I can’t seem to help myself when I write songs. What comes out is the indescribably powerful emotions I feel about the most important people in my life.
Jarome Lochkrin, Singer/Songwriter
From our children to our art, our businesses to our charities of choice, there are many different kinds of legacies that we can leave behind for our loved ones; those that live on while keeping a little part of us still here in some special way. Today we are happy to introduce you to someone who is creating his own legacy, one song at a time.
Surrounded by music his entire life, Jarome Lochkrin approaches his craft as a true artist. It’s not something he ever pursued professionally since he always wanted to enjoy the intimate and private process of creating his own music, and on his own terms. In this digital age, Jarome has recognized the opportunities that are available to produce and release his own music while staying true to this relationship. With much encouragement from his family and friends, Jarome is now ready to create his legacy for his wife and children. It will be his own label of family oriented songs that his children can enjoy and share with those that come after, thus creating the legacy of Jarome’s Music.
Here, Jarome’s shares his story with us about his relationship with his music and why he creates such impactful songs that are full of emotion and storytelling.
Q & A with Singer, Songwriter & Music Producer, Jarome Lochkrin
KiDS NEWS & REViEWS: Having had the pleasure to personally enjoy listening to you and watching you play your music for family and friends, I can say without hesitation, that you are a true artist. What’s so obvious when watching you in your element is how you are completely brought into the world of your music when you are playing. It’s beautiful to witness. It’s a combination of storytelling and pure music and expression. It’s really different and quite special. Let’s start the interview by having you firstly tell us about where the music comes from in you as the answer is obviously going to be drawn from a very deep place. Now tell us about your relationship with other music and your influences. How you became so connected to your craft of both music and songwriting.
JAROME: I’ve always thought of myself as having very eclectic tastes in music. When I’ve written songs I’ve never thought about style or a consistent genre that I would adhere to. Having said that, it’s apparent that the songs I have taken the time and effort to record are of a constant theme. My most incredible life achievement is a successful marriage that created the two most fascinating people I could ever hoped to have met – my two daughters, Anika and Lexi. My music is a reflection and sharing of the profound love I have for my precious girls. By my girls, I include my fabulous wife, Marlene. I can’t seem to help myself when I write songs and what comes out is the indescribably powerful emotions I feel about the most important people in my life.
I’ve kept my songs almost secret for most of my life. With the encouragement and help of some dear friends, I’ve decided to let some of these songs out into the world,” Jarome offers.
Most of the songs I’ve written have never been recorded and I now look forward to doing that for my family first, and my new record label second. If nothing else, they will be the ultimate gift I can leave to my loved ones. If they become relatable and popular, that’s great, but it’s not the main reason why I’m finally doing this. When it comes to my taste in music and what influences me, I make a conscious effort to not judge different styles and genres of music. I am both a fanatic of Vivaldi and Black Sabbath. I marvel at the genius of Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky while still being influenced by Led Zeppelin and Alice In Chains. I never get sick of The Beatles and I search for current musical influences to inspire and move me. My biggest influences are from artists that can entertain with just a guitar and a voice because that’s all I have. That’s why Joni Mitchel, Neil Young, Cat Stevens, Paul McCartney, Ed Sheerhan and others are my main influences. Nowadays I have noticed a trend toward a lack of diversity in popular music. When I was growing up, you would hear Sugar Sugar followed by Mississippi Queen on the same radio station. Nowadays , I have difficulty discerning one female singer from another or one Hip Hop artist from another. My mind remains open though as I know there is genius and magic in music in every age.
KiDS NEWS & REViEWS: Songwriting is such a personal experience and the process is unique to each individual. What is the songwriting process like for you?
JAROME: I write songs because I have to. It’s my way of self medicating. Sometimes I don’t exactly know what I’m feeling until I try to put it in a song. My writing process is guitar based. I always begin with the idea of capturing an appropriate mood through chord progressions and melodies relative to the subject. As I am completely untrained, I don’t have any structure in mind when I write. I’m just trying to create a feeling that people can share. I think that’s the true intent of all art. It’s about us all having an emotional moment that bonds us on an unspoken level. Sometimes the words are gibberish, until they’re not. When lyrics come, they tumble out all at once. That’s how I know it’s mine and it’s worth writing.
KiDS NEWS & REViEWS: Can you describe your music label and the kinds of songs you will be producing?
