Hi, everybody, and welcome to the Messenger Mic'd
Up. My name is Jennifer Smith, and I am a student
here at Johnson County Community College, and
I am thrilled to welcome you to our very first
episode of Student Stories. Joining me in the
studio today is a student musician. And we're
so excited to have him here. Friend, would you
like to introduce yourself to our listeners?
Well, hello, Jen. Thanks. Thanks for having me.
First of all, my name is Robert Freeman. I perform
under Stance and that's kind of how everybody
knows me on campus. So if you go between Robert
and Stance, I don't mind. So tell us a little
bit about you, Stance. Hmm, well, I grew up in
Olathe, so Kansas City, born and bred. I guess
a lot of people wouldn't agree with that because
it's the suburbs. Sorry, y 'all. But, you know,
graduated from Olathe North, basically went into
the Marine Corps right after high school, did
my four years and out, had one tour to Afghanistan
as an aviation supply Marine. My main duty station
was out in San Diego, MCAS Miramore. I was stationed
with the Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 11,
and we supported fixed -wing aircraft like F
-18s, and then we also had a squadron of C -130s
to support. Very, very cool. Very, very cool.
What are you studying here at JCCC? I am in the
Recording Arts Program. Big surprise! I mean,
I've been making music for a while, but I felt
like it was time to come back to school, kind
of hone my craft. you know once i'm out of here
feel a little bit more official a little bit
more confident that's a perfect segue into my
next question is what made you choose jccc and
and why here well um i mean i hope i don't like
step on other questions by saying this but after
the marine corps i was in a music program at
university of california san diego and due to
some mental health trouble i ended up dropping
out and i've taken the last few years to kind
of get my mind right And when I first came home
from California back in 2018, I actually toured
the recording arts program here at Johnson County
Community College. And it was crazy because from
what I was told, even though Mr. Moreland might
say differently, I was told at that time that
the program was only in its like second year.
You know, like the studio upstairs, third floor
OCB, that's where most of the classes went. And
then the studio first floor OCB wasn't even finished
yet. It was crazy. Like they just had that blanket
up. I don't know if you've been in there. There's
a blanket for sound dampening and you have to
close the sliding doors. The sliding doors are
pretty new. Blankets always been in there swapped
out or, you know, there was no like real definition
between the control room and the recording room.
They've come a long ways. So that definitely
brought me back. It's a really cool room. And
how cool that you, you know, you came here on
a tour, probably never thinking in a million
years that you would be a student here. So how
cool to see that come full circle for you. When
we were off the air, Stance and I were talking
about both being music students here and both
loving music and both having taken many music
composition, although we took it with different
professors. I'm in with Dr. Olvera right now.
But shout out Mr. Moreland. Yeah, Mr. Moreland,
you want to talk a little bit about? your class
with MIDI music? Yeah um because I took it in
conjunction with a couple other music classes
so MIDI music composition kind of tied it all
together so like I was in music theory as well
piano class so MIDI music composition was kind
of my practice to figure out like chord progressions
and Mr. Moreland kind of focused on like the
final product. Like, you know, you start with
one chord progression, then you got to differentiate
between another chord progression for a chorus
or a hook. So you have a verse chord progression
and you have a hook chord progression. You might
want to even throw in a bridge there. So it was
more, I mean, it's in the title of Class Midi
Music Composition, but he definitely gives you...
a very, very good foundation for how you should
arrange your compositions. There's a good emphasis
in that. Yeah, we're coming to that part of music
right now. And it's really enjoyable. Did you
guys use Pro Tools? Yes. Oh, you did. I didn't
know if you used Ableton or if you used Pro Tools.
That's what we're using as well. What would you
say your favorite class has been here at JCCC
and why? I know that's a hard one, right? That
is very hard. You can say more than one. It's
fine. No, because honestly... If Dr. Heinlein
listens to this, he might have my throat during
one of our rehearsals. But I absolutely hated
jazz band at first. Wow. Because I had no jazz
drumming experience coming into it. And Mr. Moreland
sent me down for the tryout. He said, hey, you're
a drummer, right? Doesn't matter the experience.
