Ashley FishmanArtist Profile
May 17, 2008
The Beat Goes On
***Ashley is a Journalism major at Boston University and a friend of Jared Feldman's roommate. She approached him about doing a profile on his music as a final paper for her journalism class.
Jared Feldman walks into his dorm room and moves his keyboard to the side to fit at his desk. He folds into his comfy leather chair while sliding the keyboard back into position. The music equipment surrounds and incarcerates him into the small workspace he calls his “dorm room office.” His bright blue eyes gleam with anticipation. Jared turns toward his computer and clicks at his mouse to play a song by Usher. The beats come ‘nice and slow’ through the large speakers that are towering high atop a collection of his favorite compact discs. With a pen in his hand, Jared taps away on the wooden desk as he hums out the melody of the next big song through his mouth.
The sounds of New York City echo from the streets as the sun shines through the windows of the small dorm room on this spring day. The city streets rage with commotion, fortifying his appreciation for the ability to study at New York University (NYU). Life for Jared is fast-paced and thrilling. Yet, only two years ago he was just another student in a small New Jersey town; his dream for success in music changed everything.
It is no surprise that Jared became one of twenty-eight students accepted each year into the NYU Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music. At just nineteen, Jared has started his own production company while also studying at NYU full-time. His grandpa began teaching him piano when he was a small child and his older cousin, who also graduated from the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, introduced him to the art of recording. After that, his love for music blossomed into a lifestyle.
Growing up in New Jersey, Jared spent his childhood like most young boys; he began playing sports at a young age and enjoyed basketball. Making music, though, was always his true passion. When he applied to college, NYU was never far from his mind. “The program I’m in is the number one recorded music program in the country. My top choices were NYU and Drexel, and I got a full ride to Drexel. [Drexel’s] number five, but you can’t turn down [New York City], and you definitely can’t turn down the number one spot,” Jared says with the utmost conviction. Instead of accepting the full scholarship, Jared chose to attend NYU and his parents support his decision by paying the $52,000 annual tuition.
The program is highly selective and students are admitted based on a creative portfolio and essays. The program provides access to professional recording studios and equipment in addition to a superb musical education. George Petersen of Mix Magazine states, “The four-year, intensive [Bachelor of Fine Arts] program is limited to 28 students a year and focuses on music recording as both a creative medium and a complex business enterprise; pupils are expected to master both aspects of the industry.”
The homepage of The Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music (http://clivedavisdept.tisch.nyu.edu/) describes the program as, “the first program of its kind in the country, the Recorded Music department recognizes the creative record producer as an artist in his or her own right and music recording itself as a creative medium.” Needless to say Feldman is one of the most recognized students in the program. In fact, in the background of the homepage is a familiar face: Jared Feldman.
The program has helped shape Jared as a producer and songwriter, but it offers many more learning opportunities. Feldman credits not only the top-notch equipment and facilities, but states that most central to his growth are “the professors … who are Grammy award winning, and have worked with some of the biggest artists ever.” For example, the program’s Department Chair, Jim Anderson, has won several Grammies. Jared believes that “being around that level of talent is something you can really learn a lot from.”
Feldman truly hit the ground running at NYU. During his freshman year, he and three classmates started Grand Staff LLC, a production, songwriting, and DJ company. All four entrepreneurs embrace each other’s talents and abilities and maximize them to do what they do best: create HOT music.
Friend and Tisch student Adam Saewitz says, “Jared is an unbelievable artist. Just the fact alone that he started an LLC at eighteen is reason one why he's a true entrepreneur and go-getter. I have great respect for individuals who dream big and deliver. Jared and Grand Staff are definitely going places.”
Grand Staff exploded onto the scene when two-time Grammy Award winner Krazyie Bone of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony purchased a beat they produced. The four students all of a sudden needed to figure out what to do with an inflow of cash, and this is where Feldman’s entrepreneurial instincts took over. He describes himself as “more business-minded than his partners,” hiring an accountant, lawyer, and another Clive Davis student, Sophie Ash, as manager. While most college students play video games and most aspiring musicians struggle to get their foot in the door, Feldman and his colleagues became accomplished producers in a matter of months. Grand Staff celebrated its one-year anniversary on May 1, 2008 (a celebration that over 320 fans attended!).
In addition to the music program and Grand Staff, Feldman is pursuing a minor in business from NYU’s Stern Business School. Jared calls his busy schedule a “balancing act,” something he “hasn’t perfected.” Jared enjoys his busy schedule and embraces his fast paced lifestyle as an exciting challenge. A day in the life of Jared Feldman is insanity to most; after attending class for six to seven hours, he jumps on the subway and heads uptown to the studio for some songwriting. Songwriting and studio time often journey into the early hours of the morning, so Jared finds time for homework either after the long day or immediately before class. His friends have tremendous respect for his talents in music and multi-tasking. Friend and roommate Rob Mor holds Jared in high esteem; Mor says, “I think Jared has the mindset and the focus of a person who can succeed in any business.”
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The uptown studio is small, but it has enough equipment to make the most accomplished producers salivate. Walking into his “workshop,” Jared admires the large mixing station and countless instruments available to him. He moves toward the endless red and green buttons and strums his fingers across them. He doesn’t choose to relax here though; it’s a constant grind. The studio is where Jared and his colleagues from Grand Staff write songs, record beats, and use the boards as well as record countless vocal takes and build intricate harmonies. His frantic pace never stops.
Jared is currently writing to submit songs for five-time Grammy winning performer Usher Raymond’s new album. Just last week Grand Staff sold two songs to Bow Wow, and platinum producer and recording artist Ryan Leslie showed his support for the team by performing with Grand Staff at the one-year anniversary party. But Jared isn’t afraid to work with artists whose names aren’t as well known. He recognizes that “the most talented people in the industry aren’t in the industry yet.” He believes that the key to success is built upon “networking and building good relationships, and from there great things will happen.” Clearly Feldman and friends have made some incredible things happen over their first several months in operation.
Jared definitely is on pace for a bright future. Established artists and those just attempting to establish themselves approach his company now more than ever. The Grand Staff group seems poised to make it big. With a smile on his face, Jared speaks about the future with cautious optimism: “We are really working to further develop our sound and continue to make good relationships, our goal being to become one of the best production crews in the industry.” Mor says, “I think the talent is there in terms of his music. I feel that his intensity is there and the only thing that will stop him is pairing up with the wrong crowd—people that don’t elevate him.”
Luckily, Jared has teamed up with the right people and is working hard to reach his goals. He looks up assuredly, “no one is forcing us. It’s all something we want to do. So, it’s a joy.” In the past year Jared has reached a noticeable feat and it shows in his large smile. “I’m proud I’m able to now create music on a level where people are putting it on their iPods and playing it at parties. When people know the words [to my songs], that is a proud moment. From going from being fourteen and not knowing what is going on, to going to NYU and the number one program, that is the best to me. I’m proud of that.”
