Welcome back to Keeping It Real On Purpose, where
we stop talking about change and start building
the life we deserve. Stop telling yourself it's
too late to change that damn song. You've been
programmed for structure, but your soul is begging
for rhythm. Most people quit when their plan
A fails, but our guest today didn't quit. He
pivoted from Air Force to the airwaves. As a
veteran, a scholar, an athlete, and a prolific
songwriter whose life is proof that discipline
and dreams aren't mutual exclusive. We are here
to talk about the real resilience in the ultimate
journey of self -discovery. So please welcome
songwriter, musician, and veteran Jonathan Steele.
Yes, thank you so much. I'm glad to be on the
show. I am glad you were here today. So I'm really
excited because it's such a myriad of things
that you got going on. Your background is incredibly
rich. Air Force veteran, degrees in liberal arts
and exercise science. That's the first time I
ever heard of that, exercise science. And now
a musician with over a hundred lyric compositions.
Most people struggle to commit to one path. What's
the biggest mind shift required? to go from the
rigid discipline of military service and scholarship
to embracing the vulnerability and rhythm of
a creative life. Oh, I also believe, you know,
it takes to endure things to get more creative
and to go through a journey that maybe that's
not where God wanted you to be. So that that
part of your journey may have ended quicker than
you wanted to. But I believe I got more creative
from the experiences I had in the military and
I'm trying to I've been I have my own radio show
on artists first radio since 2019 so and Z man
the host he says I don't think it's money driving
you to do this, you know, so and and I just have
a it's my way of giving back even more back to
people and I believe If you want something bad
enough, you have to keep going for it and not
quit. Determination, motivation is important
in positive people that come along your path.
Sometimes the people you hang out with, even
if it's negative or positive, you can write things
based on that. It's creative, but it's creative.
I can turn negativity into comical stuff, you
know what I mean? Negativity into comical. Or
like sports like bowling, like I made it in the
PBA, so I haven't bowled in a while, but all
that hard work, like I always had a personality
to try to be the best at everything when I was
younger, you know, about 16, 17, 18 years old.
And it carried it carried on into I slowed down
some you know because of health health conditions,
but right I still believe that your like I said
your experiences from medical from You know employment
from people you hang out with from things you
watch on TV from your relationship with God and
Jesus all those things plays in a fact of And
things just come to me when I write them. It
just comes to me. It's gotten easier and easier
and easier. Yeah. Yeah. I also believe that,
too, the experiences we had. But what I really
like about your experience altogether, you went
from one extreme to the next. And it's showing
me that your purpose changes throughout life.
how you embraced because I rarely see men, I
guess around music, I rarely see men really talk
about being that creative with music, like writing
lyrics. I rarely see that, bringing out that
creative part. And I get so excited when I see
people kind of do that because I'm a writer and
I just write all the time. And I'm like, I can't
be by myself, the only one, you know, but My
friend put it in perspective and she said, well,
when an artist draws, right? They draw many pictures.
You're just a writer who doesn't write much,
you know? And I was like, oh, that's really great,
you know? But you embracing your creative side
had to come from some vulnerability somewhere.
When did it start? Oh, when I first started writing,
I wasn't very good at it, but probably back when
I was 16, 17 years old and the first style of
writing that I had, I don't know if you've heard
of Weird Al Yankovitch. Oh, of course. Come on.
I made fun of songs. Come on. Yes, I made fun
of songs back then. Like I have some songs like
Bob Seger's Turn the Page, I have a song called
Turn the Tire, and it's in songs like Friends
in Low Places, I have a song called Friends in
Feral or Stairway to Heaven, Stairway to Goodwill
as an example, like just comical. I don't mean
anything offensive. It can have offensive stuff
in it, but I only mean it in a comical sense,
not to hate anybody or, you know. But that's
where it started from. And I crafted that. It
started, like I said, back probably in 1996,
97, because I'm 44 now and probably back when
I was 13, 14, 15, 16 years old. And the first
time I ever had a demo done with a demo company
was in 2000 or 2001. I was highly motivated back
then. I wanted to do it. I wanted to do everything.
I just, I didn't want to do that. Everything,
everything. Yeah. And then, yeah. Uh huh. But
yeah, that's great. Yes. I, I'd say this all
started, you know, like I said, back in the nineties.
So, okay. Okay. Your life is a story of continuous
growth and exploration. I know a key component
of that is self -discovery. For our listeners
that feel stuck in a career or identity, they've
outgrown. How do you manage to manage the fear
of starting over? You mean from the service when
I go out? Yeah, with every aspect of your career,
it's like a blossoming flower. It's so versatile.
So how do you... get the energy to start over
in a new project or a new chapter. Well, I believe
when the more that you endure and just like some
biblical figures in the past where they like
know Job and you lose everything and you say,
how am I going to get out of this? And it's the
resilience. you get to a point where you've lost
everything in life and then you have to start
all over and everything comes back to you 10
times greater than when you lost everything so
and what like from going from jobs to the military
to college to you know songwriting's been going
on for a while but I this is this is more my
passion and I just I have some Wait, and I've
gotten better and better and better where I could
have just folded up and saying I ain't doing
anything I'm just gonna sit on the couch, but
it's my personality my ability from God myself
and positive people around me and just the I
Have like a good treatment team at the VA hospital
They helped me get everything going back to normal
after I was sidetracked with a lot of illnesses
and still dealing with them But I just feel that
there's more to life than just when one part
doesn't work, you got to try something else.