Go down there and try out. So I did. Dr. Heinlein
gave me the part. And I just like feeling at
least a little bit confident going into something.
I didn't really have that going into jazz. You
had to have, again. Props to Dr. Heinlein, but
don't murder me for saying this. Saying what
I've said so far, but props to Dr. Heinlein because
he is very, very patient. He is so patient. And
that's kind of what gave me the confidence to
start actually studying jazz, I guess jazz drumming.
What's the word? Genres, I guess. Because you
got Brazilian bossa, you got blues. There's a
whole bunch of different sub -genres. And I ended
up exploring that on my own outside of class.
And so now, like coming into this semester, I
think jazz is the jazz band is my favorite class.
That's amazing. Sometimes you have to be pushed
off a diving board, I think, you know, to see
if you can really swim. And it's really cool
to be surrounded by faculty and friends and other
students who see potential in you that you might
not see in yourself. Right. Right. And then you
take a chance on something you might never have
tried and then boom, you're in love with it.
So that's really wonderful that you've had that
experience here. We were also talking a little
bit. before we came into the studio, just about
how kind JCCC is and welcoming as it is of students
that are non -traditional, that might not be
18, 19, 20 years old. And so I was really heartened
to hear that you had a very similar experience
and in the music department, which is my department
as well. We have had some really great conversations
over the last four or five weeks, just getting
to know each other. And again, thank you for
being our first guest here on the show today.
So with my notes, I had that you were a veteran
and thank you for sharing that story with us.
And thank you for your service. Again, offline,
we were talking about the fact that I come from
a military family as well. My father was in the
Army, but I spent the first 15 years of my career
working with the Marine Corps. So I started.
army girl, and I'm still an army girl, but I
love Misa Marie. So thank you again for your
service. Proudly served. It's definitely a community
that's a wonderful group to be a part of. Just
love and appreciation for those, Harry. Absolutely.
Love and appreciation. We appreciate that. Absolutely.
So we've spoken today and then you and I multiple
times about our shared love of music, about your
work as a performer. You've also shared a little
bit with me offline about your work as a producer.
Can you talk a little bit about instrumentaling?
Instrumentaling, that's not a word. Being an
instrumentalist versus being a producer, what
you love about both of them? Is there one that
kind of shines more brightly than the other?
Definitely my producing as of right now shines
brighter than the other. I mean, unless you want
to count my voice as an instrument, I'm not sure.
Because I can rap and sing, but as far as playing
instruments goes, I mean, I'm a drummer, like
I said. I play a little bit of bass guitar. I
mean, so for the most part, especially not having
quick access to musicians you absolutely need,
you know, I work with a lot of samples, whether
I drop them straight in, I might manipulate them
a little bit, but I can always create a production
that I feel sounds unique because I can do some
sample matching. You know, I'm not pulling all
the samples from one sample folder per se. You
know, I'll pull from different folders and I'll
have to key match, I'll have to beat match, and
I just can come up with something completely
unique. And then I allow that to speak to me
and then lyrics flow. And yeah, it's crazy. Definitely
producing over instrumentation. How long would
you say you've been producing? I guess my first
little taste of it was back in 2015. Okay. Oh,
wow. So quite some time. Yeah, it's been some
time. It's crazy. I'm coming up on 10 years,
but I've taken it seriously, more seriously,
I should say, last. maybe three maybe four years
okay because when i started it was just an idea
i was playing soccer out of san diego mesa college
before i transferred to ucsd and one of the forwards
jose he was like yo dude's like did you listen
to drake's new track i was like no bro like no
no he's like um well do you think we could do
something like that because i've heard of people
having home studios and just cooking up and stuff
i didn't even wasn't familiar even with the term
cooking up literally thought he was talking about
cooking in a kitchen and uh yeah he got me interested
and i ended up downloading like a trial version
of fl studio you know some people know it as
fruity loops we started messing around at my
place after practice and i definitely developed
a love for it you know, from the very, very first
jump. It's kind of weird seeing it come off full
circle now. It's really cool. The whole creative
process and to come in at the very beginning
like that and then see the end product. That's
really, really cool. On the topic of end product,
where could our listeners hear some of the music
that you've produced? I am on all major streaming
platforms. A lot of independent artists use their
own distribution services now. Those are available.
