I think I went through every possible cliché. Through every hip sounding verb, droppin' G's and replacin' them with a '. Then, through every long and overly meaningful, multilayered name. For a while I stayed with SBQLC, which stands for Scenes from the Beginning of a Quarter Life Crisis. Until I realized this existential crisis was actually my life, and what I wanted to be when I grew up was happy, it was me who did not understand the question. There was the hood phase, with Becoming JG or Greenboi Music. The relationship status phase, with names like With Her, Without Her, For Her, Thinking Of Her, Missing Her or all five combined, not necessarily in that order.
To be honest, as I'm writing this, I still have no idea what to call it.
What I realized is this is a part of a journey. Another chapter in what I hope to be a great story. A quest perhaps. A search for a way to express myself fully. To have character. To be someone. To mean something. To reach people and inspire them to do great things. To write their own great story. To tell them that they can. And that what they are feeling is ok. To be part of their lives. To understand my own life. I know this sounds crazy. Like I'm a narcissist with delusions of grandeur. But seriously, this is what art and music has done for me when I needed it. I am now just trying to pay back the debt. And well, perhaps I am a little addicted to that feeling when music really comes through you and elevates. And yes, music still very much makes me cry.
So this is Vol 1. Of what, exactly? Of me trying to summarize the past few years of my life in song. Of me looking forward, daydreaming of what's to come. Of me trying to explain myself
through music. Of me trying to find myself. Reinvent myself. Create myself. Of me understanding what it means to be an Israeli kid living in New York City, playing Black American Music, playing Jazz. Bringing in all these influences from Alternative Rock, from Hip Hop, Electronica, in the year 2015. Vol 1 of this journey. Of character through music. Of this quest for love, to be part of the listener's life. Of your life. To tell you that you're not alone, and yes, you can.
credits
released January 29, 2016
A deep and sincere thank you to every single person involved in this music, whether friend, family, mentor, creator or listener.
Special thanks to all the Greenstein family. To the band - Gilad, Vic, Or and Mark- without you there's no vision to this. To James for capturing it and Jacobi for making it resonate. To Gil for understanding the music better than I do. To Maya for being such a big part of this. To all my close friends throughout the years- I lack the words to describe how dear you are to me. Thank you for being who you are.
Much love! jG
Jonathan Greenstein
with Gilad Hekselman, Victor Gould, Or Bareket and Mark Whitfield Jr.
Composed by Jonathan Greenstein (Greenstein Music / ASCAP) except WHO IS IT (Bjork)
Art by Gil Chen
Recorded by James Krivchenia, The Bunker Studio, Brooklyn, NY
Mixed and Mastered by Jonathan Jacobi, Firehouse Studios, Tel-Aviv, Israel
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