Daily Inspiration: Meet Jordan Halpern Schwartz

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jordan Halpern Schwartz.

Hi Jordan, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am a record producer/film composer, founder of Good Soup Music, an AAU Basketball Director at Clarity Hoops and South Pasadena Basketball Academy, as well as a Head Boys Varsity Coach at Sequoyah High School in Pasadena. I scored my first feature film when I was 23 years old and since then I’ve had the pleasure of scoring a wide range of film and TV projects. I’ve also done music for 50 plus brands over the last 10-15 years under my music licensing house. I’ve been playing music since I was 5 years old. It started with drums, then when I was 8 I picked up a guitar. I grew up studying at the Silverlake Conservatory of Music, and in college I got serious with my piano playing. I was also a two sport, multi MVP athlete as a youth and in High School. I was recruited to play basketball and baseball by a few smaller colleges and played one year of college sports at Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids, IA. I stopped attending college to pursue touring in bands for a few years. Then went back to school again. After a few years back in school I started scoring films, ads and syncing for TV and I never looked back. My basketball coaching career has spanned 13 years as either a Varsity Head Coach or Assistant Coach. About 3 years ago I cofounded one of North East Los Angeles’ and the San Gabriel Valley’s fastest growing AAU Basketball Clubs called Clarity Hoops and South Pasadena Basketball Academy. Recently I was recognized as one of the top 100 AAU Directors in Southern California (there are a lot of clubs in California). Also in 2021 I won a Hermes award for best score for the TV project, Innovation Squared. Music and Basketball have been the most influential and meditative aspects of my life. I am beyond grateful to have a career in both.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Absolutely not. I probably made under $100,000 the first 10 years I was in the music business. I waited tables for 11 years until I was around 31 years old! Hard work, perseverance and rejection is all a part of building a lasting legacy. I always knew it would work out and that I would be able to reach certain professional, financial and creative goals eventually. As soon as I relinquished the timeline of my previous expectations and continued to lead with gratitude, everything got easier; the jobs starting rolling in, the connections started to happen and the career as a musician started to solidify into something sustainable.

As far my AAU basketball club is concerned, I was using my savings account to pay for gym time the first 8 months or so. Starting with about 15 kids in my program three years ago, we now have about 100 kids and we’re growing rapidly.

Patience and continuous action (the RIGHT action) is the best remedy for barriers and obstacles.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As a musician I’m mostly known for my music in films/tv and ads. You’ve heard a lot of my music in ads for major brands. I have also worked on a few big TV series and films like Chef’s Table and Time To Choose. A lot of my film and TV work is for cool Indie Films and Documentaries. Over the last 4 years or so I have also been producing records for artists. I am a very proud producer of an upcoming artist named Bridge Barrera who will be a global phenomenon in a few years.

I am a creative producer and composer who thinks outside of the box. There are so many talented producers and composers who came before me and are my contemporaries. Yet I often find myself just flowing and taking an approach to my work that is dictated by the beyond. Sometimes ad clients want sound a-likes, and I am honestly not too good at that haha. Luckily there are clients who appreciate a somewhat fresh approach to music. I’ve found the best way to get a music supervisor or a director to like your work and hire you, is to release and submit work that doesn’t sound too much like other composers or producers. Of course almost everything is a derivative of something else, but if there is a fresh mind and a fresh heart behind the work, then it will automatically spark a new sense of wonderment for the listener/viewer.

My composing work tends to incorporate a sort of: shoe gaze, ambient, piano-melody-driven with neo-classical elements and guitars.

After 15 or so years working in the music/film industry I think I may be most proud of a song I produced for Bridge Barrera called The Curse that came recently came out on 8/25/26. It reminds me of music I always wanted to make when I was in bands as a 20 year old but was never able to achieve at that moment. Plus the vocal melodies that she has written are really quite elevated and unique for the alt rock/heavy rock/emo world.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
I am not religious BUT…the Universe/God/You/Your Higher Self/Whatever you want to call it is real. It’s more than a noun and unprovable to an etic perspective. The biggest lesson is to be quiet and listen to that higher self. It speaks in silence, rarely forming any sort of words/sentences but always communicating as a feeling, a direction; basically an intuition. It’s an aspect of our mind that is hidden behind cultural or individual centrisms and biases, hidden behind the insecurities and judgments of interpersonal insecurities. This small, quiet part of us moves mountains and dictates the tides of the oceans. As soon as I relinquished my music and coaching ventures to this aspect of myself, everything started to fall in line as it was potentially predestined to. This relinquishing along with the right, consistent action makes anyone’s dreams come true. Of course there are other humans who have to jump through more hoops than I did/do to achieve their dreams; but the goals are obtainable for all.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.goodsoupmusic.com
• Instagram: @spbahoops
• Facebook: @clarityhoops

Image Credits
Joshua Rendon