I use DistroKid and it gets me into Spotify,
Apple Music. People still use like Deezer and
Napster. Napster, wow. Yeah, and it puts me into
a... Like, you know, you can shoot Snapchat videos
and tag, like, actual music for the video. So
it puts me in Snapchat, puts me in Instagram,
TikTok, things like that. So what that means
is that, like, if I were to make a TikTok video,
let's say, I could use your music. I could type
your name in. Oh, that's cool. That's very cool.
On the topic of your music, you and I were talking
offline in one of our gazillions of conversations.
I have so loved meeting you. I'm so grateful
for the podcast for bringing us together. Where
can we hear? you in the city as a performer?
Where can we hear you? Oh, most definitely. So
shout out to Lila Jewel. I don't know if anybody
out there knows her. Don't think she's currently
a student here, but she was last year. She put
together a performing arts series that's going
on now through May once a month. um big rip brewing
company if anybody's familiar it's in north kansas
city um i performed at the february 22nd show
um the march show is full currently but i'll
be out there again april and in may and then
i'd be posting on the story a lot about the open
mic so any musicians producers even slam poets
singer songwriters y 'all got to join me at the
open mic at the rhino in north casey that's monday
and tuesday nights i'm out there a lot even if
you guys want to just pull up and watch me you
know energize the stage go crazy do you have
a social media presence where folks can follow
you and stay up to date on your yes most most
definitely um i know on snapchat if you haven't
gotten me uh stance underscore beats um let's
see on most social media platforms like ig tick
tock it's the rise of stance all one word Um,
if people are still into Twitter or, you know,
X, um, that would be stance underscore music.
Um, am I forgetting one? I think, no, I think,
yeah, I think I got them all. Cause I mean, there's
sound, SoundCloud for streaming, but yeah, that's,
that's a weird one. That's we the stance, soundcloud
.com slash we the stance. It's all. All one word.
Love that. So about singing on the music topic,
where would you say your love for music came
from? Were your parents musicians? Maybe you
had other musicians in your family? Or did the
bug just bite you? I would say it's kind of a
blend of both, really. Because my mom's Jamaican,
so a lot of reggae. And I don't know, she was
really into R &B, too. But my dad grew up here
in Kansas City. So jazz, R &B, blues. I mean,
he touched his hand on a lot of stuff, even like
alternative rock, kind of like the slower rock
stuff. So I kind of had a very diverse influence
coming from my parents. But then as I picked
up, wanted to start picking up instruments, you
know, I got comfortable with bass guitar first,
even though I didn't practice my scales. And
then I went right on to drumming. And that's
kind of where I started developing a love for.
even multiple genres of music because i was listening
to the different drum patterns trying to pick
up on those and then that kind of evolved into
producing telling myself i could be like the
people you hear on the radio what advice would
you have for other folks who were interested
in becoming producers interested in becoming
musicians definitely grant yourself grace i'm
going to say that first and foremost because
i can't ask for confidence right out the gate
because could probably assure you nobody has
like 100 % confidence trying something new. So
you definitely got to grant yourself grace. It's
a huge learning curve. Don't overload yourself
and just try and stay as positive as possible.
I know positivity definitely changed my workflow.
It's literally like a natural foundation of confidence.
Like if you're positive about it, no matter what
problem you come up in in your workflow or in
your process, you're like, okay, hey, I got this.
What can I try? And you immediately reach into
your toolbox with a calm mind because you're
being positive about it. If you're being negative
about it, you won't even see your toolbox. Right,
right. And you'll shut down. Yeah, oh yeah. And
I think a lot of people in the creative world,
and I'm speaking of myself as well because I'm
very much this way, the minute you hit a roadblock,
it paralyzes you. Instead, see it as an opportunity,
like you said, to pull into your toolbox, to
reach out to a resource, a professor, a fellow
friend that's a fellow musician. There are always
opportunities to learn and grow, and definitely
in this community, I've seen kindness and willingness
to. you know hey let me help you with that you
know um so that's definitely props to the music
department here um if you could collaborate with
anyone this is like i saw this question i saw
this question oh yes um and you're not deluded
to one but if if you could think of a collaborator
or collaborators living or dead who would you
like to collaborate with and why okay two people
first immediate right out the gate kyle I've
met the guy before, actually, in San Diego when
I lived there. He's a guy that does I Spy with
Lil Yacht. I spy with my little eye. A girlie
I can get because she don't get too many likes.
