BJ Jezbera shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
BJ, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What is a normal day like for you right now?
My days usually consist of waking up early with my son, making breakfast and getting him ready for school. After getting him to school, I come home and start up with the least fun part of being a musician- admin work. Emails, creating flyers, phone calls to venues, follow up emails, social media management take up the bulk of my time before picking him up. I squeeze an hour of practicing in, then it’s off to get the kiddo from school. We play as soon as we get home. Legos, Ninja Turtles, Batman, and coloring books are how we spend most of the time. As the evening sets in, it’s off to work typically gigging around San Diego at places like The Tipsy Crow. I get home while everyone is asleep; I spend some time decompressing from my performance, try to get in bed before midnight and start the process over again the next day.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is BJ Jezbera, from Chula Vista CA. I’m a dad, a husband of 10 years, and a full-time musician. Being a dad is my proudest achievement, but being that this interview is about my brand I’ll stick to that. Over the past 15 years I’ve played hundreds of shows as a singer-songwriter both solo and in bands. Currently my focus is on solo performances and I spend most of my nights playing gigs in bars, restaurants and venues across southern California performing cover tunes and original music. When people ask what kind of music I play, I tell them I’ve got something for everyone- because I do, and in this line of work you have to think of everyone, not just your own interests. While having something for everyone is great, I am a 90’s baby so my wheelhouse is anything 90’s-2000’s especially bands like Green Day, Blink 182, and Alkaline Trio. I love surprising crowds with stuff out of left field, like an acoustic Britney Spears cover sang with death metal vocals, or a mashup of Star Wars music and “My Neck, My Back”, anything to make a connection and grab someone’s ear. When playing original music, I tell stories and jokes about my life and experiences to really drive home the authenticity of my lyrics. I can’t stand it when artists sing a song and you can tell they either didn’t write it or don’t actually mean what they’re saying.
Aside from gigging, I also teach private guitar lessons and have worked with after school programs in the southbay providing group lessons. This year I started my own small business called “Southbay Guitar Collective” which will bring guitar lessons to schools, senior centers, and overlooked youth with the goal of building skills and confidence through learning guitar.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
The part of me that served its purpose once upon a time but now must be released is my party-boy nature. I love having a good time, and when I was younger it was all about having a good time all the time. Now that I am older and have a very important set of eyes watching my every move it became clear that it was time to hang up the beer helmet. Don’t get me wrong, I still know how to have a good time and when the occasion calls for it I can still hang with the most dedicated of partiers. Nowadays, it’s more of a special occasion to see me in the old mindset of whiskey fueled, late-night shenanigans. I’ve realized that as a performer it’s my job to curate the party, to get the energy up, but not necessarily to be the party myself. My earliest mistake was thinking I had to be the wildest person in the room, when really my job is to be the most controlled and make sure everyone else is partying to their fullest.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
To never stop working. Time and time again, I have fallen on my face, messed up, been passed-up on, been on the brink of a total collapse. And that was just the last week or so! No matter what tho, you can’t stop working toward what you want. My friend Steve said something like, “You only lose the game when you quit.” Which to me means as long as you’re still actively trying to do something nobody can tell you you’re not doing it or that you can’t achieve your goal. I don’t fully know what “success” looks like in regards to my music and I don’t think it’s something you can quantify through metrics like streams and followers. Longevity is what I consider success in music, so to that point I’m not sure if I can say I’ve experienced it fully yet so for me the suffering or struggling is the only teacher I know and I don’t shy away from it. As long as I am making an effort to represent myself honestly and authentically, the only option is to keep pushing forward.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Is the public version of you the real you?
Yes, I feel like the public version of me is the same me you’d get anywhere else. Onstage I have to be a little more turned up than in real life, but for the most part I’d say what you see is what you get. Off-color jokes, silly little zingers and honest opinions are what you’d get onstage or in the living room. I am a little less likely to approach someone I don’t know and strike up a conversation, but onstage it’s more like striking up a conversation with the whole group which to me is a little less intimidating, but yeah I would say I’m the same goofy ding-dong on and off stage.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: If you laid down your name, role, and possessions—what would remain?
If I laid down my name, role, and possessions my family would remain. My wife and son are the world to me so if everything else disappeared tomorrow, I know people would remember me through my family and the young man that my wife and I are raising. He really is my little mini-me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.linktree.com/CVBJ
- Instagram: CVBJ.Music
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/BJjezbera
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/mrjezbera
- Other: https://www.mannequinvanityrecords.com/BJ
Image Credits
photos by Adrian Tartaglione and Angel Rodriguez
