BIOGRAPHY
JOURNEYS
Music has been the greatest joy in life for me from a very young age. When I was 10, I collaborated with my brother on our first music project. That was when we wrote our first songs. Due to previous music projects over the years, I had the great pleasure to travel the globe to play music. Years later and I am still holding onto this joy.
Coming from a small town called Husum in the far North of Germany all the way to Los Angeles in California, I was given the amazing opportunity to collaborate with world-renowned musicians, producers, and record in iconic studios, being in one room with Grammy nominees to make music together...musicians and studios who left their marks in history and are part of platinum, gold, and Grammy-winning records and we were making music together: the songs that I have written on my dad's old guitar. I was stoked out of my mind and truly felt like a kid again. The world of recording studios was my playground.
Beyond that, throughout this incredible journey, I’ve had the pleasure and privilege to collaborate with people who made the music I listened to while I was growing up — the creative minds who inspired me to make music with my family and friends when I was young. Their music was the soundtrack to my youth. Having this opportunity is the story I fell in love with.
Music to me is the greatest joy I can have. It's love, and I took high risks just for the pure sake of making music. We all have something to give and share, and it's nothing less than the best of us. Now let's go out there and create some greatness and beauty to inspire more of us...
PICTURES
AUDIO: Closing Shades (official)
VIDEO: Closing Shades (official)
VIDEO: Closing Shades (live)
INFO
Closing Shades is GJOVA’s debut single. The song is an interplay between acoustic singer/songwriter tunes, indie pop with a melancholic edge, and alternative rock that breaks out in a big orchestral vibe at the end. Closing Shades dives into the journey of discovering oneself and dying to the old ways of experiencing life. It’s about the moments of facing adversity, breaking free from it, and leaving it all behind. Besides collaborating with Los Angeles based string ensemble Quartetto Fantastico, GJOVA also teamed up with drummer Chris Hesse from Grammy nominees Hoobastank. Australian producer and mixing engineer Forrester Savell was responsible for the mixing and mastering and gave the song a big, deep, and warm sound that suits the song incredibly well. The official video for Closing Shades was shot in the gorgeous vastness of White Sands in New Mexico.
LYRICS
Screaming this heart out. Drown in the ocean that text paints my mind. It feels like truth died tonight for all these lies. As water filled my lungs and death kissed my heart. I’m gonna start where I am from and I’m never coming back. Close your shades. Torn this heart apart. All of this that lays around me is dead to me. This burning heart will light my way. Every part in me falls away. This is all I find.
BEHIND THE SCENES: Part1
IN THE STUDIO: Percussion Overdubs
BEHIND THE SCENES: Part 2
BEHIND THE SCENES: Part 3
UPCOMING SONGS
INFO
For over ten years, GJOVA has successfully pursued a career in the international music industry as a professional musician and songwriter. Due to the successes and releases around the globe of various music projects, GJOVA toured throughout Europe, the US, Brazil, Hong Kong, and Japan. With his new project, he now counts Los Angeles as a base from which to continue his musical path.
All songs were written and produced exclusively by GJOVA. The songs feature heavyweights such as legendary drummer Kenny Aronoff as well as Christopher Hornbrook, Blas Perez, and Josh Giroux who are all part of Dhani Harrison’s band, son of George Harrison from the Beatles, just to name a few.
The songs Pure Oxygen and Hurricane were recorded at none other than the iconic Sound City Studios (Neil Young, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Grateful Dead, Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, Nirvana, Kyuss, Rage Against The Machine, Tool, Slayer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Johnny Cash, A Perfect Circle, Queens Of The Stone Age, Slipknot, Poison The Well, Nine Inch Nails, Metallica) in Los Angeles.
In order to give his songs a unique and refreshing sound, GJOVA collaborated with a host of talented musicians, producers, and artists:
- Producer Eric Palmquist from Los Angeles (Thrice, The Mars Volta, Bad Suns, Mutemath)
- Australian producer Forrester Savell (Dead Letter Circus)
- Producer Steve Evetts (The Dillinger Escape Plan, Poison The Well, Snapcase, Turmoil, Earth Crisis, Hatebreed, Saves The Day, Glassjaw, Sick Of It All, Sepultura, The Cure, The Used, Every Time I Die)
- Swedish producer duo Pelle Henricsson and Eskil Lövström (Refused, Poison The Well, In Flames)
- Danish producer Tue Madsen (Heaven Shall Burn, Meshuggah)
- The legend himself drummer Kenny Aronoff (Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Mick Jagger, Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, The Rolling Stones, Santana, Jon Bon Jovi, Elton John, B.B. King, Alice Cooper, Avril Lavigne, Alanis Morissette, The Smashing Pumpkins)
- Drummer Christopher Hornbrook (Poison The Well, Dhani Harrison, Big Black Delta, Senses Fail)
- Drummer Chris Hesse from Grammy nominees Hoobastank
- Los Angeles based engineer David Andersen (Fall Out Boy, Nate Fox, Avi Buffalo, Henry Hirsch, Nico Segal, Earl Slick, Esperanza Spalding, Susie Ibarra)
- The Section Quartet (Foo Fighters, Aerosmith, Kanye West, Christina Aguilera, James Blunt, Dr. Dre, Sean Lennon, A Perfect Circle, Iggy Pop)
- Bass player Blas Perez (Dhani Harrison, Big Black Delta)
- Piano player Josh Giroux (Dhani Harrison, Big Black Delta)
- Viola player Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (Jay Z, Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, Shakira, Wyclef Jean, Pink, Lana Del Rey, Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, will.i.am, Dr. Dre, Joss Stone, Ray Charles)
- Violin player Paul Cartwright (Black Eyed Peas, Dr. Dre, Macy Gray, Los Lobos, Rissi Palmer, Everlast, Battlestar Galactica, Mad Men)
- Cello player Peter Jacobson (Dr. Dre, San Diego Symphony, The Walking Dead, Grammy winner with Quetzal in 2013)
- Violin player Chris Woods (Dr. Dre)
- The West Los Angeles Children’s Choir (P!nk, Black Eyed Peas, Imagine Dragons, Fall Out Boy, Fun, Big Sean, Frank Ocean, Panic! At The Disco, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Cher)
- California based composer Dylan Agajanian
- Piano player and composer Hal Stephens from Los Angeles
- Engineer Dave Jenkins (Metallica, Tool, Tori Amos)
STORIES...
The play with words has always fascinated me as a creative part of my musical journey. Reading and writing lyrics is something I truly enjoy and explored from a young age. I find deep fulfillment in diving into an ocean of letters; I get inspired, challenged, and moved by the touch of words. Sometimes I'm a different person when I pop back up, excited, confused, and ready to live a new life. Besides the sound of music, I also fell in love with the word, and I feel deep gratitude in sharing the dance of my stories with every single one of you. Creative thought is part of critical thinking. Be ready to question and challenge yourself and the ones around you with an open heart and an open mind. Be creative. Think critically – THRIVE ON CREATIVITY
STORY: Finding Flow
STORY: Hugging Life Tight
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