So he does that. He just got his actual plaque
for that one billionth Spotify stream. Nice.
He just posted that yesterday. I was all over
that. But if I could collab with him, he kind
of... taught me he influences my music so much
because he is just so unapologetically himself
on the mic and i felt that even when i met him
he gave me like the greatest big hug and the
biggest smile and he just felt so genuine it's
like that that's what i want to be i don't ever
want to put up some fake stuff like you know
even if i have money i'm probably not gonna be
putting money in the camera i have stacks of
bands everywhere i'm not gonna be running cars
you know we've been doing donuts in parking lot
for music videos like that's that's not me more
on some like mental health kind of take care
of yourself because that's who i am i love putting
that in the music who did you say did you say
you had a second person yes um being half jamaican
bob marley That would be, I recently watched
that, his movie One Love. Took my mom to the
theaters for that. She was grooving in the seat
to every song, every song. But obviously, I feel
like he was the pinnacle of showing the world
love. The world needs more love. Absolutely.
Especially now. I'm saying. He's probably turning
in his grave with how the world's been turning
lately. But he's that embodiment of positivity
and loving everybody. And just in a very different
way. Because, like, no offense to Kyle, Kyle
can touch. I mean, he's touched people in the
world, sure. But I feel like he's got a big influence
in America. Bob was global. Yeah. Like, instantly.
That's amazing. And he was able to channel that
to bring so much positivity and connect people
with his music. And that's one of the most powerful
things to me and one of the most beautiful things
about music to me is that it lives on long after
you're gone. And lucky us, you know, to be the
beneficiaries of that beautiful music and our
children and their children. You know, I mean,
that's something that to this day, young people
talk about. You know, I grew up in the 80s and
the 90s. And when Prince died and Michael Jackson
died, you know, they were so instrumental in
my youth. And I remember thinking that both of
these men were larger than life. You know, they
would never. you know and then of course it happens
and it breaks your heart but i just thought thank
you thank you for letting me live in this space
with them most definitely and and for folks like
bob marley who passed you know before my time
um thank you for the opportunity to to be in
that space even though i'm not it's you know
i have this wonderful second best gift in his
music so um yeah that's pretty amazing Let's
pivot for a second, if that's okay. So when do
you anticipate graduating from JCCC? I will be
graduating this spring, actually. So I'll have
the recording arts certificate. And I guess with
all my bouncing around in colleges, I'll be walking
with two associate's degrees, the Associate of
Arts and the Associate of Fine Arts. Nice. Very
good. So years down the road then, when JCCC
is long in your rearview mirror, when you look
back at that, what do you... What will be your
greatest memories? What will be the things that
you'll take with you in your heart? What will
you tell people about your time at JCCC? I know
one thing I'll definitely immediately remember
is how I've actually touched the lives of some
students here on campus because they've reached
out and they've told me that. And it's a great
feeling. I'm getting a little emotional, like,
because that's what I want to be here for. You
know, I wanted to come be that positive light
here on campus. I felt like I got my foot in
the door with the, it was karaoke. I think it
was right before this semester started. I think
it was the end of last semester or something
like that. In the last semester, there's karaoke.