JAROME: My music label is about songs that move people. I often hear songs that are catchy or that are intended to move your body through their rhythms. My label is for songs that hopefully last. I think everyone has songs they remember because of the emotional impact they have on them. Virtually everyone has had the experience of hearing a song from their past and being transported instantly back to that time and those emotions that the song evoked. That’s what I want: songs that last, and songs that have meaning. My hope for any of the music I have written is that my songs would help people going through similar things. As an example, I wrote a song about my first born child. He only lived for 5 days. I wrote the song Benjamin for him so that he would live through my song for anyone that cared to listen. Marlene and I had a grief councillor and it was her suggestion that I write a song. Initially, I thought it would be impossible. But when I started to write it, I found a chord progression out of thin air that felt right and the lyrics just happened. When I finished it, I had also learned that I was far from alone in my loss. So many parents lose their children. I knew that if they were to hear my song, they would know they weren’t alone. There’s comfort in that. I also knew it would be hard for them to face the music, so to speak. I knew they would breakdown and cry when they heard ‘Benjamin’. I wanted that because its right to feel pain and grief when you lose a precious child. Running from that kind of unquenchable agony is a mistake. So, there is therapy and healing through art, and for me in writing music.
KiDS NEWS & REViEWS: Can you describe the songs you are launching to start with.
JAROME: The first few songs I am releasing are ones written for my wife and daughters. Baby Don’t You Cry is a lullaby that I wrote for the girls when they were very young. Anika was a little older than two and Lexi was just a baby. All Of My Life is a song I wrote for my wife as a birthday gift. It’s a song about love and devotion. Right From The Start is a song I wrote and that I sang to Marlene when I asked her to marry me. We had our first dance at our wedding to this song.
KiDS NEWS & REViEWS: Tell me about Baby Don’t You Cry. Why will you be starting with this song?
JAROME: I wrote this song hoping the girls would like it and ask for it when I put them to bed. I’ve sung all kinds of songs to them to put them to sleep. To my surprise, they would ask me to sing the one I wrote for them. Maybe they will sing it to their kids if they decide to get married and start a family. That’s a legacy I hope to have created. Part of me recognizes that although we all die, not everyone truly lives. My songs are my way of lasting beyond my death and showing what it is to have truly lived. I thought I could live in the land of the remembered, through the music I create. When I wrote the lullaby, it was my first intent that they would want me to sing it to them and I also wanted to write a song that they could appreciate throughout their lives. Baby Don’t You Cry came to me almost all at once. The only verse I struggled with was the first. In fact, I wrote it last and it’s one of my favourites. It’s a song that starts with their births and ends with the birth of their own children. The journey between is intended to capture their milestones throughout life’s ups and downs.
PREVIEW SONG ON iTUNES HERE
KiDS NEWS & REViEWS: What other songs will be coming in the future?
JAROME: Future songs will come when they come. I have a notion that I’ll be singing about the teenage years before too long! When I review my songs, I see that they are signposts that mark the path of my life. Let’s see what happens next.
KiDS NEWS & REViEWS: Who inspires you musically and why?
JAROME: I’m inspired by so many people. I’m inspired by the most current musicians and those that impacted me in my youth. If I were to pick a band that moved me more than any other, it would be The Beatles. Their incredible songbook is timeless and enduring. There are no two songs alike in all of those distinct melodies. When I think of poetry and melody, I think of Joni Mitchell. The list of influences would be very long if I were to go on. My daughter, Anika, is a true musical inspiration to me. She has written songs as young as when she was four years old. Her song, ‘I See’ is so good and she wrote it when she was just 10. I hope she keeps her musical talent close to her heart and keeps that candle lit.
Thank you Jarome, for sharing your story with us. We wish you much luck with the launch of Jarome’s Music and look forward to reviewing more of your songs in the near future.
MUSIC REVIEW – BABY DON’T YOU CRY
When I first heard Jarome’s recording of this song, I had to stop in my tracks. It reached me so deeply. It’s amazing how this happens when a song feels relatable to our own life. I too, had a deep musical connection with my father and this is exactly where this song brought me. To my own Dad’s guitar playing, which filled our home constantly throughout my childhood. Without hesitation, if this song would have been available to me at the time I was married, I would have chosen it for my father/daughter dance. I strongly recommend any future bride have a listen to this song before choosing their father/daughter dance. You certainly don’t need to have a musical connection with your own father to be moved by this one. It’s a beautiful lullaby/love song about the simple connection of love between father and daughter and how his hopes in the song are to remind his daughters of this and to pass on the song for them to share with their own children. BEAUTIFUL. The music is as tender as the lyrics and vocals as well. Jarome’s guitar playing and vocals remind me of a combination of some of my favourite soft rock songs from my own youth and also, there is that current quality of some of today’s top artists such as Ed Sheeran, all styles that I feel Jarome shares qualities in.
PREVIEW SONG ON iTUNES HERE
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