Latest / The Scene Projects / Jaron Bell on Music, Media, and Faith

Transcript

Jaron Bell on Music, Media, and Faith · The Scene Projects

• 0:02
  This program is part of the Scene Projects podcast network.
• 0:07
  Scene Project features interviews with independent musicians, comedians, and artists
• 0:12
  from across the Midwest.
• 0:15
  Become part of our community and support local art wherever you are.
• 0:28
  Welcome in to a very exciting episode of Real Biz.
• 0:31
  I am your host Bubba Starts, and with me today is musician, influencer, and budding podcaster,
• 0:37
  Jaren Bell.
• 0:38
  Jaren, welcome to the show, brother.
• 0:40
  Hello, everybody.
• 0:41
  Hello.
• 0:42
  Hello.
• 0:42
  Hello.
• 0:43
  I'm excited to be here with you this morning, my man.
• 0:45
  Yeah.
• 0:45
  Well and we've spent forty minutes talking about sports and music and social media content
• 0:51
  and everything.
• 0:51
  I was like, man, I got you for a little while longer.
• 0:54
  Let's just shoot this episode and get it done.
• 0:56
  Let's do it.
• 0:57
  Yeah, man.
• 0:57
  I'm excited.
• 0:58
  And, man, I I love what you guys are doing up there.
• 1:01
  And, like I said, I'd love to be in person, but there's no shot you get me in South Dakota in
• 1:07
  winter.
• 1:07
  So in the spring, you might, but there's no shot you get me at winter, bro.
• 1:11
  We to we need to get you up for the motorcycle rally out in Sturgis, man, and we'll do some
• 1:15
  content out there.
• 1:16
  I think that'd be a blast.
• 1:17
  Well, you
• 1:18
  we get far into everything that you got going on.
• 1:21
  I know we're gonna talk about the podcast you're working on here.
• 1:24
  But I I wanna give you the floor for a second off the top here and just have you give us a
• 1:29
  little bit of your backstory.
• 1:30
  Sure, man.
• 1:31
  I you know, I I spent years playing music.
• 1:35
  I'm a I'm a kid from West Texas.
• 1:36
  Texas.
• 1:36
  I grew up in a little town called Clyde, Texas and and played music.
• 1:40
  And and, yeah, I think I I have a lot of story with a lot of other artists.
• 1:43
  I just slugged away and did it by myself for a long time.
• 1:46
  And and then as we got closer to COVID, you know, that that big break never came.
• 1:53
  And and I did what every single musician frontman does when their music career is not
• 1:59
  going great.
• 2:00
  I sold cars, of course.
• 2:02
  And yeah.
• 2:03
  So then I I just kinda kept at it on the side.
• 2:06
  And, honestly, to be completely straightforward, I thought the dream was over.
• 2:10
  And then some social media success took off.
• 2:14
  And instead of just letting that that sit by, we just buckled down.
• 2:19
  And through that, we've built a team around me, and and we've got some unbelievable people that
• 2:26
  I work with.
• 2:26
  And yeah.
• 2:27
  So we're just now we're just we're rocking and rolling.
• 2:31
  We're we're we're doing our thing.
• 2:33
  We're we're, got a new music, our new music video is coming out, and we just dropped our
• 2:38
  first, national radio single on Friday called guys that make her cry.
• 2:42
  So you guys go check that out on all streaming platforms.
• 2:44
  And and, yeah, so we're just we're just moving and grooving, man.
• 2:48
  And and social media has been such a big part of of of what we're doing.
• 2:53
  And I think it's a it's part of every artist's career now.
• 2:56
  But for me, I mean, it's changed everything, man.
• 2:58
  And we're we're putting up millions of views, and we're just I'm just so grateful.
• 3:03
  And, yeah, and I'm happy to be to take some time to do this this morning.
• 3:08
  JB, I think the story is so cool because, a similar fashion, man.
• 3:14
  I'll be 40 in May, so in a lot of ways, I thought that whole dream of being a rock star
• 3:18
  had kinda passed me by.
