavily together in the studio after that. After two years of internship, my hard work and dedication paid off cause from record room studios, I ended up working with Dj Khaled. Now the way its being explained might sound like it was peaches and cream but there was a lot of sacrificing that took place, a lot not going out with my friends, a lot of not enjoying myself like how I would have done all so that I can get to where I see myself getting to in the future. Mind you with everything I have accomplished, I feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface yet.
Alright, 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?
Has it been a smooth road? Thats what people want to believe or think. While I was interning, I was dealing with legal issues from the past. Also when you’re an intern, it may sound like fun but it’s really not cause your doing things a lot of people wouldn’t do. You are cleaning bathrooms, washing dishes, picking up after someone else, first one to get there, last one to leave, running errands, etc… You are basically there for whatever they need you for, testing you to see if you got what it takes to be in the major league. A lot of people don’t understand the importance of an internship, internship is where character is built. When dealing with a list of celebrities, they got to where they got to off of hard work; they don’t want to hear excuses on why you can’t do this or why you can’t do that. It’s simply the job needs to get done no way around it. On top of dealing with everything, mention your also dealing with not getting paid as well. So is it something most people wouldn’t jump for 9 times out of 10, but the reward if you can pull through is amazing.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Well I started out as a music artist when I was 16 years old. It was hard for me to find a good engineer/producer to work with because everyone I worked with that was an engineer or producer wouldn’t take their job serious and that was a problem for me. Reason why being because whatever I do, I make sure I give it my all. So I decided to learn it all myself and went to SAE Institute of Miami to learn how to engineer & produce and graduated top 5 in my class. From there, I started engineering a bunch of local artists from the area and grew from there. I learned how to work well with others because music is all about knowing how to collaborate well with others. Thats how the best music comes out when you learn how to work well with other engineers and producers. What I’m most proud of is that when I work with people, they are happy with the end result. I seen my growth from where I started to where I am now and it’s a blessing to know that what I love the most which is making music notable people like Dj Khaled and others, trust me enough to work with them. What sets me apart from everyone else is that I’m not everyone else. I’m so determined to achieve the goals I have set out for myself I’m seeing myself accomplish them as I go. When I set my mind on something, there’s nothing that can stop me but God. He’s the only one. He makes the final decision and so far He has green light on everything I’ve done so far career-wise.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
I don’t have a lot of favorite childhood memories; I grew up in the struggle. I was born in St. Luke’s all-women hospital in Manhattan. Lived in the Bronx until I was about 7 or 8. Then moved to Union City, New Jersey and lived out there till I was 15 years old. From there, I migrated to Miami, FL in pursue of a better living. One thing I could say I would never forget is the 90’s era. Musically that was the best era of music and it’s the era where I fell in love with music.
Contact Info:
- Email: wizebehindtheboards@gmail.com
- Website: www.ayoojuan.com
- Instagram: @ayoojuan
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamayojuan/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ayojuan_?lang=en
Image Credits
Image credit Ivan Berrios, Kenny Guzman, & @ThaKidShadow on IG
