{"id":37538,"date":"2025-02-04T19:40:12","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T01:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/?p=37538"},"modified":"2025-01-30T13:44:48","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T19:44:48","slug":"interview-from-j-wilms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/interview-from-j-wilms\/","title":{"rendered":"interview from J. Wilms"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!-- VideographyWP Plugin Message: Automatic video embedding prevented by plugin options. --><\/p>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div>Atlanta, GA based multi-instrumentalist J. Wilms is releasing his third album as a singer \/<br \/>\nsongwriter The Fighter. The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered summer of 2023 by<br \/>\nKyle Spence at RJS in Athens, GA, produced by Wilms and Spence.\u00a0The Fighter will be<br \/>\nreleased on 12\u201d LP vinyl, as a digital download via Bandcamp and through streaming platforms<br \/>\non Cart\/Horse Records December 8.<br \/>\nAfter years as a much in-demand session musician in New York, Wilms stepped away from the<br \/>\ngrind of the city in 2020 during the beginning of the COVID lockdown and moved back to his<br \/>\nhometown of Atlanta. There he returned his focus to stripped-down, honest playing and singing,<br \/>\nwriting songs that conveyed plainspoken but eloquent stories. J. was joined in Athens, GA\u2019s RJS<br \/>\nstudios with by Nick Robbins bass and Bo Bedingfield drums, Guest musicians included Julia<br \/>\nHaltigan on vocals on \u201cBorn to Die,\u201d \u201cI\u2019ll Start Tomorrow,\u201d and \u201cStopping on a Dime\u201d and<br \/>\nDavid \u201cSmoota\u201d Smith on trombone on \u201cProps\u201d.<br \/>\nJeremy \u201cJ\u201d Wilms has had a long and varied career. He received his Bachelor of Music from<br \/>\nGeorgia State University and his Master of Music from CUNY Queens College, NYC.<br \/>\nJeremy\u2019s jammed with Ornette Coleman at his loft and played Broadway revues at retirement<br \/>\ncommunities in New Jersey (sometimes over the same weekend!) He was briefly in Chico<br \/>\nHamilton\u2019s band playing guitar and played bass on Broadway in the musical Fela! During the<br \/>\ntour for Fela! Wilms performed with Patti LaBelle and played with Fela Kuti\u2019s son Femi at<br \/>\nvenues around the world including the Shrine in Lagos. He\u2019s recorded with artists as diverse as<br \/>\nBebel Gilberto, Beyonc\u00e9, TV On The Radio, and many others.<br \/>\nWilms has been a guitarist in the orchestra for MacArthur Fellowship winner Taylor Mac\u2019s 24<br \/>\nDecade History Of Popular Music as well as the bassist on ABC Network\u2019s The Gong Show. He<br \/>\nwas the arranger and musical director for The Heathens and other acts based at the fabled<br \/>\nMcKittrick Hotel in Manhattan, home of \u201cSleep No More\u201d immersive show. Wilms arranged<br \/>\nstrings and brass for songs on Run the Jewels\u2019 RTJ 4 and Tim Fojahn\u2019s I Dreamed a Dream.<br \/>\nJeremy is still busy working as a sideman in both NYC and ATL, scoring for film and other<br \/>\nmedia, and teaching. Wilms also releases instrumental music as Jeremy Wilms and is the leader<br \/>\nof the metal\/prog band NOMOTO.<br \/>\nwww.jeremywilms.com<br \/>\n<iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: J. Wilms\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/artist\/1blyz61f1zZ726LOVfGedp?si=kDNRCKTgToKMmMaFGlQAj&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nQ<br \/>\n<iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Jeremy Wilms\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/artist\/5cKrwyPCGHf8ewXhG9RRnW?si=1saWA20uRQeaFy7LoViDZ&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nA<br \/>\nhttps:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jere_wilms\/<br \/>\nhttps:\/\/www.facebook.com\/J.WilmsMusic\/<\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\">1. &#8220;What&#8217;s a common myth about Independent Artists and can you debunk it?