JJ Raschel on SoundBetter

Producer/ Singer/ Songwriter/ Guitarist/ Bassist- Sony Orchard distributed, Founder of the group JJ & The Mystics. Need an Epic voice and prolific songwriter and guitarist on your track? I have extensive knowledge in songwriting in both lyric and melody, AND unique and emotional vocal tone and guitar chops! I'll take your track to NEXT LEVEL!

My experience is in positive and inspirational music across many genres. With 20 years extensive vocals, guitar, and mixing experience in pop, rock, blues, soul, reggae, jam band, country, world, new age, metal, folk, singer/songwriter and more. I've founded multiple projects throughout the years and written over 300 original songs. I've produced multiple releases with my current project- JJ and The Mystics. http://jjandthemystics.com/

I love the creative process and the powerful impact music has to heal, uplift and inspire. I'm grateful to work with positive and professional people with amazing talents and looking to make the world a better place through music and a good groove.

Hire me for vocals, guitar, bass, or mixing and I will help your magic come to life!

I'd love to hear about your project. Click the 'Contact' button above to get in touch.

Credits

JJ and The Mystics

Languages

English

Reviews

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Interview with JJ Raschel

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: During the pandemic I produced a new single that I played, recorded, mixed, and mastered the entire track and every instrument. It was an awesome experience to do it all. However, made me appreciate the collaborative dynamic that much more as well.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: In my projects (JJ and The Mystics) I'm working on the release of 5 successive singles leading to my next full album. - IG video reels of new songs here: https://www.instagram.com/jjandthemystics/reels/
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Kris Bradley
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Both if possible. At present, most of my set up is digital. Analog because it captures a warmer, fuller tonal spectrum and sound that can't fully be replicated by digital. And digital because of the speed, ease, and advanced ability of digital work stations, processing and everything else.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: I will work with them to ensure I deliver a full-hearted, professional quality that they love, for the success of their project.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: I love music and hearing others perspective and approach to music. I believe it teaches us a great deal.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: Can you send alternate takes vocal or guitar tracks etc.? Yes, up to 3 alternate tracks per desired instrument plus 2 revisions on overall direction or track.
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: that I can fulfill what they are looking for without some of the key information and direction needed to create their desired outcome for a project.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: What genre or style they are trying to create, what instrumentation do they envision, what key they prefer, what emotion do they feel when performing or writing a song, what are their ideas for melody if needed, who are their influences, and who would they like their music to be in category with or even sound like?
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Definitely expect depth, emotion and high skill for your sound. Music is a very deep and personal expression of who you are and I'd be honored to be a part of fulfilling that expression.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: Nylon acoustic, my 1976 Gibson SG, Fender hot rod deluxe tube combo, an earthquaker avalanche run delay & reverb pedal, a Pen and Paper lol!
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I've been in music for 20 years now, however, I've jumped from a career as an actor to construction to visual art all having a fair amount of success but music is always my heart.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: Bluesy, Soulful World Music blend with powerhouse rock influences!
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: I'd love to work with Tedeschi Trucks Band because they have the Jam Band of all Bands and phenomenal musicianship of our time or Michael Franti or Trevor Hall both simply due to their absolute positivity and World Sound!
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Capturing the performance(recording take) is where it all starts!
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: My music is a blend of Blues Rock, Soul, Jam Band, Reggae and World music with a spiritual twist.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Writing, Vocals, and Guitar
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I definitely bring deep emotion, poetry and melody when writing along with advanced soulful vocal range, style and technique and guitars that will bring a truly full mix, soaring lead, or powerhouse riff to any song needed.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: -Recording/ Mixing/ Producing- First I start with a rough outline of the chords, arrangement and composition of the song and begin building melody (usually guitar and vocals), harmony, and color/instrumentation within the DAW. From there I will find strengths and weaknesses within each individual idea and capitalize on what I feel serves the overall direction of the song all the way to final production. This includes, concepts, tracking, mixing and sending over final mix and production for you to master and release as you wish. -Vocals and/or Guitar- With an idea of a guitar or vocal I will perform/record the piece needed against a mix (you provide unless I'm doing a full mix) and deliver final tracks to you via Drive, Dropbox etc. (2 revisions) -Lyrics/Songwriting- I'll take your idea and provide you with a fully written basic recorded version for you to build from (unless full custom song service is requested)
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I use, Neumann mics, Audio Technica mics, Gibson SG guitar, PRS Custom guitar, Fender Strat guitar, PRS Acoustic, Classical Nylon acoustic, Fender Bass', Fender and PRS amps, Focusrite 18i8 interface, Logic Pro DAW, Midi keyboards and Djembe drum. Along with access to a large variety of Digital drum kits, loops, synths/ effects and plugins.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Here's a Jumbled list in no particular order: Amos Lee, Jacob Collier, Harry Styles, Bruno Mars, Sufjan Stevens, Cat Stevens, Greta Van Fleet, Joe Bonamassa, Eric Gales, Cory Wong, Vulfpeck, Black Thought, John Coltrane, Snarky Puppy, Leon Bridges, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Gary Clark Jr., Tubby Love, Rising Appalachia, Trevor Hall, Mike Love (Reggae), Paul Izak, Michael Franti, Bob Marley, Wailing Souls, Lucky Dube, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, The Allman Brothers, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Deva Premal, Liquid Mind, String Cheese Incident, and many many more. I love all the greats in producing from Quincy Jones to The Beatles to Dr. Dre and many more...
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: My most common work is taking either a rough idea whether its a voice memo/ recording and turning it in to a fully embellished demo/song with vocals, guitars, bass, drums, and keys/synth to adding powerful vocals or guitar to an existing in process demo/project.