Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephen Chesley.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Stephen. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up in Maryland, the DC area, with my first love, Music. My mom tells me when I was young, I used to complain about this old Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn tape she used to play, then one morning, she found me scatting. I think pretty early on, I knew where I wanted to be or at least what I wanted to be doing.
My love of music, singing, and the art of storytelling through sound led me to every step in my journey since childhood. I studied Audio Production at Howard University, interning at NPR and a few other local radio stations in the DC area, and later headed South to get my MFA in Sound Design from the Savannah College of Art & Design.
I moved back home after grad school and looked for jobs for about eight months. It was pretty much rejection after rejection so when I stumbled upon a LinkedIn posting for an Assistant position at a Music Library in LA, I did my due diligence but didn’t expect much more than a “Thanks for applying” followed by a deafening radio silence. I didn’t know a ton about music libraries or production music companies but I interned in the Music Department at ESPN while I was in grad school so I’d been formally introduced to that world. I figured I’d shoot my shot. My sister and partner-in-crime lived in LA so I… finessed the truth…saying I was basically bi-coastal, knowing I could crash with Big Sis.
After an initial phone interview, they asked to meet me in person a few days later. I called my sister, got my behind on the first flight to LA I could find, and the rest is history. I’ve been with Q-Factory Music off and on but mostly on since 2015.
It’s funny, I never really intended to make LA home. I always wanted to create which I figured I could do from anywhere. I’m an East Coast guy at heart; I love love love the rain and am a big fan of the change of seasons. Plus, my sister’s an actor so from her audition stories alone, I knew it wasn’t easy to make it in the city of angels. But, in the course of 5 years, I’ve gotten used to the consistent sunshine, finding myself floating between hikes at Fryman and Griffith, and have come to appreciate so many things about LA including but not limited to the Shrimp Burrito at Cerveteca.
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?
I won’t lie, it wasn’t an easy transition for me. I got so many NOs looking for jobs when I was still home that I jumped at the first YES I got. My life changed so quickly that I didn’t really have time to think about what the change meant for me. I didn’t have time to process this new chapter of moving across the country, away from the majority of my family and friends, to a place where life is drastically different. I’m so grateful that the Moesha to my Myles was already out here but, even with us being so close, I still had a rough time adjusting.
My job was made up of a very small team, only one of them was around my age, and she eventually moved back East so I found it hard to find my own tribe. Again, I was very fortunate to have my sister, who is an actual, factual, social butterfly so many of her friends welcomed me with open arms. That said, it didn’t make it easier to find my people or really feel better about the fact that the nature of my work environment and the way LA is so spread out made my initial transition a bit insular. I desperately missed home, the rain, and a good crabcake. Being in the closet at the time didn’t help either lol.
I will say this, though: One of my sister’s friends told me that for a lot of transplants, especially those from back East, it can take about three years to get adjusted to LA and see if it’s a good fit. At the time, I remember nodding politely but thinking, “Girl, three years?? That is WILD.” Yet, about three years later, I started to really get my footing and I felt I could breathe. My shoulders weren’t so tense. I don’t think comfortable is necessarily the word but I began to understand LA life and culture. Hindsight really is 20/20. I could recognize all of the wonderful people that had come into my life. I realized all of the beauty that seeped into me because of this city. Hidden treasures and well-known attractions sprinkled throughout the vast landscape. I came out to a friend. I put out a music project that’d been brewing for years. It was at the end of my third year here that I knew I’d be alright – word to Ledisi. It felt like a new beginning. So, thank you Jill for your prophetic wisdom.
Q-Factory – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I’m the Music Coordinator at Q-Factory Music. We’re a boutique catalog of music and sound design specially crafted for the motion picture and television advertising industry. The Founder and Creative Director, Robert Etoll, is highly respected for producing quality cues. Hence, “Q” factory. Etoll Swish 12 is an industry favorite piece of Sound Design.
As Music Coordinator, I’m responsible for responding to incoming briefs and searches, and other client requests with appropriate music selections so that Music Supervisors, Editors, Producers, and anyone else can find the perfect cue for their project. I coordinate all new releases, liaise with graphic designers and our team for cover art, manage metadata, PRO registration, digital distribution, client correspondence, library maintenance, and anything else we need. It’s a lot but we’re a small and mighty team. I’m incredibly proud of the work I’ve done streamlining our day-to-day operation at Q-Factory and making sure we operate efficiently so client’s needs are put first.
As a singer and sound designer, I’ve also released my own projects including my graduate thesis, VOICE, a multi-media short film told primarily through sound that follows an aspiring singer on a magical journey of self-discovery. I’m currently working on a follow up to my 2018 project Beautiful Appropriation, a concept R&B mixtape inspired by W.E.B. Dubois’ theory of Double-Consciousness, and the general duality in life, explored through the marriage of creation and curation.
I’ve also had the opportunity to collaborate with other incredible artists and creatives in LA. I’ve engineered and mixed select episodes of The Tribe Talks, a hilarious and poignant podcast that talks about several issues affecting the Black community throughout the diaspora. I occasionally drop my two cents into the conversation too haha. I also sound designed and provided backing vocals for portions of phenomenal actor Sola Bamis’ groundbreaking theater piece: The Tutorial Part II: The White Tears Tea Steam. Through sound and song, we got to explore incredibly powerful issues like racism, sexism, and White fragility through Sola’s beautifully complex and multi-part creative narrative. I can’t wait to serve as Music Supervisor for Lorene Chesley’s (my sister) upcoming adaptation of her book The Perfectly Imperfect Christian AKA The Ratchet Files of Lorene Chesley.
My favorite thing about this whole process has been the artistic expression and the collaboration. I think that’s what sets me apart. I just want to make dope stuff with dope people. Put the work first. No ego, just telling the story – honestly. Using my voice, melding it with others to create something beautiful or ugly, but always true.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Whew, that’s a tough one…I’d love to say it’s being a Music Coordinator at a highly regarded music library but I think at this point, it’s Beautiful Appropriation. It was a passion project that’s been in the works for years. I didn’t do it for any other reason than it was a story on my heart that I needed to share in a way that I’d been wanting to for about 15 years or so. R&B kept me sane growing up and R&B mixtapes were often overlooked. The magic that was soulful vocals over Hip-Hop beats or just fresh, soulful sounds created outside of genre – unconventional sounds you might not find on the artists’ album. I loved how we could reinvent an existing track and turn it on its head with a new melody or meaning. Or, simply introduce an alternative way of expression through song. It’s one of the many things I love about music and art overall; the consistent reinvention. Old stories told in new ways, new stories told in old ways and everything else under the sun. There’s nothing like singing, creating, doing whatever you do, unencumbered by rules and “supposed-tos.”
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.stephenchesley.com/
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sdotchesley
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sdotchesley
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sdotchesley
- Other: https://www.qfactorymusic.com/#!home
Image Credit:
Stephen Chesley_Q-Factory Logo Credit: 2017 Q-Factory LLC, Stephen Chesley_The Tribe Talks Credit: Ama Blankson-Barnes, Stephen Chesley-The Tutorial Part 2 Credit: Sola Bamis, Stephen Chesley_Beautiful Appropriation Credit: Evan Odoms, Stephen Chesley_Voice Credit: Stephen Chesley & Evan Odoms
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