And then it was the beginning of, sorry, in just
last spring semester. And then the beginning
of the fall semester. So I came back. as a student
for the second because the first one I just kind
of popped up I was getting you know enrollment
and stuff handled and it was just there so I
went and then I came back as a student and I
just I just put some good vibes out there and
then I started posting the story and like oh
my god you're that guy doing karaoke you're running
through the crowd and getting everybody hyped
up and like yo I love seeing your love seeing
your stories and I've heard it even taken as
far as like I literally wake up to see your story
on on the campus story like it makes my day oh
wow Thank you. I'm here for you. I don't know
what to say, but obviously I'm eternally grateful
I can have that influence. Do you want to tell
our listeners again how they can get in on that
Snapchat with you? Yeah, I mean, obviously, if
you're a student, you should be submitting your
student email and then you get like the Johnson
County Community College badge on your public
profile. And if you've made one, that's quick
and easy couple steps. And then it'll sync you
with all the current Johnson County Community
College stories. It's like me personally, since
I'm graduating. 2025 I'm on the 2025 story but
you can tap into that and see like the stories
people posted 24 people are posting 26 right
now I think even people are starting to post
a 27 if I'm not mistaken yeah yeah and then obviously
you can just add me if you're not a student somehow
listening to this you can still add me uh stance
underscore beats I still post my story same way
I posted the Johnson County Community College
campus story awesome I will definitely be following
you on all things social and maybe even stealing
some of your songs I can produce some instrumentals
too. So I want to dip back to something you said
a moment ago. You said that... Your most treasured
memory or one of them would be the influence
that you've had on other folks. Without, of course,
revealing anything too confidential or private,
could you share something with us maybe that
someone said to you? I mean, I did tip on it
a little bit. It was just like, wow, I wake up.
I'm just looking forward to your story. Like,
I need to see that story. And then other people
hit me up. He's like, hey, I'm so glad you posted
this story. I've actually been having a crap
day. You put a smile on my face today. It's like,
wow. And then there was some weird stuff going
around where they were taking pictures of me
from afar and posting it to the story. And they're
like, stance sighting. Stance sighting number
one. Stance sighting number two. Stance in its
natural habitat. I was like, guys, say hi, please.
Come up and say hi at least. You can still post
a picture. But come say hi. I'd love for you
all to say hi. I am a person. I speak English.
You can come say that to me. It's fine. That's
hilarious. So, like, you're the celebrity of
the campus then, you know, with your little paparazzi
and TMZ. Yeah, I'm almost uncomfortable, like,
taking it that far, but, like, everybody tells
me that. Like, yo, how's it feel being, you know,
just, like, well -known on campus, like, celebrity
status? I'm like, the word celebrity makes me
cringe low -key, but... I mean, I feel like I'm
still doing the good work, so I can't knock it
necessarily. You are. And it circles back to
what you were saying about authenticity. You
know, you're not trying to be something that
you're not. Your heart is in mental health, which
we've shared that offline with each other. Your
heart is in making people happy and bringing
joy. That's what our editor, Zach, said to me.
He's just good vibes. And it is so true. It's
so true. And I think. People who are inauthentic,
you can spot it a mile away. You know what I
mean? And I think people gravitate toward you
because you are so authentic and kind and you
lead with love. I mean, even just to go off that
a little bit, the inauthenticity. So obviously
with all the love I've gotten, I've had some
very hateful message come across as well. Some
people have posted to the story. Some people
have just sent it on the side. But I feel like
that is also an opportunity to show some more
love. Absolutely. So every time it came at me,
it was just like, hey, like, are you having,
like, a bad day? Do you need someone to talk
to? Like, what's going on? I'm not going to say
any names, obviously. But one reached out. And,
I mean, he basically chewed me out for no reason.
No, no, I hate seeing your story. It puts me
in a bad mood. Nobody wants to see that. Blah,
blah, blah. And I was like, bro, like, are you
having a bad day? Do you need to talk to somebody?
Like, I'm just here for y 'all. Like, hey, man,
if you need to talk, always here. And he just
kind of left me on read for a little bit. And
then not even half hour later, he came back and
he was like, oh, so you consider yourself a producer?
Like, who have you produced? I'm like, I didn't
even respond to that because I already said what
I had to say. Right. And then like it was like
four or five days later, message on Snapchat
comes across from him. I was like, does he have
something else to say? What is up with this guy?
Right, right. Like, my heart low -key kind of
sucked because it's just like, in that moment,
I had already had a bad day. I had a D to D of
that. But it was actually an apology. Nice. That
same guy who came across with some super hateful
stuff, he came back around for an apology. I
respect him so much for that. Yeah. And he's
like, man, I was having a bad day. He's like,
and honestly, seeing somebody else so happy when
I was feeling so crummy, that's what got to me.
