Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeremy Schmetterer.
Jeremy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago playing music. Looking back, I feel like I was constantly practicing guitar. I played a bunch of other instruments too like the drums, piano and even a brief stint as a trombone player in the school band but I always felt the most comfortable with a guitar. As a little kid, I’d lock myself in my basement for hours, blast live John Mayer and Red Hot Chili Peppers records and pretend to play along with them with an unplugged guitar before I had any idea how to play most of those songs – I’d even dim the lights to make it feel like a stage. I played with a band throughout high school and always had dreams of playing music at a professional level but it always felt like a totally impossible feat. I grew up believing that the chances of making it in music were one in a million, so I followed other passions after high school and ended up going to college at the University of Missouri for Broadcast Journalism.
I spent three years thinking I would end up as a radio or television personality. I hosted a music show for the local NPR affiliate on campus and I did enjoy journalism for a while but I rarely felt fulfilled. Music was a hobby throughout college but didn’t become a serious pursuit until I sat down with a friend at the time, Jack Fargotstein, and we decided to write some songs together – then The Motel Brothers were born. We spent the next two years writing, recording and performing around our college town until we had both graduated. We met a couple of guys who would soon become our managers and they convinced us to drive cross country to LA and start a new journey out here.
I’ve lived in Los Angeles for three years now and have grown and learned so much in that time. The first year was spent recording and hustling entirely for the band and we had some really amazing opportunities in that time coupled with some luck and success in the streaming world. But as I continued to meet people, I started to spend more and more time in studios playing guitar for different artists and producers, learning about the studio process. I downloaded my first music production software in 2018, developed a huge passion for producing and now two years later, I have a roster of some truly amazing artists I get to work with and a big collection of songs with all sorts of artists that I can’t wait to be released.
About a year and a half ago, I started to write and record demos for what would soon become a solo project – something I always wanted to do. I officially released my first two singles as Jeremy Schmett at the end of June with the intention of releasing a song a month for the next several months. Now (August 13th) my third song comes out tonight at midnight and I have something like ten songs finished and ready to go for this project.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I’ve experienced a tremendous amount of personal growth in the last year alone. It’s mostly come in the form of self-care, self-love and putting myself first. I’ve spent so much of my life trying to please others before myself and it took me basically 25 years to realize how unhappy that made it. That pattern unfolded in so many ways – with friends and family, in romantic relationships and most notably since moving to LA in my professional life as a musician. I spent so many years telling myself that if my actions were making the people around me happy, then I’d feel good. But the more I put other people before myself, the worse I felt and the more I lost touch with myself and the things that really drive me.
I moved to LA with the intention of saying yes to every opportunity that came my way, and so thats what I did for the first year and a half. And although that mindset opened a lot of doors for me, it was also very stifling because it left me with no time for myself to process, feel and work on the things that I really wanted to. I was dying to make some music for myself – I felt like I had so much to say bottled up in my chest but I constantly felt overwhelmed, anxious and never had the time to work on anything for myself. And even if I did, I was afraid to be selfish because the band was important to me and I was terrified that putting myself first would equate to disappointing and losing people in my life. I was constantly sad, faking smiles and telling the people around me that I was great.
I don’t know what exactly it was that changed, but I finally gave myself a chance to put me first. That came with learning how to say no to people which has proven to be the most empowering thing of my life. I started to set aside time to write for myself and work on things for me and I immediately felt how that not only affected my own soul and heart but also my relationships. I discovered that a healthier relationship with myself drastically changed my relationships with others and that was a really beautiful thing. I felt like for the first time in my life, I was able to really open my heart the way I wanted to and be the absolute truest and most honest version of myself that I could possibly be – something I had never felt in my life before.
I’m still learning how to navigate this path to self-love and self-respect. Everyday I am still learning how to say no to people and how to listen to and trust my instincts. I’ve found peace with the idea that I’m not going to be able to please everybody and if caring for myself means losing some people along the way, then that’s a healthy part of growth.
Right now, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. I feel free, I feel safe and I feel like I’m truly giving myself the space and opportunity to learn who I am, why I’m here and what it is I want. When I started putting myself first, good things started happening and I really began to feel like I was on the path that I’ve supposed to be on this whole time.
I wouldn’t change any part of my journey, even when it was the hardest for me. I truly believe I wouldn’t be who I am and where I am if it weren’t for every piece of my story and I’m just happy to be at a place where I can truly feel good about the things I’m doing and the energy I am surrounding myself with. There are a lot of moving pieces, but good things are really happening right now and I just can’t wait to share everything I’m working on with the world.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I am an artist, producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. I’ve learned that I don’t need (or want) to stay in one lane – it’s possible to have your hand different avenues and be successful in all of them. I don’t know exactly what it is that is going to “make” my career (if that’s even a real moment) but I’ve found so much clarity in trying out everything. I love to take risks, experiment, learn and adapt.
There are a lot of really incredibly talented musicians in LA, obviously. And for a long time, that was really daunting for me because I’d spend 5 minutes on Instagram and remember that there are thousands of more talented people than me right in this city. One of the biggest things I’ve learned about the industry is that talent isn’t the defining factor in an individual’s success. If I meet the greatest songwriter of all time but he’s an asshole, I won’t want to be in the room with that person again and on that same note, the end product will often reflect that energy because of a lack of communication. I feel like a lot of my own success has come from the fact that I work well with others and it creates a really healthy work environment free of judgment and ego. Some of the most talented people in the world are really difficult to work with and the best music is collaborative.
So to answer your question, I think what sets me apart from others is who I am. Similarly, music and art is so heavily based on experience. My guitar playing, production style and songwriting all sound the way they do because of my life experiences and the music I grew up listening to and am listening now. When I’m given an opportunity to really provide my input into a session, that’s something can’t be replicated or faked by anyone else.
What were you like growing up?
Music was always the most important thing to me. My earliest memories of childhood are moments my parents introduced me to music and every time I hear a song like “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong, it takes me back to a very specific moment in time in the first house I lived in dancing around the living room with my mom and dad.
I was always really outgoing and I loved making friends. My mom said that when I was really little, she would take me to the grocery store and I would just introduce myself to every adult and try to strike up conversations with people as like a four year old. I recognize now that as I continued to grow up, I really fell into a pattern of wanting so deeply to make people around me happy. It’s funny – people used to always say things to me like, “Man, you’re just so happy all the time.” The truth was that I was just good at smiling and putting on a happy face but there was always an underlying level of anxiety.
I honestly hated school and often struggled through it – not that I wasn’t smart, but I didn’t apply myself to things I didn’t care about. When I found teachers and classes that really sparked interest and passion, I excelled but so often, I’d blow off studying and homework to pick up my guitar or play some video games.
I had a really amazing childhood though. I was so blessed with the life I was born into and the opportunities I was given. I had parents who were in a position to give me the world – they didn’t spoil me, but I never had any socioeconomic problems. I was given instruments, music lessons, concert tickets, summers at sleepaway camp – things I really took for granted at the time but looking back, I’m so grateful to have had that life. I owe everything to my parents.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyschmett/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeremyschmett
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyschmett
Image Credit:
Katie Buxton
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