Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Kegel.
Hi Justin, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Justin Kegel, also known as Perish Beats, and this is my story.
Music has always been a huge part of my life. I’ve been singing since I was able to talk; I remember writing songs/poems on a piece of paper when I was only 7 years old. I didn’t have much growing up; I went through a lot. From my parent’s divorce at age 5, to going homeless and living in my mother’s car, getting bullied at school for being the “fat kid.” I grew up in a very dangerous, gang-affiliated town called Vallejo, California. It was definitely far from luxurious; my escape through it all was always music. I taught myself how to play the piano and used to street perform at my local farmers’ market when I was 11 years old. All I had was a $20 Casio keyboard that my dad bought me, a beat-up lawn chair, a tip jar, and my voice. I used the money I received from street performing to purchase my first computer, microphone, and headphones. My mom and I were staying with her friend at this time, where we shared a room. I quickly became introduced to the online space and started my first YouTube channel on May 26th, 2015, where I would post singing covers and “singing on Omegle” content. The channel turned out to be a huge success, amassing over 100,000 subscribers before I was even out of 8th grade. Everyone in school would refer to me as “Alright Vocals,” which was my YouTube username. Shortly after that, my dad got diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer, which really set me back mentally at only 15 years old. I became trapped in a very dark, depressive head space for a long time. Which resulted in me not uploading as often and, if I’m being honest, barely leaving my room/house. I ended up missing so much school that I got expelled and was forced to do online schooling after my freshman year; this was around the time I started “Perish Beats.” An online friend of mine introduced me to FL Studio, a popular music-creating software that I still use to this day. Upon first learning how to use it, I fell in love with the capability of being able to create anything from scratch, and actually make my own songs/beats. Over the next few years, I became completely tunnel visioned on it, improving my skills every day and learning guitar along the way. I started uploading beats on my YouTube channel, “Perish Beats,” & my website (perishbeats.com) in hopes of being able to make a living off of my music. It was a slow start, but after uploading a beat every day for 6 months, I finally started getting my first sales. With that came more subscribers and followers on other platforms like Instagram, where I was able to connect and market with other producers and artists. Eventually, in 2021, I was able to land 2 big songs with the well-known Minecraft YouTuber “Dream,” which really helped boost my career. Even with such success, I’ve always had a lot of self-doubt about my music, which has always been a struggle; everyone is their biggest critic, I guess. During this time, I was flying back and forth from the Bay Area to Los Angeles to go to sessions, label meetings, etc. My dad ended up passing away from his battle to cancer after it had spread to his brain on May 5th, 2022. In the legacy of him always telling me to chase my dreams and go to LA, I finally moved to Canoga Park a month after. It was a big learning curve, living on my own for the first time, luckily my childhood best friend moved in with me as well. Once I was settled in, I didn’t waste any time, having 2-3 music sessions a day while also still uploading a beat every day on my YouTube channel and sending out weekly guitar loops to other producers and artists. I was able to meet tons of other talented musicians, songwriters, and videographers. I landed a placement for Landon Barker’s debut single, “Friends With Your Ex,” where I got to produce alongside Travis Barker. After my year lease ended at my place in Canoga Park, my childhood friend and I decided to move back to the Bay Area so he could go to college and we could be closer to our families. I make business trips out to LA whenever I need to and am eventually going to be moving back. Right now, my day-to-day consists of continuing my producing career over the internet, but I am now focusing on becoming my own artist as well. I’ve realized I don’t want to just work “for” people all the time, as that’s what producing is, but instead, make my own songs and tell my own stories as well. I’ve always battled intense anxiety and depression throughout my life, which has definitely worsened after the passing of my father. The only way I’ve ever known how to cope with my emotions has been through music, I genuinely just hope whatever I create can resonate with someone. We might not be able to receive all of the answers we want, but we can find comfort in knowing we’re not alone with how we feel.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My “Perish Beats” brand is built on being a music producer; I’ve worked with artists such as Dream, Landon Barker, Travis Barker, Jake Hill, PmBata, etc. I think what sets me apart from others the most is I produce, write, and sing all of my own songs I create; I haven’t released any of my own songs yet but am planning on it very soon. I’ve been debating on doing an entire rebrand to my real name “Justin Kegel,” which I think I am going to go through with. Where I’ll still produce for others but start focusing on my own music because I genuinely enjoy it more.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
I was already doing online schooling at this point, so Covid didn’t affect me as much as others. I took the time that COVID gave me to really focus on making music with other artists and producers I had met over Discord who were also in their houses a lot due to Covid as well. I didn’t know it at the time, but I would make some lifelong friends and eventually meet most of them in person. A lesson I learned from Covid was you don’t always have to be in the same room with people you are making music with, even till this day I still make plenty of songs over the internet.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://perishbeats.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perishbeats/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/perishbeats
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/perishbeats