I was like, bro, that's completely understandable.
I've been there plenty of times, man. been there
plenty of times you know we just had a little
conversation on the side and okay i haven't talked
to him since but i hopefully everything i'm putting
out there is putting a smile on his face now
instead of you know harboring some you know,
whatever's going on in his life. Yeah. You know,
there's that old phrase about people who need
love the most, you know, are the worst. They're
the most unkind and the most unfriendly. And
it's really wonderful that you're able to see
that for what it is. You know what I mean? And
to meet that with love, because we don't know,
as you said, what that person was going through.
I mean, he did say he was not, you know, doing
well, but you, and I know it sounds like a Hallmark
card, like don't judge me, but you really don't
know the love. that you shine on somebody else.
And then maybe they may turn right around and
do that to somebody else, you know, be that light
for someone else. So it's the whole, you know,
pay for your coffee and the guy behind you at
Starbucks, you know, and then you hope that they
pay for the car behind you. You know what I mean?
Yeah, paying it forward. I should be a big proponent
in everybody's life. Yeah, absolutely. It takes
so little to be kind. And one moment of kindness
can make such a difference. I think especially
today, you know, let me see. Looking at my questions.
Okay. So a fun question to close out our first
podcast episode today. Let's say that time and
money were no object. You have no classes, no
work, nothing going on. You have gajillions of
dollars. It's the weekend. What are you doing?
How are you spending this unlimited budget and
time? May I ask what time of year it is? You
pick. It's not like it is now where it's, you
know, 90 mile an hour winds and snow. Unless
that's what you want. Well, the snow I do actually,
definitely. Oh, okay. For the weekend. I mean,
my dream vacation is Switzerland. I want to snowboard
in the Swiss Alps. Nice. And I'd love to have,
if I could like stay right off the slopes so
I can have an office. over overlooking the mountains
and stuff exactly it's it's a lot of inspiration
for good production yeah i've taken advantage
of something like that before went to a bachelor
party um for for a wedding um and we had some
hotel suite and overlooked the ocean who were
in south carolina and i woke up before everybody
next morning you know everybody got plastered
you know they i they kept sleeping i woke up
and i was really bored so i just whipped on my
laptop and i i started producing and uh I don't
know if anybody knows my catalog, but the beat
for Weed Em Out, that's what I produced that
day. I was just overlooking the ocean. I was
hearing the waves crash. There's some seagulls
flying here and there. It was a vibe. Wow. It
was a vibe. Very cool. Talking about the vibe
and getting into the vibe, how do you get centered
and ready to go? Do you have any rituals before
you go into the studio? Honestly, I don't know
about rituals. It's just making sure that...
I have a positive mindset going in because I'm
definitely less inclined to have even a studio
session if I feel like I've had a crappy day,
haven't turned it around yet. If there's like
no positive thoughts flowing at all, I'm not
going to want to sit there and make music. I've
got to turn that around before I get in there.
So that's the first and foremost thing, positive
mental attitude going into a studio session or
to sit down and produce. And is that the same
advice that you would give to someone, let's
say, that's a songwriter that's a creative rut?
Like, oh, I can't get the, the words aren't coming
out or the lyrics aren't coming. Could you, is
that what you would say to them too? Yes, most
definitely. And then with talking about the creative
rut, I know what's personally gotten me out of
creative ruts is just listening, whether that's
listening to different music, like outside of
a genre you're currently trying to write or produce,
or, I mean, even tapping into your favorite artists
or artists like them. like me personally i like
to what we call reverse engineer stuff so when
i get what we call beat block you know you can't
can't get any production done you're stuck i
go find a track i know i'm in love with or somebody
showed it to me and i saved my spotify library
i was like oh i got to go back to that track
because then i will mimic the bpm the beats per
minute and i'll mimic the key and then i'll just
see if i can come up with something that's got
kind of similar bounce similar vibe you know
but it's it's obviously what i make sometimes
it takes a completely different turn and i like
that too i love that i call them happy accidents
shooting for one thing i definitely caught something
completely different i'm rolling with it though
because it sounds good absolutely so that creative
rut can be destroyed time and time again just
searching for that inspo within other music Thank
you for that, because I, as a musician as well,
find myself in that, you know, I can't get it
out. I know what I want to say, but I can't get
it out or I'm struggling to come up with the
words. And I love that advice. Thank you. And
I would imagine that that advice probably works
for lots of other being stuck, you know, not
just musically. I'm saying writing or anything
where you're writing is a great example, because
obviously us being musicians, we're writing lyrics
and stuff, even getting lyrically stuck. You
can kind of do the same. process, but you're
obviously paying attention to different things.
