2021-04-12
53 分钟My guest today, Justin Tranter, is one of the top songwriters and collaborators in the music industry, writing with everyone from Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa, and Selena Gomez to Demi Lovato, BB Rexa, Brandy Clark, Shea diamond, and countless others.
With their astonishing success and abundant self love, you'd never imagine Justin was bullied mercilessly as a kid growing up in Chicago.
Every day, in fact, was torture until the Chicago Academy for the Arts high school provided a place of refuge and emergence and ultimately saved their life.
Starting out in the business, Justin began their career on stage as the figurehead of the the glam punk band semi precious weapons, but eventually discovered something surprising.
They didn't actually need to be on stage to do the part of the work they loved, which was collaborating and writing and often helping other leading artists create works of art that told their stories in a powerful way and moved millions.
And Justin has since become a true pioneer in the music industry, working tirelessly to elevate the voices of everyone around them, whether marginalized people, emerging artists, or global pop icons.
And along the way, Justin has remained a committed philanthropist and glad board member, using their platform to rally for change across a number of causes, including representation and inclusion for LGBTQIA people, men and women of color.
And in 2018, coming full circle, Justin made this beautiful gesture, donating to fund a state of the art recording studio and part time music teacher at the very same place that was their salvation as a kid, the Chicago Academy for the Arts.
So excited to share this conversation with you.
I'm Jonathan Fields, and this is good life project.
I understand when you were a kid also, you used to paint the lines of songs on your walls from jewel, Tori Amos, Polycle, and the like.
That is very true, and I don't ever remember telling that story publicly, but I'm sure I did.
No idea how you know that, but yes, I did.
I was just so obsessed and still amazing with, you know, all of the female singer songwriters from the nineties never really connected to male artists, ever.
So it's just my walls were covered with lyrics of jewel, ani DeFranco, tori Amos.
There was a huge Paula Cole quote on my ceiling above my bed that I would wake up to every morning.
I was 17, desperate to get the fuck out of a small town.
That lyric was like, everything that mattered to me.
So, yeah, that is.
That is true.