Jon Collins
The Jon Collins Band’s new hit single and video for the breakup song Don’t Believe in You has everyone talking. The video laughingly depicts scenarios in which partners find their significant other cheating on them. Everyone wants to know if any situation in the video is based on Jon’s own personal experiences. Jon laughed when he told me: “I find that songwriting is always a bit of truth and a bit of fiction. I’ve certainly had a couple of breakups, but this video is a little over the top. I didn’t experience the things in this video, but the song came from some real place, for sure.”
The band’s soon-to-be released new single is called Happy Breakup Day, so I’m sensing a theme here. Jon brushed it off saying, “It’s a little bit of a coincidence that these songs came out back-to-back. They’re both breakup songs and they both have a fair bit of humor. You can take this serious topic and you can make the song really serious or you can put a little spin on it. We had fun putting a little spin on this topic.
Jon told me that he’s just finishing up the edit on the video for Happy Breakup Day: “In some ways, this video is crazier than the last one. The premise is a guy realizes that his relationship isn’t working, so (to save face) he shows up at his girlfriend’s birthday party and sings her this song.”
Members of the Jon Collins band have day job where they are hired by one partner to show up at parties and break up with the other partner. The video takes advantage of their unique occupation: “It was a lot of fun to shoot. We had a 3-day shoot here in Los Angeles a couple weeks ago with 70 actors and extras and three different large-scale birthday parties. It’s going to be a lot of fun to watch too.”
Jon Collins became involved with music at a very young age. At 16, he became a studio musician. In college, he started playing the club scenes. When, I asked him to share his music back story with Amused Now fans, Jon told me his singing career started in the North Carolina woods: “I grew up in a really small town in North Carolina. In fact, my father built us a log house, because my mother asked him to. I grew up in a log house in the woods about 6-7 miles from the nearest small town. There wasn’t a lot to do out there. My mother had a piano; she was a singer and actress before she had a family. At about age four, I started singing and playing Disney songs on the piano.”
When Jon was a teenager, he started playing the harmonica: “I started playing with garage bands in high school. There wasn’t a lot to do in my small town, so playing music was my #1 interest and hobby. In college, I was with a band called Still Life in Chapel Hill, NC. We were one of the more popular bands in the area, and we played the East Coast club scene. I came out to California ten years ago, and it’s been gaining momentum ever since.”
Jon Collins is also an actor. He’s appeared on such popular TV shows as Will and Grace and Scrubs. Is Jon still acting? Jon smiled and told me: “Well, I act in our music videos. I used to do commercial work and modeling, but I just haven’t had a lot of time to do that. Music is more than a full-time business. Between the songwriting, working in the studio, rehearsing for live gigs, making music videos and touring, music takes up most of my time. I have a lot of actor and producer friends here in Los Angeles. There are projects that I advise on, and I’ve done some writing outside of my music. I’m always open to the right acting opportunity, but now my acting is limited to the music videos I’m shooting.”
In addition to acting and modeling, Jon Collins is also a filmmaker, but music remains his passion: “For me, music is just one of those things where the process of songwriting and the process of performing are so fulfilling that I don’t have to anything more to be happy. I have goals and things that I want to achieve, and I want to share my music with as many people as possible. I directed our last music video, so I’m wearing a couple of different hats. If it weren’t for the music, I just wouldn’t be complete.”
What advice does Jon Collins have for other artists who are trying to make it pursuing multiple entertainment goals? Does Jon advise picking one or does he think you can have it all? “Fundamentally, any artist has to be true to himself. I know that sounds cliché. You have to find your internal voice and follow that, but you must also be willing to change yourself around the periphery. Can you wear many hats? Well, that comes down to the individual. I happen to be one of those people who like to wear as many hats as I can get my hands on, because it’s a thrill. For me, being part of any creative process is exciting and exhilarating.”
I love that Jon Collins is grateful for his career choices: “No matter what ups and downs you face, you have to be grateful for what you’re doing, because you get a chance to do what you love. What else can you ask for?” Well said, Jon Collins.
In addition to their new release Happy Breakup Day, what’s up next for The Jon Collins Band? “The video will be out in a couple weeks, fingers crossed. We’re getting ready to release a six-song EP that we wrote over the last year, which includes the singles Don’t Believe in You and Happy Breakup Day. The other songs aren’t all breakup songs, I promise! We’re rehearsing for a live show with material from our new EP and songs from our last album. We’re going back into the studio with new material, about 10 songs that my guitar player, Chris Vazquez, and I have been working on. Between the studio and rehearsing and promotion of our new EP and music video, we’re keeping ourselves pretty busy.”
If you’re a The Jon Collins Band fan and you live in Los Angeles area, you’re in luck! The Jon Collins Band starts playing live shows in the very soon, so get ready and get tickets.
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Chris Vazquez and Jon Collins
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