So tap into those favorite artists, tap into
something different. See how, see what their
cadence is like with their lyrics. See even their
rhyme schemes or, you know, obviously their subject
material, you know, see how they tie everything
together for one subject between verse, hook,
verse, bridge, hook, and then the rest of it,
you know? Yeah. Very, very cool. Speaking about
Spotify, what's on your Spotify playlist? What
are you listening to right now? What's the evil
laugh? Because I guess I was just like that laugh,
like I'm so glad she asked me this. Hopefully
I put some people on to something. I don't know
if people have heard of Jameson. It's J -M -S
-N. J -M -S -N. And I still need to do some research,
but just from listening, he's got a crazy amazing
producer and props to him if he does that himself.
My girlfriend showed me a song. It's called Bout
It. It's by Jameson. And honestly, just going
on to SoundCloud and listening to those mixes
they throw at you or be like, oh, hey, this is
for you. Give it a listen. It's usually packed
with like newer artists who aren't discovered
yet and they've got some fire stuff. Nice. So
Jameson's not too, too big. He's not huge. I
think he's got, I mean, 200 ,000 monthly listeners
on Spotify sounds like a lot. But, you know,
the bigger artists we know are obviously in the
millions. Right. So he's kind of well -known,
not too well -known, but it's like this. I don't
even know how to describe it. It's definitely
a pop feel, but it's got some jazz intonations
for sure. And it's a crazy different drum pattern
that I've never heard anybody play. And so I'm
like, bro, even if you didn't make this beat
or what, like who was the drummer? Just forget
everything else. Who was the drummer? I've been
trying to drum cover it even. It's just so different.
And obviously Jameson's got some pipes on him.
He can sing. He can sing. So I wrote that down.
Yeah. JMSN. Check that out. About it by Jameson.
Love that. Love that. So do you have you shared
some really wonderful advice points with us about
being positive, about leading with love? What
is a piece of advice that's been given to you
that is impactful or meaningful to you or maybe
even something that you've shared with someone
else? I don't remember who. told it to me, which
is kind of weird. I normally remember that thing.
I mean, I know it's been reinforced by my mom.
Love you, mom. But just remember that you're
blessed. You know, a lot of people say, say lucky,
and that kind of almost rubs me the wrong way
now. Because, yeah, they say luck is like opportunity
meets preparation or whatever. But in the instance,
in the context of lucky over blessed, I definitely
prefer blessed because it's like no matter what
situation you're going through, you want that.
It's to reinforce your positive mental attitude,
right? Tell yourself you're blessed at the end
of the day, no matter what you go through. Because
I've been real big. I even have a song called
Blessed. Got some cuss words, not clean, but
it's definitely on the, you know, I'm flexing
on my haters because I feel so good. You're hating
on me because I feel good. I feel great about
myself. And what side am I on? Right. What side
are you on? I'm saying, I'm saying. When I was
in high school and in college, the first time
back in the 90s, I had a performing arts instructor
who said to me, Jennifer, talent is cheap. but
character is priceless. And that, I mean, I thought
of him. Yeah, like the minute that you started
talking about authenticity and being your true
self, I'm like, oh, I hear Paris Goodroom's words
in my head. Shout out to Mr. Goodroom. I'm not
sure if he's still living or not. But yeah, talent
is cheap, but character is priceless. Never stop
being who you are. Right. And the right people
will flock to you because of who you are. I used
to feel, I used to suffer by comparison as an
artist. Talk about that. Comparison is a thief
of joy, right? Yeah. And I used to think, well,
I'm not as good as. Well, nobody's as good as
the best, right? We're all growth and we're all,
you know, getting better and getting stronger.
