Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonas Jalhay.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jonas. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up in the 90s in Namur, a small city in the French-speaking part of Belgium. My initial exposure to guitar was thanks to my dad, who was a guitar player himself. I remember watching him play covers in local pubs (that I was probably too young to be at). But it was my older sister’s Nirvana tape that absolutely blew my mind. I knew immediately that I wanted to be Kurt Cobain. I’ll never forget when, at 11 years old, my dad gave me my first guitar for Christmas – a Japanese copy of a 335 jazz guitar with flat-wound strings and a hollow body. While it wasn’t exactly the Fender Jaguar I dreamed of, it was still an electric guitar, and I was ecstatic. The first few months were hard; my fingers were so small that I could barely play a bar chord. But with Kurt Cobain playing on loop, I stuck with it.
My dad was teaching guitar part-time in a small music school, which is where I met David “Fizzi” Fisicaro, who became my guitar teacher. I met with Fizzi for one-hour lessons once a week, but when he wasn’t teaching me, I was spending the rest of the day in his classroom, watching him teach other kids and absorbing as much as I could. Fizzi was instrumental in introducing me to new music. He got me hooked on Jimi Hendrix, Led Zepplin, Steve Vai, Incubus, Faith No More, Queen, Ben Harper, and Eric Clapton, to name a few.
A year later, I bought my first proper guitar. I’ll never forget that Purple Squier Stratocaster, which I thought was the coolest thing I had ever seen, let alone owned. For the first few weeks after buying it, I would wake up each morning and check that it was still there. Throughout my teenage years in Namur, I played in a few bands and began to realize that guitar could be more than a fleeting hobby for me.
I finished high school at 17 years old and planned to attend the Jazz Studio in Antwerpen, which was one of the only music school options in Belgium. Fortuitously, a friend of mine mentioned the Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) in Guildford, England. It was meant to be a broader music education, and as with most teenagers, I was quite excited about the idea of moving further away from home. After taking a trip to England to visit the school, my mind was set. I sent my audition tape, and they sent me an acceptance letter. I couldn’t believe I was moving to England. It is worth noting that, at that time, the only English I knew was how to ask for directions. Nevertheless, my parents helped me find an accommodation, and one month later, I was on the Eurostar by myself, with nothing but a guitar, a suitcase, and an address.
In 2003, I graduated from the ACM and decided to get a job in England while pursuing music. It was a pretty tricky time, as I was working three part-time jobs. Each week, I worked 30-40 hours in either a pub, a coffee shop, or a health store to make ends meet, while trying to play in as many bands as I could. My first “break” came out of a gig that I was getting paid $50 for. It was a showcase for various artists, and one of London’s top musical directors, Mike Stevens, was in the audience. After my performance, he came up to me and asked for my details. At the time, I had no idea who he was and could barely understand a word he said. The following week, he called me for an audition, and I booked my first tour with a signed artist called Lady Sovereign. We did a U.K tour and went to NYC for a one-off show, which was my first time visiting a different continent. As you might imagine, being a kid from a small town in Belgium, I couldn’t believe I was getting paid to do this. I thought to myself, “This is it. I should quit my job and just tour from now on…” Obviously, reality sunk in, and it doesn’t quite work like that. I had to graft for several years until work would come in regularly.
I ended up touring on and off for about ten years until I was ready for a new challenge. The U.S always seemed to be the place to be for music, so after much back and forth, I called an immigration lawyer and made the decision to move to Los Angeles. After about nine months of getting my visa sorted, I touched down at LAX on February 7th, 2014.
The first six months were brutal. I naively thought that, with the experience I had touring, it wouldn’t be difficult to find a new gig. I was so wrong. Just when I was struggling to make ends meet, I received a call from a friend based in England who needed someone in L.A to “babysit” some rehearsals for him, as he couldn’t fly in until a few days later. The band turned out to be 5 Seconds of Summer, and a couple of days turned into a couple of weeks. That’s when the transition from session musician to musical director took shape. It was never a conscious decision, but I happened to have just enough experience and understanding of how a live show is supposed to work, that becoming a musical director panned out.
From that point on, work became increasingly busy, and almost six years later, I’ve worked for the following artists: Post Malone, Camila Cabello, Hailee Steinfeld, Liam Payne, Andy Grammer, Jason Mraz, Rag’n’bone man, Meghan Trainor, Lil Tecca, Metro Boomin, Bebe Rexha, Super M, NCT 127, The Spice Girls, TLC, James Blake, Big Sean, Bishop Briggs, Hey Violet, NOTD, PrettyMuch, Stanaj, Amine, DJ Khaled, and the list keeps growing…
Great, 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?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, but I got some good stories and memories out of it. The biggest challenge was probably having to learn a new language when I first arrived in England. The touring life was physically and emotionally quite challenging, but I got to experience things that I never dreamt I would have when I first picked up a guitar.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I now concentrate on a few things, and fortunately, none of them take me out on the road for extended periods of time anymore.
When I work as a musical director, I oversee all of the musical aspects of a live performance. It can be a headline tour or just one song for a TV show. I sit down with the artist and execute their vision so it translates to the audience. It often requires working with a creative director or choreographer, as well, to make sure we are all on the same page and that the show comes together as a whole.
I also work as a mixer, producer, and engineer on records, and that has been really important to me. The studio is a bit of a different headspace creatively, and I love the daily challenges it brings.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I think my ability to adapt to situations and people has been key. You also have to be able to leave your ego at the door and listen to what your client wants.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jonasjalhay.com
- Instagram: @jonasjalhay
- Other: https://www.dubwaywest.com/
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