You keep getting pulled back down, then you get
back up and keep going. It's just something built
in me. Just like when I was in the service discipline
to do all that exercise, people thought it was
punishment, but I actually enjoyed it. It just
built inside of me. just continuous perseverance
and continuous thriving. Right, that's important.
Yeah. Perseverance is really, really important.
I mean, and that comes from, you know, from internally
in your gut, you know? And self -discovery, you
know, you had to have some type of, you know,
I guess chispa to kind of discover each chapter,
each change in your life. And you know, have
some like, you know, like a wondering like, oh,
this is going to be great, you know, and, and
how did you, how did that come about? Like how
that self discovery part, like just getting the
will to do it. How did that come about? That
was a positive step back, probably when I was,
uh, I would say the first time that I really
changed everything would go back to fifth, sixth
grade when my Yes, my mom put me through a summer
school with her because I was I was up and down
when I was younger with my grades and when my
mom did she did a summer school with me and and
after that time I started getting on the honor
roll all the time my grades started changing
my attitude changed and Sometimes like for instance
when with with the service when I Like when I
went to it the first time, I did not care for
it. I didn't like it. And then when I went in
two more times and actually the third time, I
actually enjoyed it because my attitude changed.
And that's the same way when I would say things
have changed. The starting point, what I would
say was back in the fifth, the fifth, sixth grade,
fourth, fifth, sixth grade when my mom's summer
school. You kept that going, that self discovery
going. Yes, that was a big part of it. And that
was a huge part. My parents played a big part
of that. Because they always said, if you want
something, you got to work for it. Nothing was
handed to me or my siblings or my parents or
anything. They've always been hard workers, and
nothing's been given to any of us. So that's
where I picked that up from. Okay, for my audience
who say, and I know they say it a lot, it's probably
too late for me. In their 40s, 50s, and 60s,
it's probably too late for me to pursue such
a passionate artistic dream. What would you say
to that? I would say it's not too late. If you
refer to the Bible, there's biblical figures
that God used when they were We're late in life,
you know late later in life that Look at some
of the biblical figures I believe was in Moses
didn't have a baby till he's 80 years old, you
know with he got married had a kid and he was
old so I would say it's not too old for a dream
for you know, especially songwriting because
I think I think you mature more as you get older
and even if you don't want to be like a If you
can't be a performer, there's other ways to go
about the music business, you know, such as just
being a writer or a studio musician. And if you
feel that you if it's in your in your whatever
is in your desire, your passion, it's not too
late. No way. No way. Just too late to get because.
there's no there's no certain there's no law
saying that you have to be 20 years old to be
a songwriter who played live yeah yeah yeah you
mentioned your music is a reflection of your
journey so you're touching so many universal
themes of love struggle and triumph as you explained
with the titles that you have to some of your
songs so we talk about here on this channel healing
and transformation. How does the physical act
of songwriting, whether drumming or singing,
become a powerful tool for you to become well
and release emotional baggage? Oh, it's tremendous.
I feel the rhythms of the drum, you don't have
time to sit and think about things. It just relaxes
you. And the drums is a rhythmic beat, just like
in the military marching, just like martial arts,
it's a whole accounting system. So it's all coordination
of the mind. And in the writing, you just take
your mind off of everything. And there's no worries
when you're writing. There's no worries. There's
no worries when you're playing the drums or the
guitar. There's no worries at all. It's just
you and that instrument. And you have so many
ways to practice it. There's never saying, I
know everything, that's it. Because you can even
invent things on your own that I picked up. And
it's just to have a hobby like that. It's therapeutic
and emotional. You could be spontaneous, bringing
progressive. And just all that is therapeutic
on the mind and you can release energy and it's
not in a violent way or anything. Right. That's
so good. Let's talk about resilience. Let's talk
about resilience. Yes. That's a key trait to
anyone that's seeking a better life and it shows
in your life and journey now. When you hit a
low point, and your creativity kind of stalls
or rejection hits you hard, especially as a creator.
You may send your things into a publisher or
to somebody and they don't like it. When all
that hits you hard, what's the one thing that
gets you back to work? Well, you say, hey, I
got a positive support system. On my radio show,
I got a DJ that had mentioned to me that you
know, your stuff is better than almost everything
that comes in here. And he goes, he just says,
when you get rejected, you got to remember how
many songs has that person wrote, how many, how
many, how many songs they wrote. And then it
just inside me, whether I get rejected or not,
it's just, it's just part of, part of who I am.