But there's a voice for everyone. So, you know,
you may love Artist X. And I might be like, eh,
not my thing. That's okay because a million people
love Artist X. They don't need Jack. Right, right.
They got Jack and they got Stan. So there are
voices for everyone. And I think that's something
really beautiful about music. You might find
folks that say, yeah, I'm not really a jazz person.
But you're never going to find somebody that
says, I'm not a music person. Right. You know
what I mean? Like every, it's like the universal.
I don't think I've ever heard that in my life,
low key. Yeah. I've never heard somebody who's
like, oh, I don't listen to music. I just don't.
I don't think I've ever. That's like saying you
don't eat food. Yeah, right. Okay. And how do
you sustain yourself, sir? I'm saying. No food.
You're weird. Sorry, no judgment over here, guys.
No judgment. No judgment. I'm looking through
my questions. Is there anything else that you'd
like to share with our listeners? I don't think
so. I think I hit all the positive, you know,
mountaintops I wanted to conquer. for everyone
definitely remember to tell yourself you're blessed
spread out those good vibes good love because
the world needs more of it compliment somebody
you know throughout the day just one compliment
and obviously pay it forward because that was
a big thing in this talk definitely pay it forward
Doesn't that feel good when you are the one that
says something kind to somebody? Yeah. I was
at a coffee shop and I won't go into the story,
but I will just say somebody was very unkind
to me and my daughter. And, you know, those of
you that are parents or well, and you guys that
have parents, when somebody insults somebody
that you love, you know, like you're just and
my daughter was mad and I was mad and it was
a bad situation. But I thought, you know what?
I'm just I can carry that with me. Or I can choose
to let it go. And I saw a girl, young woman,
I shouldn't call her a girl, at the coffee shop.
And she just looked kind of downtrodden. She
just didn't look good. I walked up to her and
I said, excuse me. Hi, my name is Jennifer. And
I said, I don't think you're pretty. And I don't
think you're gorgeous. I think you're stunning.
And shame on the world if nobody has told you
that today. No kidding, you guys. bawled right
in front of me. She's like, I am having the worst
day. And I couldn't tell you the last time somebody
told me that I was beautiful. And thank you.
And I'm like, well, number one, you are. Number
two, shame on the world. You know, it just, and
I hope she felt the authenticity behind it because
I was so sad and hurt by what had happened. I
thought, you know what? I'm going to turn around
and try to make this positive for somebody else.
I'm pretty sure she felt that if she bawled her
eyes out in front of you. Yeah, she did. She
was smiling pretty good after I left. I'm like,
okay, well, haven't I? but those random encounters
make make people's day that's what the world
needs more of exactly exactly and i think you
know going back to authenticity you know when
it's fake you know when it's real and that just
feels really really good um yeah I am over the
moon, just selfishly grateful to the messenger
that I got to meet you because of this. I'm not
sure that I would have met you, even though we're
in the same department. I think we take classes
at different times. So I am over the moon that
I got to meet you. Any other parting thoughts?
I don't know. Your last parting thoughts were
pretty good. Anything else that you'd like to
add? I don't think I can top that. Just thank
you for having me here. I feel blessed and honored
to be here. You know, share a little bit. Absolutely.
And hopefully I touched somebody out there. Yeah.
One more time, in case folks didn't get it, how
can we reach you on social? All right. Social
media. I mean, streaming services, you can probably
search up Stance and find me. But just to pinpoint
it a little bit more. The newest single is It's
Likely. So It's Likely by Stance. That'll pop
up. It's kind of like a cartoon drawing of me.
As far as the rest of the socials go, IG and
TikTok is The Rise of Stance, all one word. Snapchat,
Stance underscore beats. X, formerly Twitter.
Stance underscore music. And SoundCloud. It's
soundcloud .com slash wethestance. All right.
All one word. I think that covers them all, hopefully.
Perfect. Well, thank you so much, Stance, for
being our first student story here at the Messenger
Mic'd Up at Johnson County Community College.
Everybody, thank you for tuning in, and we will
talk to you next time. We're on vacation ceremony,
y 'all. Y 'all take care. Bye, everybody.