Meet SYNJ | Songwriter, Musician, and Artist

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

Hi SYNJ, what’s your definition for success?
I would say that success to me means achieving something that you’ve been working hard and trying to do, even just small personal goals. To me, success isn’t defined by popularity or wealth, although it can be included, but success itself is fulfilling that lifelong dream or reaching a goal that you have been working towards, and right now I’m in the middle of making that happen for myself with my music.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My art is a literal translation of my thoughts into music. A lot of times I will write lyrics for a song or just improvise something, and I’ll keep it. I’ll sometimes revise things to see what works best in the phrasing of the music or with the rest of the song, but usually I try to keep everything as close to what it originally was and what I was originally thinking because it’s also therapeutic to me. Personally, I’m not huge on posting on social media, and I like to keep a lot of my life private. However, I’m super excited to be working on my debut EP which I feel is very representative of my life and some of the experiences that I’ve kept away from social media. These songs started as simple little voice memos that I would send to Avo just messing around, but have now started to develop into full thoughts that I can’t wait to share. Professionally, I’m still starting out. I’ve been lucky to have a lot of opportunities in college with a cappella, such as performing in Carnegie Hall and being on an episode of CollegeHumor’s Game Changer, but I’m still working through a lot to get where I want to be. Obviously it’s tough to make it in the music industry, and if you’re an independent artist like myself, it’s expensive and difficult to fully produce and create an album or single. There are so many talented artists and musicians, so something I’ve been doing a lot of is reaching out and networking. I’ve met some really incredible people that I really want to work and collaborate with, so I’m just excited for what the future has in store. It can be hard to find honest and trustworthy people in this industry sometimes, because a lot of people are just in it for the clout and money, but it’s important to me to be authentic to myself and the experiences that have shaped who I am as an artist.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Orange County might not have as much going on as LA, but there are still some fun places and good eats to visit. Plus my boyfriend and I love food, so most of these are food-related. Sol Mexican Cocina in Newport Beach is my favorite happy hour to visit, especially on Taco Tuesday, so I’d definitely get some tacos and margaritas from there, and maybe rent a Duffy boat out with some friends. Ramen is definitely a must, and there are a bunch of great places around, although one of my favorites would have to be Butaton in Orange. Throughout college I became a regular at Don Jefe Jalapeños Grill (also in Orange), who has some of the best al pastor tacos in my opinion, so that would definitely be a stop. Disneyland is a huge tourist attraction (and let’s be real, it’s a bit too expensive for a broke musician’s budget), but Downtown Disney is fun to walk around and the beignets at Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen have my heart.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Avo, who is my best friend and favorite person to collaborate with. She has definitely helped me immensely in realizing my potential and having faith in myself to do the things I’ve done, to write the music I’m writing, and to even continue to pursue music as a career. Thanks to her, I have been given so many opportunities both with our group, Aperture, as well as just myself to gain more experience and improve in my talents and abilities both musically and technically.

Instagram: @synjmusic

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydneynjarvis/

Twitter: @synjmusic

Image Credits
Steven Lee, Rachel Chalhoub, Reed Byrd