• 3:20
  I quit my job in 2024 thinking that I had the momentum.
• 3:23
  We had booked a few gigs.
• 3:24
  You know, the local amphitheater had us on as an opener, opener for armchair boogie, and
• 3:29
  playing our original music.
• 3:31
  And, man, I got out on the road at 38, and I was like, oh, I don't want this bad enough to
• 3:35
  keep doing this in the bar.
• 3:37
  I was like, nope.
• 3:38
  No.
• 3:39
  It ain't happening.
• 3:40
  I like to wake up early.
• 3:41
  I spent too many years in the factory waking up with the sun, and it was like, no.
• 3:46
  I'm a different man now.
• 3:47
  But in the meantime, we had started this podcast, and and I really fell in love with the
• 3:51
  conversations and propping up other artists that are just starting out, sharing a little
• 3:55
  bit of knowledge with them about what I know about the music industry, which isn't a lot.
• 3:59
  Right?
• 3:59
  I've never had that massive success on my own.
• 4:02
  I've also never been that, like, money motivated to chase it.
• 4:05
  I have lived my dream.
• 4:06
  I've gotten to play on a lot of cool stages.
• 4:09
  I've gotten to work with some really amazing people, and now I have an opportunity to build
• 4:14
  a platform for others.
• 4:16
  And and I know that in a lot of ways, it's very similar for you even as the social media has
• 4:22
  now taken off and you've had a couple of these viral moments and the momentum is really in
• 4:26
  your favor that you're all about reaching down.
• 4:28
  In a lot of ways, that's what you're doing today and helping out someone who you believe
• 4:32
  in and me seeing what we're doing and saying, hey, man.
• 4:36
  Let let's do an episode so that I can help you.
• 4:38
  And you would never pose it that way, but that's what it's going to be for us, and I'm
• 4:43
  well aware of that fact as well.
• 4:45
  Yeah.
• 4:45
  Yeah.
• 4:46
  No.
• 4:47
  I'm yeah.
• 4:47
  I mean, I'm gonna be honest with you.
• 4:49
  You're welcome.
• 4:49
  I mean, I'm here.
• 4:50
  You know?
• 4:51
  You're you're lucky that I'm here.
• 4:53
  No.
• 4:53
  I'm just kidding.
• 4:54
  No.
• 4:54
  That's I mean, look, man.
• 4:56
  At the end of the day at the end of the day, I I have had both moments of I have met artists
• 5:02
  that are bigger a lot bigger than me, and I won't name those names.
• 5:06
  But and they have treated us and I don't wanna say unfairly, but, you know, not well.
• 5:14
  And then I've then I've ran into groups like the Eli Young band and and Casey Donahue and
• 5:19
  and some of the other acts that I've played with that have been that you were like, man.
• 5:25
  You know?
• 5:27
  Because I realized that at some point when you're an artist, you the thing that I've
• 5:32
  learned, because we're talking business today, is when when the next level comes, it is not
• 5:39
  what you think it is.
• 5:40
  There is a lot more things that come with this that you'd never would think you had to do that
• 5:46
  you have to do.
• 5:48
  And there's artists out there that were like, hey, man.
• 5:51
  You need to do this.
• 5:52
  You should really look into this.
• 5:54
  Hey.
• 5:55
  Try this.
• 5:55
  Try that.
• 5:56
  And so I just feel like you know?
• 5:58
  And I my faith really matters to me.
• 6:00
  I'm a faith guy, and I sure love me some Jesus as I like to say.
• 6:05
  And so part of that means I I can't do it by myself.
• 6:11
  You know?
• 6:11
  I I tell people all the time, like, I I get emotional when I talk about it.
• 6:15
  But, like, people come up to me, and things have been pretty crazy where I live now, and I
• 6:19
  can't really go anywhere now without people.
• 6:23
  Yeah.
• 6:24
  It's yeah.
• 6:24
  They just know and and and and it's like the like, it's so you I always thought that the
• 6:31
  rock star stuff would be, like, a great feeling to have somebody wanna take your picture.
