Jenna Crowe
Staff Writer
Classical violin and pop music coincide in Jedd Greenhalgh’s new album, which is scheduled to release in March 2017.
“I love pop music, and it seemed like the best way to express that,” Greenhalgh said.
Greenhalgh, a senior at ISU, has been studying music science for the past four years. This experience helped him become a music producer and DJ.
Now he is taking the next step in his musical career by putting together a demo album that is 17 tracks long.
During an interview on Aug. 24, he made the official announcement of the album’s title: Artist for Hire.
Greenhalgh began writing songs this past June and began the recording process for Artist for Hire shortly after.
All of the recording and production was done in a homemade recording studio in his apartment.
“I’m confident in my abilities, but in the real world it’s really hard to make a living,” Greenhalgh said. “The goal was to make it sound like it’s coming from a major record label.”
Students who went to the New Student Orientation concert on Aug. 19 were able to hear a few songs that are part of Greenhalgh’s demo, including his first single The Black Dance, which came out that evening.
“I used that night to promote the single,” Greenhalgh said. “The NSO concert was the first taste of this album.”
Another single, titled Sleek, is set to come out in December.
Between the two releases an official music video, featuring ISU dancer Gage Horne, will be released mid-October on VEVO and YouTube.
“Gage Horne performed my single with me,” Greenhalgh said. “He’s one of those people that I’ve met that has that drive, has that passion, and he is my favorite collaborator at ISU.”
Many people are contributing to their music video, including a makeup artist, a pianist and the videography company Rumorfy.
“The video represents [Greenhalgh’s] vision of a fantasy world,” said Gage Horne. “It consists of me and him going fifty-fifty, where he represents the music and I’ll be dancing.”
Horne, a junior studying dance and choreography, has been working with Greenhalgh on the album throughout the recording process, including working to produce a song together.
“It was rough at the beginning, but working with Jedd has been amazing,” Horne said.
Copies of Artist for Hire will be available for pre-order on iTunes in February for $6.99, but after it comes out on Spotify and Amazon in March, the price will rise to $9.99.
This album is the first step into Greenhalgh’s career, as well as Horne’s.
Both have plans for the future; however, Greenhalgh refused to comment on future music projects for summer 2017.
“I want to keep a few things up my sleeve,” Greenhalgh said.
After graduation, Greenhalgh plans on continuing his music career in bigger cities such as Los Angeles, Nashville and Chicago.
“In a big, industrious city you can find musicians,” said Greenhalgh. “If I want to make a mark that’s going to stay, Chicago is the place to do it.”
Greenhalgh dreams of going into the recording business as well, and has plans to own his own recording studio.
“I look for someone who eats, sleeps, breathes their music all the time,” Greenhalgh said. “That passion is something you can’t replicate or fake.”
His passion for the music industry started when he began playing the violin and Celtic fiddle at a young age.
Greenhalgh did small performances in his senior year at Kuna High School and took a leap of faith when he decided to combine his favorite instrument with his favorite genre.
“Music is the best when you are doing what you love,” Greenhalgh said. “Pop music is my favorite genre, and the two kind of merged.”
While attending ISU, Greenhalgh began marketing himself as a serious performer and has even created his own fan page on Facebook.
Greenhalgh’s door to the music industry is being opened, and nothing will stop him from becoming the best artist he can, even if he doesn’t make a career in performing.
“To look out into a crowd and to see the love of music that I have mirrored in the face of an audience is what I go for,” Greenhalgh said. “Whatever comes after I do that is something I am going to welcome with open arms.”
