Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeremy Little.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My homebase is a little town outside of Nashville called Greenbrier. Our population is around 5,000 people and in addition, an unknown number of goats, sheep, and horses. I spent around 15 years based in L.A., first in Silver Lake and then in Eagle Rock. I still go to L.A. regularly for work. When I produce a record, I love to do it in L.A. because the talent pool is so deep. A lot of my favorite musicians are there as well as amazing studios. I’m there so often that it feels like I never left. I still tell people I’m from L.A. because they never believe me when I say I’m from Ohio (not even in Ohio). It must be the way I dress.
I don’t really remember a time before I was a musician. Both of my parents were gospel singers and music was part of our daily lives. I played violin as a youngster and wanted to be in an orchestra. That is, until I saw Prince on MTV. That music made a profound impact on my young psyche. From then on my path was clear to me. I spent my teenage years playing in bands in my hometown of Dayton, Ohio. Eventually, I left town to chase the bigger dream.
When I first moved to L.A., I had a band that had a little heat at the time. It was the early 2000s and the industry was going through a lot of changes. The biggest change being that record sales were plummeting and no one knew what to do about it. My band was being courted by several major labels who would come to all our shows and buy us drinks and talk big. But what became clear is that no one had a plan. I knew that I wanted a music career. I didn’t want to be another musician who put out a record, went on Warped Tour and was immediately forgotten.
So, when I was approached to write a commercial jingle for the first time, a light bulb went on over my head. That’s when I enrolled in college to study music formally. The result is that I’m a classically trained punk rocker with some jazz chops. A strange combination, but useful in the composing world. Being a singer and composer led to me singing an alarming amount of jingles which itself led to getting work as a session singer which in turn got me gigs as a backup singer. I wish I could say that it was all part of my plan, but in reality I just said, “Yes” to everything that came my way.
After years of working on film and television and commercials, I longed to write something for myself; something that felt personal and authentic to me. That’s what led to writing under the name Remy Nova.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Some people seem to float on an ever-rising cloud of good looks and good fortune high into the ether of fame and success… I’m not one of those people. My career has been more akin to a bare-knuckle street fight in a back alley. My family was working class, we didn’t have a lot of money. So, at age 11, when I announced to my dad that I wanted to play guitar, I had to get a job at the machine shop where he worked in order to afford guitar strings (fortunately, dad had a guitar). I made $2.00 an hour to clean metal shavings off the machines. My whole music career has been in the same vein. Then there were the inevitable years spent sleeping on couches and eating ramen noodles. I’m not complaining, mind you. I had a hell of a lot of fun along the way.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
You may not recognize my name, but chances are you’ve heard my voice or my songs — a lot. I’m originally from Ohio, and over the years, my husky tenor has made its way into dozens of commercial jingles and even into The LEGO Ninjago Movie on a song called “Operation New Me.” If you happened to catch The Gong Show in 2017, you might’ve spotted me in overalls, playing banjo behind David Arquette’s singing ventriloquist.
Over the past decade, my music has been licensed more than 10,000 times for use in film, cable, and television — with placements in Almost Human, The Big C, Castle Rock, Fringe, Queer Eye, Shameless, The Voice, and more. One standout moment was when I reimagined “If I Only Had a Brain” from The Wizard of Oz as a stripped-down, lovelorn ballad. It became a crowd favorite at my LA shows, and after Fringe producers heard me perform it at a dive bar, they asked me to record it — and even wrote a scene around it.
That single sold about 10,000 copies and, for a while, was second only to the original Ray Bolger/Judy Garland version on the iTunes chart — and it’s still one of the top 10 versions of the song on there.
In 2016 and 2017, I had the incredible opportunity to tour globally as a featured singer on the Celebrating David Bowie tours. I performed alongside Bowie’s own band and fellow vocalist Holly Palmer, backing up icons like Ian Astbury, Adrian Belew, Joe Elliott, Perry Farrell, Tony Hadley, Angelo Moore, Gary Oldman, and Gavin Rossdale. I’ve been performing since I started my first rock band at 13, but sharing the stage with legends like that was something else — and I was honored to earn their respect.
I’ve also worked extensively with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, composing scores for documentaries like Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show (2014) and the BAFTA-nominated The Eagle Huntress (2016), along with films like Trevor Ryan’s award-winning Welcome to Willits.
Now based in Nashville, I travel regularly to LA for recording sessions under my artist name, Remy Nova. I’ve released three solo EPs, and I’m currently scoring a feature film and producing a new project for London-based artist and TEDx speaker Parry Ray. I recently premiered a few of those new songs at a packed underground show in LA. When I’m not in the studio or scoring to picture, you’ll probably find me on a hike somewhere around Tennessee — or planning the next adventure.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I love working on all sorts of projects; whether it be co-writing, producing, film-scoring, or performing. And I like to work in as many genres as possible. I find genres really limiting and boring, so I like to mix it up. I love to work with anyone who has an open mind and an adventurous spirit. I’m easy to find through my websites, remynova.com and jeremylittlemusic.com. Please reach out. I answer all inquiries apart from that guy who keeps offering his cleaning service for my office. Seriously, how many times do I have to say no?
The best way to support me is by listening, and if you like it, pass it on; alternatively: If you don’t like it, pass it on to someone you don’t like.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jeremylittlemusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/remynovamusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jeremy-Little-137174022989538/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RemyNova-m5u
