Meet Jonathan Moon | Music Producer | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jonathan Moon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jonathan, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I feel that risk-taking is endemic to every facet of our lives; that security and stability are largely illusions, and that the artist is the one who has seen this enough times to internalize and synthesize it into a lyrical mirror for mass reflection. Comfort is akin to death.

If I didn’t live every day knowing I might lose everything tomorrow, I would be trying to fill that void of urgency with something like chasing vice. The trick is risk calculus…

Every time an artist releases any work, they’re taking a risk that it won’t get received well, or that it won’t be received at all. It takes a certain kind of bravery and vulnerability to gambit something you have made a deep connection with into the world; most lyrics are so sentimental….

Artists that have any tenure risk being maligned or cancelled or losing their fans every time they try to change directions or experiment and diverge from their formulaic success. The ones I venerate most manage to rejuvenate themselves and grow via reinvention….

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ll be releasing my first fully self-produced single in May under my current moniker after writing, performing, and engineering the entire thing. My style has mostly consisted of master-minding whole projects alone in my room, and “Blank Spaces” is a kind of cathartic culmination of that flow.

I’ve had to be a bit of a pirate to keep myself afloat in life and I think the eclectic, unpolished timbre of my music and photography reflects that. I was raised on a myriad of sonic influences from my musical parents, so I tend to get bored easily. I’ll listen to anything but what really keeps me coming back to certain artists is their originality.

I crave life in music; dynamics, jest and dancing, and that translates best when someone is being their authentic selves. I’m compelled to make something truly unique, and to try to progress the familial.. To make something NEW, otherwise there’s no point to me.. I try to listen to as much as I can and immerse myself in the world’s dream so that I can understand and contribute my own idiosyncrasies…

I gravitate mostly towards acoustic elements but my grace lies in antiquity’s reconciliation with synthetic sounds. I like to try to project all those old 60’s analog sounds onto a Radioheady digital milieu…. I adore the generational sonic juxtapositions our era accommodates..

I believe in late bloomers.. That we’re all on our own journeys and get where we’re meant to in our own time and way. Getting to this point has been a series of blessings and curses and nothing is ever easy, but no one is ever going to hand success to you. You have to snatch it. The mind killer is self-victimhood.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Tacos. The itinerary would be full of tacos. Grease stains all over it. Beautiful, cheap, Los Angeleno street food dripping all over that flimsy little plan – the central core around which an LA/LB tour would centrifuge..

You want to go The Last Bookstore? Or a thrift crawl? Porto’s bakery before Silverlake Ramen? Let’s get lost on the metro.. End up at Griffith Observatory and hike for a few hours..

I’m indelibly tied to the ocean, as long as I get to see it once a day or at least smell the sea breeze I’m content whatever we do. Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Venice, Huntington Beach.. I need sun and sea spray.. One of the dearest places to my heart is Bluff Park in Long Beach.. I take everyone there, it’s so easy to lounge for days overlooking the coast.. Wander to Bixby Park and get some coffee..

To be honest, I could do just about anything with the right people (;
I prefer thoughtful dialogue over plot any day..

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My family for their unconditional support, especially my parents for providing a foundation for my growth and moral compass.

I’d like to thank my partner for being my inspiration, my muse, and my champion. She helps me more than she knows.

To Sarah Rosenkrantz for blazing trails and inviting me on the safari.

To everyone I’ve ever been less than a gentleman to for their karmic patience as we heal collectively.

To all the artists who’ve made me feel sane in a mad world.

Website: https://jonathanmoonphotography.pic-time.com/portfolio

Instagram: @jonathanmoon.music and @jonathanmoon.photo

Image Credits
Rachel Rose Chandler Jowell Dusana Risovic, Tess Cagle