I'm always going to be a writer, no matter if
somebody doesn't like it or not. So, but I have
a positive outlook on it. And I say, Well, you
know this this hasn't gone anywhere Yet, but
I'm gonna I'm gonna try this next I'm gonna try
that and right here. Yeah, I haven't completely
Broke into the business yet, but hey, I'm still
doing it. I'm still trying I'm still you know,
I'm having a blast so I would say just keep trying
don't don't just give up after one One denial,
you know or or you try it try a different Avenue,
you know, don't you know try a different song
create a new song maybe get some coaching on
you know different writing styles or or maybe
you have to update your music a little bit or
something it's not not necessarily you it just
maybe that that wasn't a certain fit maybe you
have to find a something like a publisher or
a an artist that that specializes to your music
you want to mean so it may it may not just be
the fact that, you know, that you were just flat
out denied, it just means it just wasn't a perfect
fit for that. Right. What's your fit? What's
your one number one mantra that you kind of use
to kind of get your bet stirred back up? I would
say just just being alert and into new ideas
and just saying, hey, I want to be I still want
to, I still want to do something with this. I
haven't, I'm not giving up. I would say just
being motivated, motivated and excited in no
matter about denial, just being full of excitement
all the time about writing. John, we have a lot
of listeners right now who know they need to
pursue something new, a passion, a pivot. or
healing process, but they are paralyzed. Based
on your experience across multiple diverse fields,
what is the single non -negotiable first step
that they must take today to move from feeling
stuck to finding their own next rhythm? They
have to be able to be open to change, open to
change because things everything in the modern
day changes. We're all adapting to change all
the time. And you have to start somewhere to
go anywhere. And what I mean by that is even
like in a job, if you don't start somewhere at
a certain age, you can't go somewhere bigger
down the road, but you always have to start somewhere
to go anywhere. So that would be my biggest,
biggest star. That would be a good piece of advice
right there. Mm -hmm. Yeah. Because it does take
that, you know, sometimes you do feel stuck.
I know as a writer, I have had those times that
I was stuck, but it was because I was thinking
about something else and not doing what I was
supposed to do. Yes, because I try. You're being
overloaded with something else, like maybe you
have to, for songwriting, maybe you have to work
full time and you have a family, so it could
be hard to get things, busy schedules, busy schedules
and get you stuck. Yeah, they certainly can.
They can get you really stuck. Okay, so John,
is there anything else that you have forgotten
to tell us that the audience needs to hear? Yes,
for about your songwriting, there's many ways
you can be a writer. You can just be a lyric
writer. There's ways to get your lyrics to local
musicians, professional musicians. There's avenues
to do it. There's ways to make demos if you don't
make music. um there's waste waste and now they
have artificial intelligence which i haven't
tried yet but they can make a song in five minutes
yeah i heard that yes but there's still some
good demo companies i've tried one called tunely
they're really good demo my song um that's where
i had a lot of songs done and And you can even,
if you have somebody you know, you might be able
to get into a studio if you want to be a studio
musician and maybe somebody you know that they
can give you a deal on something or to get a
deal per hour because usually they charge per
hour in the studio. There you go. Sorry about
that. I had a phone call. That's all right. But
anyway, I was going to say, yeah, there's ways.
You know, you have you can start somewhere if
you're trying to if you're trying to make it
in the business, there's ways to start making
demos, like I said, to ways to to make your music
to get it made by music demo companies and things
like that. So which I mentioned some of the ones
and there's ways to advertise your music like
on CD Baby, Industrial Kids, a good way to release
your music if it's not released by a big outfit
yet. You can release them on CD, Baby, Distro,
Kid, and your songs will be on Spotify, YouTube,
but it has to be promoted, and that's where I
was lacking in is promotion. Sometimes a local...
I think all of us did get like that, yeah. Yeah,
and sometimes your colleges, your colleges can
help you, which I'm having some experience with.
a college again and university where some of
the students are trying to help me with my music
as well. So I'd say that there's all kinds of
avenues and just don't get stuck. Don't get stuck
and don't give up, especially with songwriting
that can compare that to your life to what you
put into life is what you get out of it. And
sometimes most sometimes people's journeys are
a lot harder to go about than others. But when
you you'll find yourself in there and sometimes
you have to change Nowadays, the work life is
people want to do everything. They want to do
college, raise a family, work a full -time job.
And they say, how am I going to be able to do
these hobbies and stuff? But you want to remain
healthy. If you don't have your health, you don't
have anything. So you want to take care of your
health and keep believing in faith of God and
Jesus and just keep following your... dreams
and ambitions and treat people the way you'd
want to be treated and everything will come to
you what goes around comes around and like i
said you got to start somewhere to go anywhere
yes that's right Well, Jonathan, this has been
truly inspiring. Thank you for all the great
information and for all those songwriters out
there. For those writers, this show is for you.
Thank you for showing us that past achievements
don't limit your future, they simply enrich it.
You can find Jonathan's incredible music and
connect with him on his social channels. We have
all the links for his albums and his Instagram
at John, J -O -N, Steele, S -T -E -E -L -E, music,
and it's waiting for you. Go check them out right
now. We hope that you love this episode, but
for right now, we're gonna say goodbye for now.
I'm your host, Edna White, my esteemed guest,
John Steele. Say goodbye for now. Yes, take care
and God bless. Thanks for tuning in.