\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;\">I\u2019d say a common myth about Independent Artists is that they can do everything by themselves. Even if you are incredibly gifted, can make music and video content, and \u00a0don\u2019t mind being on social media all day, you still need help. There is only so much time in the day audits essential, for me at least, to reach out to my network and find people to help with the heavy lifting.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><br clear=\"none\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #26282a; font-size: large;\">2. &#8220;What advice would you give to someone wanting to enter the music industry?<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>My advice would be to make the music you love. If you get caught in the cycle of trying to make what others expect of you or what you think they will like, you will likely find yourself lost. And honestly, it seems like you have as much a chance at success making some really freaky stuff that turns you on as would trying to make a hit. That being said, if making hits is your goal, go for it! In any case, don\u2019t be afraid to do something you\u2019ve never done before and don\u2019t be attached to any \u201cimage\u201d of yourself.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #26282a; font-size: large;\"><br clear=\"none\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"m_3781800501484524704ydp697b8cceyiv4804458733ydpead8eb77yiv6909629123m_-8054345042172895725ydp7ec42ac8yiv9998694148m_116362546844365547ydpac87ac0cyiv8461393370m_-5045426722908270270m_-1207647239481169531m_6692128783338616656gmail-:5ye\">\n<div id=\"m_3781800501484524704ydp697b8cceyiv4804458733ydpead8eb77yiv6909629123m_-8054345042172895725ydp7ec42ac8yiv9998694148m_116362546844365547ydpac87ac0cyiv8461393370m_-5045426722908270270m_-1207647239481169531m_6692128783338616656gmail-:5yf\">\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">3. &#8220;Are there any resources or even advice that have really helped you on your journey?\u201d<br clear=\"none\" \/><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;\">My journey might not be the same as others. I\u2019ve been pursuing my independent music while most of my career I\u2019ve been a sideman for other peoples dreams. I\u2019d say because of that, I\u2019ve been able to take advantage of a pretty wide network of people who happen to be friends I trust. Find artists who do what you like and try to meet them, pick their brains. Also, google helps!<br clear=\"none\" \/><\/span><span style=\"color: #26282a; font-size: large;\"><br clear=\"none\" \/><\/span>4. &#8220;What has been your biggest accomplishment in your career thus far?\u201d Well, I recorded with Beyonce, played with Patti Labelle and Elvis Costello, and a bunch of other weird high end stuff, none of which helped my independent career. I still just love a small intimate gig at a good venue with good sound and an appreciative audience&#8230;<br clear=\"none\" \/>.<br clear=\"none\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"m_3781800501484524704ydp697b8cceyiv4804458733ydpead8eb77yiv6909629123m_-8054345042172895725ydp7ec42ac8yiv9998694148m_116362546844365547ydpac87ac0cyiv8461393370m_-5045426722908270270m_-1207647239481169531m_6692128783338616656gmail-:5ye\">\n<div id=\"m_3781800501484524704ydp697b8cceyiv4804458733ydpead8eb77yiv6909629123m_-8054345042172895725ydp7ec42ac8yiv9998694148m_116362546844365547ydpac87ac0cyiv8461393370m_-5045426722908270270m_-1207647239481169531m_6692128783338616656gmail-:5yf\">\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">5. \u201cWhat do you wish you had known when you started out?\u201d\u00a0<br clear=\"none\" \/><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Making money in music often means compromise. Get that through your head and you will be a lot less frustrated on the journey.