• 6:37
  But once you start you know, you're sitting when you sit here on a a Monday morning at
• 6:42
  09:00 and 09:45 and you have to you do this and you you know, after this, I got another thing.
• 6:50
  And then today's content day, so I gotta make some videos today, and I gotta post them.
• 6:53
  And I gotta have my post out by 11:15 today because I was lazy on the Super Bowl Sunday,
• 6:58
  and I didn't schedule for today.
• 6:59
  So I gotta figure it out, and I gotta do all that.
• 7:01
  So when you get a moment that someone's so kind to you or so nice, it's like, it it's really
• 7:09
  not about me if the people don't show up to listen to what I'm doing or laugh at my jokes
• 7:15
  that aren't that funny and they laugh anyways.
• 7:18
  Like, none of it matters.
• 7:21
  And so, you know, we have a thing.
• 7:23
  We just say that team matters from the people that sweep up beer cans after my shows to the
• 7:29
  people taking tickets to the guy that stands to my right and plays guitar to the the lady that
• 7:35
  that runs around with a camera around her neck who's my drummer's wife and takes pictures of
• 7:39
  me and and and does those things and and edits those.
• 7:43
  You know?
• 7:44
  Everybody matters.
• 7:45
  Like, this it's not We always joke.
• 7:49
  You know?
• 7:50
  It's not I always say it's not the Jaren Bell show.
• 7:53
  You know?
• 7:53
  This is you know, it's all of us.
• 7:55
  It's it's everybody.
• 7:57
  And so I don't know.
• 7:59
  Maybe and maybe maybe I look at it different than other artists, but and and I know that I
• 8:03
  do for some.
• 8:03
  But for me, man, how could you not?
• 8:07
  How could you I I get so excited about meeting people and doing I've done a bunch of more
• 8:13
  podcasts in the last four weeks than I have in my entire life.
• 8:16
  I've done more of these interviews.
• 8:17
  And and how could you not like, I I don't have to I'd here's the thing.
• 8:24
  I have set I have set in a car dealership desk and sat at my desk and had my hands on my head
• 8:31
  with both elbows on the table thinking to myself, man, I hate who I am as a person right
• 8:37
  now.
• 8:38
  I hate where my life is.
• 8:40
  This is miserable.
• 8:41
  I can't stand this.
• 8:42
  So now that my life is changing, I want everyone around me to get as much of a little
• 8:49
  piece of this as they can because it's awesome.
• 8:53
  Right?
• 8:53
  It's awesome.
• 8:55
  And and it and if you don't why?
• 8:57
  How could you not want to share this?
• 8:59
  You you would be so selfish to not wanna share this thing with everybody else, man.
• 9:04
  No.
• 9:05
  And I think that's a big reason why I became kind of addicted to building the platform as
• 9:09
  the scene projects.
• 9:10
  It's never been about me.
• 9:12
  It's about this entire, and especially Midwestern people like us, that there are so
• 9:16
  many talented people that, like, just don't want they don't wanna move to Nashville.
• 9:21
  They don't wanna go play that game, but they're extremely talented.
• 9:23
  They have these really amazing bands, and nobody knows who they are.
• 9:27
  And for me, I just couldn't stomach it where I'm like, the least I can do is try to do
• 9:31
  something.
• 9:32
  I can put you on my show.
• 9:33
  So thank you from all of us, JB.
• 9:35
  And and when that moment in the sun comes and what I equated to is that we weren't planting a
• 9:40
  tree.
• 9:41
  We were planting a forest of trees.
• 9:43
  And we
• 9:43
  spend our time watering that community and very similar to what you do with your church
• 9:48
  community.
• 9:49
  I know that you're a pastor and you show up every Sunday and water that.
• 9:52
  And you said you started with 12 people in that congregation.
• 9:55
  Now it's over 40, and you're getting together and and you're loving you some Jesus.
• 9:59
  And and for us, we're we're loving us some independent musicians.
