Daily Inspiration: Meet Jayne Gray

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jayne Gray.

Hi Jayne, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers. 
I grew up on a farm in central Virginia. I wasn’t raised around music, but I think from a young age, my parents could tell that I was going to be going on a different path than my siblings, and luckily, they were very supportive of that. I was around 15 when I discovered that my laptop had Garageband pre-downloaded on it, so slowly but surely, I taught myself how to record vocals and do minor editing and processing. I already had always loved writing poetry, so I began putting those poems to music. I felt like my words were coming to life for the first time. My ex-girlfriend and I would record raps and I began putting them on Soundcloud. Back then, Soundcloud was like the Wild West; you could really upload anything, and people would listen to it, so I started building a small following. There really was no music scene in my hometown back then. It’s different now, but back in those days, I had never seen a DJ and barely knew what electronic music was. Regardless, I’ll never forget the day I was driving down the freeway to my friend’s house and I had this vision of me DJing and playing music on stage under the lights. It was crystal clear and came out of nowhere. Robert Green is one of my favorite authors, and in his book Mastery, he talks about how each one of us will have a moment in our lives where our life calling is revealed to us. I truly feel like that was my moment. I knew from the time I was two years old that I wanted to move to California so when I turned 18, I left Virginia and headed for California. I wasn’t really sure where to go, so I ended up in Sacramento, going to a community college and continuing to make music. I began teaching myself how to DJ at this time and when I was 21, I ended up playing my first set for an audience of 2 in an abandoned tattoo shop at a strip mall in Sacramento. I will always appreciate the guys who gave me my first gig. Over time, I began getting bigger shows at nightclubs and eventually began playing music festivals around California. I had stepped away from recording my own voice on Garageband. The days of ripping beats off of YouTube were over and I felt ready to truly learn production. I downloaded Ableton 9 and got to work. After a few years, hundreds of hours of trial and error, countless YouTube Videos, and help from my friends, I began making stuff that didn’t sound like complete trash. Music was my happy place and my escape. I had a girlfriend down in LA at the time, but I was still up in Sacramento getting my degree in Psychology, so I spent much of my time alone in my room messing around on Ableton. I slept on a futon so that I was able to have enough room for my studio setup. Back then I lived in a house with 7 cats and dogs where I shared a bathroom with 5 people, but it didn’t matter because as long as I was making music, I was happy. Music got me through everything, even before I had officially released a song. It got me through severe depression, anxiety, various drug addictions, the death of my ex-girlfriend, the deaths of my friends, breakups, trouble with the law, everything. Eventually, I graduated from California State University: Sacramento, and I knew it was time to follow the music down to Los Angeles. I had always wanted to attend Icon Collective, which is a well-known music school down in Los Angeles. Right after getting my degree, I headed down to LA and began my year-long program at Icon, where I would truly learn to be a producer. I was 24. I am happy that I had years of self-taught production under my belt before Icon. There was a lot I didn’t know, but I had a foundation and raw creative edge with skills that just needed honed in. I didn’t even know what the key of a song was when I got there. Icon was an incredible experience. I graduated at the end of 2019, and shortly afterwards, COVID hit. I think this was a pivotal time for many creatives who were forced to do a lot of soul-searching, including myself. Along with everyone else, I had all my shows for that year cancelled and the first half of 2021 as well. Honestly, it’s been truly beautiful to see the way artists got creative and bounced back from that time. 

