My name is Jared Ray Hawking. I was born on January 29th 2003 in the state of California where I still reside. I started music in August 2017 with electric guitar after I heard Eddie Van Halen play his guitar solo on the live album "Live Without A Net". As time went on I became a multi-instrumentalist consisting of the following instruments; Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Bass Guitar, Synthesizer, Piano, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Trombone, Violin, and Recorder. Although you wouldn't know that from my currently released music since all but 1 song is either a VST and or Soundfont or a patch on one of my synthesizers. Even though my current discography makes it seem otherwise I do plenty of song-writing including lyrics, as I've written over 200 songs, most of them can be labelled as Rock. Now lastly, of course, I am an avid music nerd having listened to over 5200 albums since 2016, my most prolific year was 2024 where I listened to 1034 albums.
These music acts have contributed materially in many ways to make my music what it is:
The Beatles, J.S. Bach, Charles Mingus, Kendrick Lamar, Radiohead, Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Queen, Led Zeppelin, SOPHIE, Allan Holdsworth, The Doors, Keith Jarret, Pink Floyd, Judas Priest, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Jaco Pastorious, Van Halen, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Art Tatum, Black Sabbath, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Yes, AC/DC, Nirvana, Michael Jackson, Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel Jarre, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Residents, Magma, Sly & The Family Stone, Aphex Twin, Skrillex, Van Der Graaf Generator, Gentle Giant, David Bowie, Megadeth, Genesis, Eric Dolphy, Miles Davis, Lau Noah, Mahavishnu Orchestra, John Coltrane, Joe Pass, Parliament Funkadelic, and Frank Zappa.
What makes my music unique is that I've exposed myself to so much different kinds of music. Through osmosis I've formed a truly unique voice that cuts through the noise and says "Hey! I'm well-listened and have a deep palette to pull from.", but I digress. Another contributer to my creative process is that I never limit myself on how I approach creating art. Sometimes I start with a lyric, or a melody, or a sound in my head, or I'm trying to recreate a feeling. I also try to vary how I execute upon these approaches; I might use MuseScore to write, or I write acoustically via piano or guitar, or I might write on one of my synthesizers then record the output into Pro Tools, etc. The bottom-line is that I do my best to make use of my imagination in all manners. As a result of my refusal to limit myself I have this long-term ambition to make an album in every major genre and style before I'm 65. Ultimately I want the listener walking away like they just heard a true artist and innovator. So far I believe I am on track for that title.