• 10:03
  And we are we are loving God for the opportunity to do this, to be out here every
• 10:09
  day to connect with each other.
• 10:11
  Because I live in a little town in the middle of South Dakota, brother.
• 10:14
  Like, you know, probably not much different than your town out there in Central Kansas.
• 10:18
  Right?
• 10:18
  Yeah.
• 10:19
  Ain't nobody coming here to discover me.
• 10:21
  So we have to do it ourselves, and you have to build a team to make that possible.
• 10:25
  We have an international team.
• 10:27
  I have hosts that are in The United Kingdom.
• 10:29
  I have hosts that are out there in the Ozarks and Missouri.
• 10:31
  We have all kinds of people on this network now.
• 10:35
  A lot of them now nominated for the Midwest Talent Awards.
• 10:37
  We had four different shows and hosts that were nominated.
• 10:40
  A bunch of our friends who have been guests on the show nominated as well.
• 10:44
  And it's about recognizing all of us, and not just me.
• 10:48
  It's not the Bubba start show either, JB.
• 10:51
  And that's why the scene projects was such a larger idea because even my band, my band's
• 10:56
  name is starts and ends.
• 10:57
  Right?
• 10:57
  So it's like it's always been about, you know, look at me and being that, but it was never
• 11:02
  that.
• 11:02
  Right?
• 11:03
  Or it was never what I wanted out of it.
• 11:05
  So to have this opportunity now to lift our entire communities up, I think it's just so
• 11:10
  damn cool, man.
• 11:11
  Yeah.
• 11:11
  And and I just wanna say this for everybody that watches this.
• 11:15
  I just need everybody to know this.
• 11:17
  I'm kind, and I try to be humble, but y'all need to let Bubba starts know.
• 11:25
  I'm a I'm coming for that Midwest Creator of the Year award because I
• 11:29
  Let's go, baby.
• 11:30
  Come on.
• 11:31
  And you better tell him.
• 11:32
  You bet y'all whoever this Bubba guy is, y'all better let him know that I'm coming for it
• 11:38
  because I didn't know about it.
• 11:39
  Now that I do, I'm like, I want me some of that.
• 11:42
  You know?
• 11:43
  You know?
• 11:43
  It was funny because it wasn't an award show, and I was very blessed, to serve the community.
• 11:50
  And it's a it's voted on by the members themselves.
• 11:53
  Right?
• 11:53
  That's right.
• 11:54
  When I saw it was a award for last year's award show, I was like, oh, we're we're winning that.
• 12:00
  Because I'd have over a third of the members on my show over the last year.
• 12:04
  Right?
• 12:04
  And it wasn't it wasn't even a thing.
• 12:06
  It's not like I had the intention of, like, oh, I'm gonna interview all these people so I can
• 12:10
  win this award.
• 12:11
  I just went out and started being about the community and serving the community.
• 12:15
  And then in that in turn, that community will serve serve you.
• 12:18
  Right?
• 12:18
  And for me, I've never been about the awards, and I didn't, you know, I I didn't care.
• 12:25
  But seeing what it's done for me because now I'm able to go, hi.
• 12:27
  I'm Bubba Starts.
• 12:28
  I have an award winning podcast.
• 12:30
  It has made such a difference.
• 12:31
  And and that's really why we we have been adamant about, you know, now the Midwest Talent
• 12:36
  Awards and having these things out there and helping other people to get that little bit of
• 12:40
  recognition that helps separate you from the pack.
• 12:43
  And I hope that in time, working with, JB or working with Bubba Starts is something for
• 12:48
  other artists to separate them from the noise as well.
• 12:51
  And I think that, you know, your new show, that we're gonna talk about here soon, is going to
• 12:57
  be something that helps people tell their stories as well because I think that's the most
• 13:02
  important part in all of this.
• 13:04
  Yeah.
• 13:04
  I I I agree.
• 13:06
  And, again, I I obviously, I'm I'm poking fun a little bit.
• 13:09
  You know?
• 13:09
  Of course.