These past few years have had their ups and downs, but they truly been a dream. I have DJed all over the country and produced tracks with incredible artists. I have DJed fashion shows, parties in the Hollywood Hills, yacht parties, nightclubs, music festivals, you name it. I have a home studio that I work from and have many tracks in the works to release this year in 2024. These days I make predominately hip-hop and pop music. I also create mixed-media neon art and have been selling my pieces with LA Fashion Weekend. They are currently displayed at a gallery at the Godfrey Hotel in Hollywood. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Some parts have been and other parts definitely have not been very smooth! But that’s okay because they aren’t supposed to be. Parts of my life have been a big game of chutes and ladders. One step forward, two steps back. I have lost myself and found myself many times over the past 10 years. But I am truly and genuinely so grateful for my journey, the opportunities that I have had, and the opportunities that are still to come. I definitely have an addictive personality and as those who also have that trait know, that can be your greatest asset or your greatest curse. When I was younger, I spent too much time addicted to all the wrong things, substances, money, love, possessions, etc. Over time, though, I learned that the best things in life truly are free. I know that’s cliche, but it’s true. These days, I am happier than ever and feel more aligned with my purpose than ever before. I also learned how to become addicted to the things that feed my soul: fitness, hard work, knowledge, music, adrenaline, etc. I quit alcohol a year ago because I always wanted to be myself. I didn’t like the way it changed me. Back when I first made that decision, I had no idea how much it would change my life for the better. These days I have the most meaningful and intentional connections to other human beings that I would not trade for the world. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Right now, I mainly do three things: I am a music producer, a DJ, and a mixed-media pop artist. 

I don’t really fit into a certain genre as a music producer but the past few years I have had a heavy focus on hip-hop and pop. I run studio sessions out of my home studio in Studio City, Los Angeles. I love working with rappers and other vocal artists, writing together, and seeing what we can come up with. Right now, I am working heavily with an artist in the UK named Ryder, making a UK drill, as well as a few artists around Los Angeles. I’ve been drawn to hip-hop from a young age so it’s a dream to be making it. I have at least 12 tracks and collaborations set to be released this year so there’s a lot to look forward to. 

Currently, I am DJing mostly nightclubs and fashion shows. I play at clubs 6-8 times per month, mostly in Los Angeles but also around the country as well. I am set to make my NYC debut later in 2024. In 2023, LA Fashion Weekend reached out to me about becoming their resident DJ, so I began DJing their fashion shows. I truly love fashion and am excited for what we have in store for 2024! 

I have always created mixed-media pop art pieces to hang around my own house because I wanted a certain aesthetic that I wasn’t able to find elsewhere. In 2023, I created Queen’s Habit Collective and began publicly selling my art. Queen’s Habit was the name I went by back when I was releasing rap music on Soundcloud as a teenager, so it’s meaningful to me to be able to honor that era of my life without still being a Soundcloud rapper. Currently, LA Fashion Weekend manages me as a visual artist, and my art is displayed at their gallery in Hollywood at the Godfrey Hotel. My art has become known for its incorporation of popular culture, fashion, vintage Playboy elements, dark narratives, and bright neon imagery. I am currently taking classes at the Lili Lakich Neon Studio in DTLA to further develop my design skills as a neon artist. She is a legend in the neon community, and it’s been an honor to learn from her. I am grateful that the art has been selling really well, and I can’t wait to see what we come up with this year. 

Any big plans?
My plans for the future are to continue DJing nightclubs and fashion shows, producing tracks for as many artists as possible, and building my visual artist brand under Queen’s Habit Collective. 

As far as DJing goes, playing music to a room filled with people gives me life. I don’t do much socializing outside of studio sessions and shows, so it’s energizing to go out and share music with everyone. One of my favorite things on this earth is traveling, and I am grateful for all the cities that music has taken me. Seeing how a room full of people reacts to a certain track is inspiring and helps me with my creative process back in the studio. LA Fashion Weekend also has big plans for their shows this year, and I can’t wait to grow with them as their resident DJ. 

This year, I plan to release more music than I have in the past 4 years combined. My work pace has hit a new level, and I feel more dialed in than ever before. I am in touch with some artists that I truly can’t wait to work with. I will be attending the Grammy Awards Ceremony and afterparty for the first time next month, and I can’t wait to soak up all of the creative and powerful energy floating around those spaces. 

For my art, having it displayed in a gallery in Hollywood was a huge milestone for me. LA Fashion Weekend has taken good care of me, working with me as both a music and visual artist, and this year, we are going to be taking the art to the next level. The sales and recognition have been doing well locally around Los Angeles, but 2024 is a building year to take this to a national level. 

Contact Info:

• Website: queenshabitcollective.com , jaynegray.com
• Instagram: @jaynegrayy
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZQdnjncB7U
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7asKvlVC5ymB1zx9don1aC?si=ayBapQUDTQKHscF0rRKDQQ