<br clear=\"none\" \/><\/span><span style=\"color: #26282a; font-size: large;\"><br clear=\"none\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"m_3781800501484524704ydp697b8cceyiv4804458733ydpead8eb77yiv6909629123m_-8054345042172895725ydp7ec42ac8yiv9998694148m_116362546844365547ydpac87ac0cyiv8461393370m_-5045426722908270270m_-1207647239481169531m_6692128783338616656gmail-:5ye\">\n<div id=\"m_3781800501484524704ydp697b8cceyiv4804458733ydpead8eb77yiv6909629123m_-8054345042172895725ydp7ec42ac8yiv9998694148m_116362546844365547ydpac87ac0cyiv8461393370m_-5045426722908270270m_-1207647239481169531m_6692128783338616656gmail-:5yf\">\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">6. &#8220;What led you to becoming a singer-songwriter?\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;\">I have been a singer songwriter since I was a teen. Hearing musicians express themselves through words and music has always been a love of mine. I also love poetry and prose, writing in general, and since I can remember have pursued trying to put that together with a love of music.<br clear=\"none\" \/><\/span>.<br clear=\"none\" \/><span style=\"color: #26282a; font-size: large;\"><br clear=\"none\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"m_3781800501484524704ydp697b8cceyiv4804458733ydpead8eb77yiv6909629123m_-8054345042172895725ydp7ec42ac8yiv9998694148m_116362546844365547ydpac87ac0cyiv8461393370m_-5045426722908270270m_-1207647239481169531m_6692128783338616656gmail-:5ye\">\n<div id=\"m_3781800501484524704ydp697b8cceyiv4804458733ydpead8eb77yiv6909629123m_-8054345042172895725ydp7ec42ac8yiv9998694148m_116362546844365547ydpac87ac0cyiv8461393370m_-5045426722908270270m_-1207647239481169531m_6692128783338616656gmail-:5yf\">\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">7. &#8220;What do you think is your unique skill(s) that has helped you become successful?\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;\">I\u2019m honest. I show up when I say I\u2019ll show up. I prepare, and I always strive to give the best to the audience.<br clear=\"none\" \/><\/span><span style=\"color: #26282a; font-size: large;\"><br clear=\"none\" \/><\/span>8. &#8220;How was your journey to what you do<br clear=\"none\" \/>Now?&#8221;<br clear=\"none\" \/><span style=\"color: #26282a; font-size: large;\"><br clear=\"none\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"m_3781800501484524704ydp697b8cceyiv4804458733ydpead8eb77yiv6909629123m_-8054345042172895725ydp7ec42ac8yiv9998694148m_116362546844365547ydpac87ac0cyiv8461393370m_-5045426722908270270m_-1207647239481169531m_6692128783338616656gmail-:5ye\">\n<div id=\"m_3781800501484524704ydp697b8cceyiv4804458733ydpead8eb77yiv6909629123m_-8054345042172895725ydp7ec42ac8yiv9998694148m_116362546844365547ydpac87ac0cyiv8461393370m_-5045426722908270270m_-1207647239481169531m_6692128783338616656gmail-:5yf\">\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">9. &#8220;How did this project begin?\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Moving back to my hometown of Atlanta was the impetus for this record. I was taking long walks and writing these songs in my head. At a certain point I had 10 or so songs, I decided to record them.<br clear=\"none\" \/><\/span>.<br clear=\"none\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"m_3781800501484524704ydp697b8cceyiv4804458733ydpead8eb77yiv6909629123m_-8054345042172895725ydp7ec42ac8yiv9998694148m_116362546844365547ydpac87ac0cyiv8461393370m_-5045426722908270270m_-1207647239481169531m_6692128783338616656gmail-:5ye\">\n<div id=\"m_3781800501484524704ydp697b8cceyiv4804458733ydpead8eb77yiv6909629123m_-8054345042172895725ydp7ec42ac8yiv9998694148m_116362546844365547ydpac87ac0cyiv8461393370m_-5045426722908270270m_-1207647239481169531m_6692128783338616656gmail-:5yf\">\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">10. &#8220;What makes this project different from &#8220;past projects?\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;\">As opposed to all my other songwriter projects which were do \u201cbedroom\u201d style, This one was recorded proper at a great studio in Athens, GA with Kyle Spence.\u00a0<br clear=\"none\" \/><\/span>.<br clear=\"none\" \/>11. &#8220;What&#8217;s the inspiration behind this project?