Johnny Stimson's Breakdown

"It was so exciting to see that I had a potential route to make this 'legit'."

A pop star with R&B sensibilities and a Southern soul, Johnny Stimson is a creative force to be reckoned with. Not only a talented performer but an accomplished songwriter, Johnny has captured the ears and hearts of many. After his single, "Holding On" broke the Shazam record for an unsigned artist, Elton John was quick to sign Johnny to his label, Rocket Records, before someone else did. Since then Johnny's songs have appeared in TV shows and commercials all over the world, including Vampire Diaries, The Flash, Trophy Wife, and The Fosters to name a few. Not one to rest on his laurels, Johnny kept writing and recording and his next song to reach international acclaim, "Honeymoon," peaked at #2 in Indonesia. Since then Johnny has toured with SoMo and Tori Kelly and released two critically acclaimed albums, one of which went double platinum in Korea.

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How would you describe what you do in the entertainment industry? Not just your title, but your actual day-to-day.

I write songs, I produce them, and I sing them for people! And then there are lots of things in between to work [on] to make all that into a viable business. Most of my day-to-day is focused on the writing and creating part. But parts of the year I will go out and play shows.

Describe your first paying job in the industry. How did it help to advance your goals or define your trajectory? Would you choose this entry point again?

Well, I’ve never really been “employed” by anyone in this industry, but the first place I earned some bucks was through sync licensing for my music. I remember the first sync I ever got was for a water bottle commercial in Ukraine. It was so exciting to see that I had a potential route to make this “legit.” I didn’t even know what sync was when I first started making songs (it’s when someone pays you to use your song as a part of some media, ad, movie, vlog, whatever). Part of my business still lands on the sync side, but I’m grateful to have found quite a few different types of income streams within the music industry as I see it. 

Describe the moment you felt you "made it". What did it look like and how did you arrive there?

Still working on that! I have had a few incredible moments the last few years though. One highlight that comes to mind was playing for 10,000 people in Korea last summer. That same day, the Korean team at Warner gave me a plaque that my album has gone double platinum in Korea. It was wild! Then a few months later I did my first headline tour in Asia. It was an absolute blast. 

My music has gained some more traction in Asia the past few years, and it’s been a real journey to navigate the international music industry. After some years of trying to maximize momentum of certain songs in different Asian territories, it all felt so surreal to finally be playing for them. I am really thankful for the years of working to build a small team of people I trust around me.

I’m not exactly sure how I landed there, but I will say that the first time I saw my song was played on a radio station in Asia, I started emailing the radio station myself. It’s been a lot of just shooting my shot and not being afraid to reach out. I would also say I noticed a change once I finally decided to embrace social media. I realized it can look different for different people. My style was to try to respond to as many messages from international listeners and to use the Instagram live feature once a week. It’s been an amazing way to connect with people all over the world. 

What do you wish you knew before you took your first step into the industry? What essential advice could have informed your expectations, timeline, approach, etc…

Here's one really basic idea that I think about a lot. It’s that there isn’t just one way to be successful making music. You can work in a million different parts of the industry of music and there are a million ways to climb up the mountain as an artist. My encouragement for other artists would be to not be afraid to think outside the box! I was so surprised to discover sync licensing early in my career and I've found several other unique ways to build my fan base just by experimenting and not being afraid to go for it. One other thing, this might not apply to everyone, but this helps me: in a creative environment work hard to FINISH projects. If you can make decisions and say “Yes this is done” or “It’s not finished but we need to change these couple specific things and then it will be ready.” I've just noticed so many pals held back by the inability to decide if something is “done” or not. If you feel good about it, don’t be afraid to be vulnerable and just put it out there. I think that consistently releasing great art is a better way to gain a fanbase than having one song that may be perfect to your ears but might steal 2 years of your life. 

What still excites you about the industry? If you had 48 hours in the day where else would you be exploring in the industry?

Oh woooow. If I had 48 hours that would be so tight! I mean here’s the biggest one to me. The world is smaller than ever. The gate-keeping label model still exists but it isn’t nearly as necessary as it once was. It's so exciting to me that I can make a song on my laptop, mix it, upload it, and get it to people all over the world instantly. That's crazy! So much potential there! I think it’s the best possible time in human history to make music :)

Where can we follow along with you?

instagram.com/johnnystimson

tiktok.com/@johnny.stimson

Johnnystimson.com

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What are five products that you use in your workflow, that you couldn't live without?

1. Real piano and guitar (these are my main writing tools and I just like playing in the room without the computer while I’m thinking of ideas) 

2. My laptop and a big keyboard (with Logic) 

3. Adobe Suite (Photoshop and Premiere) 

4. Waves L2 on the master (lol someone out there will get this and maybe laugh at me, but I use it allllll the time) 

5. Rc-20 is a lofi plugin that’s really easy to use and helped me get some character in my sounds

Bonus: iPhone voice memos. Actually, that could probably be #1 because I use it every single day

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