Today we’d like to introduce you to AJ John.
Hi AJ, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
It’s hard for me to imagine a time without music in my life. My musical journey started pretty early on with kindergarten piano lessons and the school choir! I always liked piano and singing but starting out it was primarily something I did more for my parents than I did for myself. As I continued with piano lessons, I got tired of what the sheet music said. I’d start to show my piano teacher the songs, but with these new chords and ideas that I added to it. My teacher was clearly proud of me, but she would always say something cheeky like, “that’s not the way Bach intended it.” Nonetheless, the creative bug was there.
Later on in my childhood, I stumbled upon the music video for this song “Million Pieces” by the Newsboys. I watched these 5 guys sing and play their instruments together, creating a beautiful combination of lyrics, melodies, harmonies, chords, feel, etc. That music video changed my life forever. Eventually, I wanted to play all the instruments, but I was most enamored by the drums. The Newsboys’ drummer, Duncan Phillips, was just so much fun to watch – he made all these goofy faces as he smacked the crap out of his drums. Most significantly though, he was smiling constantly, like he was having the time of his life. And I knew deep down that I wanted to whatever he was doing.
So music as a whole became a massive part of my life – I continued piano lessons through high school until I couldn’t make the time anymore. I auditioned for and joined the Georgia Boy Choir and sang with them through a 12 years span. I got involved in my school’s band program, joining the percussion section. As I continued through high school, I moved up into the higher band classes, started playing drum sets for numerous other ensembles such as the jazz band, and took on a number of leadership roles in the process. I continued this trend in college at Georgia Tech, involving myself in as many ensembles as I could and eventually serving as the Band Club Vice President. More recently, I also joined the instructional staff for my high school’s marching band, where I got to pour into more young, rising musicians, and I started playing in churches around town.
Thinking back to when I was initially getting started in all these classes and ensembles, I also started to learn guitar and bass on my own. Around this time, GarageBand just came out on the iPhone, so I started plugging in my instruments and recording songs of myself playing all the instruments. I also started discovering more and more music and artists. In 8th grade for a ‘Rock And Roll’ class project in US History class, I first discovered The Beatles. And I started listening to all their hits on loop. I particularly loved all the songs Ringo sang on, like ‘Yellow Submarine’ and ‘Act Naturally’ because he was a drummer just like me! Then the Foo Fighters came shortly after. So many more songs flooded my brain, such as ‘Everlong’ and ‘Learn To Fly’. I even learned the backstory of the Foo Fighters, about how Dave Grohl was actually the drummer of the disbanded Nirvana and recorded the whole first Foo Fighters record by himself. And that was monumental to me – yet another drummer who could sing and write music, and this time he could play all the other instruments too. It was incredibly validating!
With my parent’s help, I got a new drumset and some recording equipment so that I could keep recording more songs. I mostly just found songs from bands and artists I liked, covered those songs with myself playing all the instruments, and then started uploading that music to a SoundCloud page. It was a cool way of seeing how I sounded and documenting what I’ve done. I kept recording covers for a long time, and slowly I started to create my own songs as well. I wrote my first complete song ‘Forward’ in 2015 and got to perform it with my friends in our high school’s talent show. We ended up winning the People’s Choice Award… That one moment was really instrumental for me and motivated me a lot as a songwriter! I kept this up through high school and college, continuing to write and record, and I eventually shifted my efforts over towards creating videos on YouTube as well. After graduating from Georgia Tech in 2020, I released my first full album of original music, creating incredibly fun music videos to go along with them.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The biggest struggle has been and continues to be imposter syndrome. As artists and creatives, we want our output to be honest, clear reflections of who we are inside. And while that is a good standard for art, sometimes it can lead to overthinking much of what we create, never being quite satisfied with where it’s at and wondering if it can even measure up with other art. When it comes to writing original music, I’ve found it difficult to know when to call a project complete, sometimes sitting on ideas for years on end. And for some ideas, if I don’t feel like they can be done perfectly, they get shelved for far too long. Sometimes that makes it difficult to find motivation at times.
What has kept me going in those moments is the understanding that my gifts and talents come from a God who knows me, loves me, and made me a completely unique individual. Sometimes, it hurts to realize that you can never be the person you look at who seems to have it better than you or be more skilled than you, or whatever. Yet, there is not a single person in this world who can do, think, and speak in the exact way that you do. No matter how good someone else is at being them, the only person good at being you is you. That’s something I have to constantly remind myself when I’m making projects, and I hope I can instill that sense in others too.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Currently, I stay pretty heavily involved in music in all facets. As far as outside collaborations, I have been working with a friend and fellow creative, Ina Williams, on an EP of songs we’ve written together. We plan to release that project this winter. I am also a member of the band ‘Summersick’, and have greatly enjoyed writing, recording and performing with them. I occasionally play other gigs around town as well, such as blues bands, cover bands, and musical theater productions. I continue to be very involved in my church’s music ministry and assist at a number of other church’s music departments too. Along with all of that, I am continuing to create content for my YouTube Channel and Instagram, and I am always coming up with ideas for my next release of original music!
Though I primarily see myself as a drummer, I play all the major band instruments that are useful to people in modern music, and I’m incredibly knowledgeable about those areas from a technical/production side too. That has opened me up to a plethora of opportunities and has allowed me to be useful to people beyond what they initially expect. It’s also been incredibly fun because if I only knew one instrument, I would never be in situations where I get to play with other people of that same instrument. Now I can!
Additionally, I get comments pretty frequently about my happy stage presence. If you see me playing, you can expect to see tons of high energy and plenty of smiles (particularly when I’m on the drums, I find it downright impossible to NOT smile!). No matter how much music I write or gigs I play, the thing that always brings me the most satisfaction is being able to encourage someone wherever they are at, or inspire the next, whether that’s simply putting a smile on their face on a bad day, or even motivating them to pick up an instrument themselves.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
When I was in 8th grade, my family went to India for a few weeks. We were staying at my grandparent’s house, and one day my Thatha – that’s Tamil for grandpa by the way – wanted to take me out for Ice Cream. My mom was adamant that I shouldn’t get any for health reasons and also because we had to eat very cautiously on this trip. They had a small argument, and my mom won, and so Ice Cream wasn’t supposed to happen. An hour or so passes, and my mom gets ready and heads out the door with my Aunt for a shopping trip to the mall. The car pulls out the driveway and hits the road, and once the car was out of earshot, my Thatha exclaims, “Alright AJ, let’s go get that ice cream!”. I was so excited to go with him, and I thought my Thatha was the coolest person in the world. We went to a local dessert place near our house, home to what became the GREATEST Mango Milkshake I’ve ever had in my life. More importantly though, that day left a mark on me cause I knew that I had the most loving, affectionate Thatha in the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: musicwithaj.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicwithaj/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006628067734
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AJJohnMusic
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/achristodossmusic
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/78JNc5LraYW3yVTNFkuAUN?si=TKrLUU8kS3WTKriSqp3hhA
Image Credits
Headshot and General Photos by Arslan Munaf, Club Hertz Photos by Nehemiah Wilson, Studio Photos by AJ John