• 13:09
  You know?
• 13:10
  That's what I do.
• 13:10
  I can't help myself.
• 13:12
  Whereas my my wife would say, you're irresponsible.
• 13:16
  And but, no, I I just I I just think, man, it's so cool to see you guys doing this and and
• 13:23
  having the platform and and and building it.
• 13:26
  Like, it's so because, also, you and I both know this because you've experienced it.
• 13:31
  I've experienced it.
• 13:34
  There there is a it's a weird feeling when you realize there are artists that you're gonna
• 13:41
  know, whether it hurts or it hurts to know what it feels like to not be able to have success,
• 13:49
  to not be able to have those moments.
• 13:51
  And there's a lot of independent artists out there that are might never get the chances that
• 13:57
  I have.
• 13:58
  They might never get to do what I'm doing.
• 14:02
  And but if you can everybody deserves to have a moment, man.
• 14:12
  Everybody that gives their life to music or comedy or social media or whatever, they they
• 14:21
  deserve a chance.
• 14:22
  And I think it's my responsibility.
• 14:24
  I think it's your responsibility.
• 14:26
  I think it's our responsibility to wrap our arms around some of those guys and go, hey,
• 14:32
  man.
• 14:33
  We you know, I think it matters for someone like myself with what's happening, and I'm so
• 14:39
  blessed and I'm so grateful, but it matters for me to look at somebody that is playing tiny
• 14:46
  little bars and and and doing a bunch of covers, and they might not get opportunities.
• 14:51
  It matters to them for me to wrap my arms around them and go, hey, man.
• 14:57
  I see you.
• 14:58
  I I see what you're doing.
• 15:00
  I see you.
• 15:01
  Right?
• 15:01
  Because that's all I wanted when I when nobody nobody cared.
• 15:06
  Right?
• 15:06
  All I wanted was somebody to go, hey, man.
• 15:09
  You're doing a great job.
• 15:10
  You know?
• 15:11
  And and it's it's hard when when nobody gives you that.
• 15:15
  So it's you know, I think it comes with some of the responsibility of this stuff working.
• 15:20
  You know?
• 15:21
  Does that make sense?
• 15:22
  No doubt.
• 15:23
  It makes perfect sense.
• 15:24
  I know you're working on a new podcast.
• 15:27
  I know you're really excited about sharing these human stories and having these people out
• 15:31
  here.
• 15:31
  Tell us all about it, and then go ahead and plug everything else along the way, and I'll
• 15:36
  let you get out of here.
• 15:37
  I know you're a busy man.
• 15:39
  No.
• 15:39
  I appreciate that, man.
• 15:40
  Yeah.
• 15:40
  So we're launching a podcast called heavy on the grace, which I'm I'm so excited about.
• 15:49
  The fun story behind it is the first time I was trying to figure out podcasts.
• 15:53
  I did what every new podcaster does.
• 15:56
  I asked AI what my podcast should be called.
• 15:58
  And and I couldn't figure out what we were gonna do.
• 16:03
  And we were sitting we we had we were on the road, and we went and we were talking.
• 16:09
  And I said I said, hey.
• 16:11
  Let let's say Grace.
• 16:12
  Right?
• 16:13
  Let's say Grace.
• 16:14
  And, the the person next to me who's in my band, they know who they are, they said they
• 16:20
  said a curse word.
• 16:22
  I want some of that gravy.
• 16:25
  Like and I go and I so I started to pray, and I go I go, Lord, we just thank you.
• 16:31
  So in every prayer I I say every prayer I say, I always start off my prayers, and I say, Lord,
• 16:36
  we thank you for your grace and your mercy.
• 16:38
  That's the first thing I'd say.
• 16:40
  And so when we were praying, I said, Lord, I thank you for your grace and your mercy.
• 16:45
  And I put my hand on my buddy, and I go, maybe maybe go a little heavy on the grace for my guy
• 16:51
  right here.
• 16:52
  And then, like, I finished praying, and then I stopped, and I was like, yeah.
