J.d. Garza

One year ago, we released Into the Woods. Gosh, time is flying by quickly and even though it feels like I’ve accomplished nothing in the last year, this song and the lyrics within are a gentle reminder that nothing is certain. The effects of the last year will leave (and HAS left) a life-changing mark in our lives. But we faced it together. Cheers to those who chose to go with me into the woods. You can stream this song and more by following the link below:... https://bit.ly/streamITWep J.d.

I hit up my friend, Haley Herbrand, and told her I had an idea for album artwork. She came over that evening, we shared a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and she put pencil to paper. It’s insane how she was able to take the images from my brain and create this! The first picture is drawings she made that night. Second photo is the final product. Thanks again, Haley

Part 3A* Song: Come Around Artist: J.d. Stream: https://bit.ly/streamITWep... This time around I wanted to invite vxD.E.D.xv. I came to him with music and some thoughts of where I wanted to go, and he came to me with movies! Okay, they may not have been actual movies, but go and listen to this track and close your eyes, then tell me what you see. Daniel not only accepted my vision, but after listening he developed a vision too. From there, we were able to merge those together and this is what you get. It’s no wonder I call him a genius. Thanks, Daniel! *I will be posting another video with my fun facts and info! I just wanted Daniel to have a chance to share how he engaged with the piece!

EP: Into the Woods Song: Weight of the World Stream: https://bit.ly/streamITWep Recording this song with On Captain Recordings was seriously magic. When I think back to this studio session... the air in the room felt electric and the space felt safe. This song represents my coming of age experience as a gay man. There’s a lot of weight that I carried and continue to carry because of toxic masculinity, homophobia, and this desire to feel and be normal. Specifically, this seg...ment is the transition in the song where it becomes not the shame I carried for so long, but the pride in who I am and who I am becoming. I originally wrote this first line with the intent to reference a white flag saying I give up with trying to be normal but the more that I thought about it... I felt like a white flag represents surrender or defeat. But I’m not defeated. I chose to keep the flag in this lyric because as a person within the LGBTQ+ community, I am proud to hold the pride flag up and to celebrate my community. But I also recognize that LGBTQ+ folks have had pieces of ourselves taken from us through abuse, hatred, policies, and much more. But as we face the struggles of our past and the pain of today, we are still a community fighting to make our world a better place. This song, to me, is FOR me to say that I reject the status quo and a proclamation that I will strive to be a better man ALWAYS. And most importantly, this song is about self acceptance and radical self love.

There’s a lot to the Into the Woods ep that I’d love to share with you which you might not hear or know about by listening to it. The writing process and hearing facts about a song is one of my favorite ways of getting to know an artistso I figured I’d do that. I’ll be posting a song a day and sharing some thoughts/facts about my ep. If you have a song you want to know more about, let me know in the comment section and I’ll do my best to answer any questions! This is Into... the Woods off of my ep titled Into the Woods. Produced and recorded by vxD.E.D.xv & On Captain Recordings! Stream: https://bit.ly/streamITWep