&#8221;<br clear=\"none\" \/><span style=\"color: #26282a; font-size: large;\"><br clear=\"none\" \/><\/span>12. &#8220;What word or phrase would you use to describe this project?&#8221;<br clear=\"none\" \/><span style=\"color: #26282a; font-size: large;\"><br clear=\"none\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"m_3781800501484524704ydp697b8cceyiv4804458733ydpead8eb77yiv6909629123m_-8054345042172895725ydp7ec42ac8yiv9998694148m_116362546844365547ydpac87ac0cyiv8461393370m_-5045426722908270270m_-1207647239481169531m_6692128783338616656gmail-:5ye\">\n<div id=\"m_3781800501484524704ydp697b8cceyiv4804458733ydpead8eb77yiv6909629123m_-8054345042172895725ydp7ec42ac8yiv9998694148m_116362546844365547ydpac87ac0cyiv8461393370m_-5045426722908270270m_-1207647239481169531m_6692128783338616656gmail-:5yf\">\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">13. &#8220;How can listeners get in touch with or support you?\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;\">My website is\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.jeremywilms.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" shape=\"rect\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/www.jeremywilms.com\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1738351895110000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3Gf6ewPBbxxjolXoaX45oZ\">www.jeremywilms.com<\/a>\u00a0<wbr \/>Everything is there!<br clear=\"none\" \/><\/span><span style=\"color: #26282a; font-size: large;\"><br clear=\"none\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"m_3781800501484524704ydp697b8cceyiv4804458733ydpead8eb77yiv6909629123m_-8054345042172895725ydp7ec42ac8yiv9998694148m_116362546844365547ydpac87ac0cyiv8461393370m_-5045426722908270270m_-1207647239481169531m_6692128783338616656gmail-:5ye\">\n<div id=\"m_3781800501484524704ydp697b8cceyiv4804458733ydpead8eb77yiv6909629123m_-8054345042172895725ydp7ec42ac8yiv9998694148m_116362546844365547ydpac87ac0cyiv8461393370m_-5045426722908270270m_-1207647239481169531m_6692128783338616656gmail-:5yf\">\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">14. &#8220;What is coming up for you in the near future?\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;\">I\u2019m planning a small regional tour early next year, and I will be doing local shows in Atlanta and NYC. I also will be reissuing an album of instrumental music next year and making a companion record to \u201cThe Fighter\u201d as well.<br clear=\"none\" \/><\/span>.<br clear=\"none\" \/>15. &#8220;Many people believe that becoming a musical artist is challenging to the point it<br clear=\"none\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"m_3781800501484524704ydp697b8cceyiv4804458733ydpead8eb77yiv6909629123m_-8054345042172895725ydp7ec42ac8yiv9998694148m_116362546844365547ydpac87ac0cyiv8461393370m_-5045426722908270270m_-1207647239481169531m_6692128783338616656gmail-:5ye\">\n<div id=\"m_3781800501484524704ydp697b8cceyiv4804458733ydpead8eb77yiv6909629123m_-8054345042172895725ydp7ec42ac8yiv9998694148m_116362546844365547ydpac87ac0cyiv8461393370m_-5045426722908270270m_-1207647239481169531m_6692128783338616656gmail-:5yf\">\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">becomes overwhelming and too much to handle. Why do you think people believe that?\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Because it is!<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Atlanta, GA based multi-instrumentalist J. Wilms is releasing his third album as a singer \/ songwriter The Fighter. The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered summer of 2023 by Kyle Spence at RJS in Athens, GA, produced by Wilms and Spence.\u00a0The Fighter will be released on 12\u201d LP vinyl, as a digital download via Bandcamp [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[482],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-37538","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-written"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37538"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37545,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37538\/revisions\/37545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}