• 16:57
  That's it.
• 16:57
  That's it.
• 16:58
  And so just heavy on loving people.
• 17:00
  And I think that we're in a place right now as a country and as a world where we just we just
• 17:05
  need to smile more and laugh and and it ain't so bad.
• 17:10
  Everybody calm down.
• 17:11
  We ain't gotta hate each other so bad.
• 17:15
  And and yeah, man.
• 17:16
  And I I wanna do a podcast logo with with, like, a pouring like a gravy boat.
• 17:21
  I wanna do that heavy on the grates.
• 17:23
  But yeah.
• 17:24
  So my goal for the podcast is is to bring on some cool people and have real conversations
• 17:31
  and laugh and talk about stories and and do that.
• 17:34
  And so that's something that I'm I'm so committed to doing.
• 17:37
  And as you said, you know, when this thing starts to happen, it's so tough to you know,
• 17:44
  you gotta make sure the content comes out.
• 17:46
  I have to make sure the record label has what they need.
• 17:48
  I gotta you know, I'm still an in at the end of the day, I'm still an independent artist.
• 17:53
  I I you know, my team and I my buddy Wilson, who's my best Okay.
• 18:06
  There you go.
• 18:07
  Sorry.
• 18:07
  I think I muted my own microphone.
• 18:10
  You know?
• 18:11
  Maybe Lord told me to stop talking about me.
• 18:13
  There's like, I'm not okay, Lord.
• 18:16
  My bad.
• 18:17
  Well and you know what?
• 18:19
  I would love to get you back.
• 18:21
  We have a we have a show called Love Noise where we're gonna get to share some of your
• 18:25
  music, and I think that would be so incredible, JB, to actually sit down and have a little bit
• 18:30
  longer conversation.
• 18:31
  We we those span a couple hours, and I think that we would need that just to get into some
• 18:36
  of the nitty gritty.
• 18:37
  So, JB, I appreciate you taking a little time for me today.
• 18:41
  I thank you for being part of the scene.
• 18:43
  I appreciate you guys having me, man.
• 18:44
  Thank you for letting me be here.
• 18:46
  Go check out my new song called guys that make her cry.
• 18:49
  It's out on all streaming platforms.
• 18:51
  Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, anywhere with a blue check mark.
• 18:54
  It's me.
• 18:55
  Come say hi.
• 18:56
  Tell tell me that you came from the scene, and I'll say, howdy.
• 19:01
  Love you, JB.
• 19:02
  Have a great day, man.
• 19:03
  Thanks, man.
• 19:04
  I appreciate it.
• 19:06
  This is the Scene Projects.
• 19:09
  This is the Songwriter Showcase.
• 19:10
  Go ahead.
• 19:12
  Take a step across the Bear County line.
• 19:16
  You can hear the truth as it whispers through the tops of the Georgia Pines.
• 19:38
  Yeah.
• 19:38
  Well, we're not here just
• 19:39
  to talk.
• 19:39
  We're here to play
• 19:40
  and sing some songs too.
• 19:41
  So why don't you guys give us a song, and then we'll come back and talk some
• 19:45
  more.
• 19:45
  Alright.
• 19:45
  Yeah.
• 19:46
  My dreams are bigger than that small town.
• 19:53
  I was waiting on the storm to calm.
• 19:59
  It's been coming down forever, but it's the warmth in the fingertips.
• 20:06
  Where the cold air catches your understanding slips.
• 20:13
  Sliding down the driveway, swearing at the snow plow driving by.
• 20:35
  If I could change your mind, you'd know that I would.
• 20:43
  No need to say goodbye, the boy has understood.
• 21:06
  This day has been an incredible, incredible experience, not only for myself, but for
• 21:11
  everyone who entered this room.
• 21:13
  We hope that you enjoy the performances.
• 21:15
  We hope that you go and follow and find your new favorite songwriter inside of this show.
• 21:20
  And I pray that this community continues to grow.
• 21:33
  You had enough.
• 21:36
  If I could turn back time, you know, beat I would.