Hi, Steemit! I am Jhay Ehidio, and this is my introductory post for my personal account.
A little bit about me
I am a 27-year old teacher and musician from the Philippines. I have been teaching for 7 years now. I am currently a part-time college instructor teaching Math subjects.
Pretty ironic, but I don’t quite like Math. So I won’t talk about that.
I am a part-time musician. So let’s talk about music!
My current projects
I am part of a musical project called Y ARA, together with my girlfriend. We started collaborating in 2015 but only released our first tracks as Y ARA last September. We have released two EPs so far.
I am also part of a musical group with my siblings called SIBB. We do mashup videos and covers and upload them on our YouTube channel. We actually had a mashup video that went viral a year ago on YouTube. It currently has more than a million views.
My music journey
As for my musical journey, the first instrument I learned to play was the guitar. I started learning how to play it back when I was in high school. My father, who is also a musician, inspired me to learn the instrument.
Along the way, I came to learn to play other instruments as well.
I also sing, though I don’t really consider myself as a proper singer. Even though I’m not quite confident with my singing, I sing anyway.
I am also a songwriter. I have been writing songs for more than a decade now.
The artists that influenced me heavily when I was starting out were “pop punk” bands like Green Day and Blink-182. Not really surprising, especially that it was during a time when “emo rock” and “pop punk” were the biggest thing in our country.
Later on, I would get heavily influenced by British bands like Coldplay, Oasis, and Snow Patrol.
A major turning point in my songwriting, and in my music life in general, came when I started listening to indie music.
I started listening almost exclusively to indie bands such as MGMT, Phoenix, Friendly Fires, and The xx, to name a few. Their sounds and styles eventually made their way into my music.
Another important phase in my musical journey started when I discovered chillwave artists like Neon Indian, Toro Y Moi, and Washed Out.
The first chillwave artist I discovered was Toro Y Moi. I still clearly remember how I felt the first time I heard his songs. It was not like anything I’ve ever heard before.
It was weird, but it was so good.
The sound had so much feels, so much emotion buried under its muffled sound, so much nostalgia, so much beauty. It was like love at first sight. I fell in love with the music instantly.
That was when I came to have a deeper appreciation for music production.
I have already been recording and producing my own songs during that time. But discovering chillwave made me realize how production can make a huge difference to a track.
And when done creatively and excellently, it can really be effective in bringing out the right emotions in your music, along with the memories that formed your compositions.
Which is the very essence of chillwave.
I don’t do chillwave music though. For Y ARA, we make indie pop/r&b/soul stuff. Think LANY, Tom Misch, Mac Ayres, with a touch of Wet, Chvrches, Friendly Fires.
Or at least that’s what we’re trying to achieve.
My previous projects
I used to do solo projects before Y ARA. My first solo project was Jean Narratives. I uploaded three songs under the moniker on MySpace.
Anyone remember MySpace?
But Jean Narratives didn’t last long. It was succeeded by Beautiful Chessy. It had a shorter lifespan though since the project only lasted for a month, with two songs under it.
My plans on Steemit
I’m glad and excited to be on Steemit, and be a part of DSound and DTube, to share my music that was shaped by years of listening to various sounds and styles.
I’m also looking forward to share covers of my favorite songs. And maybe I’ll throw in some guitar lessons, some music tips and resources, some music reviews, and maybe some behind-the-scenes in my songwriting and production process.
It would be great also to share random thoughts, my daily experiences, my travels, my beliefs, and what not.
Life and music. All in all, it would be about life and music.
So, that’s it! Thanks for taking the time to read!
Peace and love,
Jhay Ehidio
P.S. I am also a huge Golden State Warriors fan. So maybe some sports-related posts some days?
Music Links
SPOTIFY: open.spotify.com/artist/1bPRfjxbCnpHxgGnU59Ml6
APPLE MUSIC: itunes.apple.com/us/artist/y-ara/1313988987
MUSICOIN: musicoin.org/artist/0xa747e892a8111ba324aecb898b3600c47b3ffc06
CHOON: choon.co/artists/andohyara
YOUTUBE (Y ARA): https://www.youtube.com/yaramusicofficial
YOUTUBE (SIBB): https://www.youtube.com/sibbmusic
Social Links
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/jhayehidiomain
TWITTER: twitter.com/jhayyara
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/jhayyara