Jocelyn, you’ve recently released your song “Ode to Time,” which you also produced yourself. Can you take us inside the creative process behind that track – what inspired it, and how did producing it shape the final sound?

I wrote “Ode to Time” during the pandemic. It’s really an homage to our perception of time and how differently we experience it depending on where we are in life, or even what we’re going through. During COVID, time seemed to move completely differently for different people. Some people felt stuck, while others felt like life was racing ahead, and that became the inspiration for the song.

Producing the song gave me another way to reinforce that theme. I layered around fifty vocal tracks to create a choir of singers, as well as piano, synths, guitar, organ, and drums. Throughout the production I used delays, reverbs, and subtle warping effects to evoke the feeling of time stretching, echoing, and moving. I wanted the production to support the lyrics rather than just accompany them.

Even though the subject is reflective, I still wanted it to feel hopeful. At its core, it’s a pop song. The chorus is uplifting and catchy because, despite everything, time keeps moving forward, and there’s something optimistic about that.

You’ve started mixing your music in Atmos, which opens up a whole new spatial dimension for listeners. What drew you to immersive audio, and how has it changed the way you think about arranging and production?

Atmos is really exciting. I first started working in it because I was at a studio that had an Atmos room, and it felt like something I should take advantage of and learn. What drew me in is the experience of immersion. As a performer and composer, I’m often literally inside the musical experience when I’m singing. I’ve had moments performing at the Dolby Theatre or Disney Hall in a choir-orchestra setting where I felt completely surrounded by music. That’s very different from listening as an audience member, where the music is more in front of you. Both are meaningful, but immersive audio can bring you into the center of it.

That idea is what excites me most. With Atmos, especially on personal devices like headphones or in cars, you can place the listener inside the musical world. It’s a perspective that not everyone gets unless they perform. From a production standpoint, I often mix from the perspective of being inside the music rather than outside of it, and I’m trying to shape what that experience feels like.

With several film projects in progress, you’re actively exploring the world of scoring. How do you approach composing for picture, and are there any techniques or storytelling methods you’ve been excited to experiment with?

In some ways I approach composing for picture a bit like songwriting, in the sense that I’m always asking: what is the music doing here, and what is the scene asking for emotionally in this exact moment.

When I started out in scoring, it was mostly comedy and kids and family television, so the writing had a very clear, direct role. The music often had to be immediate, character-driven, and support timing and humor in an obvious way. As I’ve moved more into dramatic work, that foundation has actually been a really helpful bridge. I still think in terms of supporting storytelling, but now there’s more space to stretch emotionally and let things breathe a bit more.

What I love about scoring is that the music can either support what you see on screen or subtly reframe it. In a dramatic moment, for example, you might underline emotion in a very clear way, or you might introduce something slightly unexpected that adds tension or depth underneath the scene. Finding and experimenting with that balance has been exciting and challenging.

As someone who both performs and composes for classical groups, how do you balance those roles? Does being a performer change the way you write for other musicians?

Knowing each role is a big part of balancing. As a performer, I’ve done a lot of solo, session, and choir work. My job has always been to deliver a composer’s or director’s vision quickly. But being on the other side has sharpened my understanding of that role. Now as a composer, I understand much more deeply how invested you can be in your own work. You live with it for a long time, but performers are often meeting it for the first time in the room.

So as a composer, I try to write in a way that makes that first encounter as clear and musical as possible, so players can focus on expression rather than decoding the page. And as a performer, I have become much more sensitive to being present and invested in the moment, even in small practical ways like putting your phone away and staying focused when you aren’t playing.

You began your musical journey as a vocalist, and now you describe yourself as someone who “sings” nearly every instrument. How does that vocal-first perspective influence the way you compose and arrange your music today?

Even when I’m writing for an orchestra, I tend to think vocally first. I’ll actually sing every line, not just the melody, but strings, horns, and bass.

If I can’t sing a line, even a simple one, in a musical way, I usually rethink it. It keeps me from just filling in notes and pushes me toward writing real lines that have shape and intent. I end up writing more interesting parts for players and memorable ones.

Your work spans songwriting, choral writing, and classical composition, including writing for women’s choirs, and you also recently received your first commission in 2024. What has it been like stepping into the choral and commissioned music world, how did that opportunity come about, and how does writing for ensembles or a brief differ from your solo work?

Writing choral music, especially for a women’s choir, has been a really meaningful experience. I’ve been singing choral music since I was a kid, but I never really thought about writing for that world until this commission came along.

It came through a family connection to a women’s choir that commissions works by female composers. What stood out was the scale and duration of it. In most of my work, things are relatively short, like a day in the studio, or a few rehearsals leading to a concert or recording session. But in this case, the choir rehearsed the piece for about four months.

That changed how I approached it. It made me very intentional about the text and the emotional message, wanting it to feel grounded in something empowering and affirming. The piece is called “I Am,” and while writing it, I kept thinking about what message I wanted singers to be repeating over and over, week after week. One of the most rewarding parts was when I attended the premiere and connected with the singers. They told me how they would sing their part while exercising or when they were having a hard day. It made me cry. This is why I write.

Across all of your current projects – from solo releases to film scoring to choral writing—you’re clearly wearing many creative hats. How do you navigate these different musical worlds while maintaining a cohesive artistic identity?

It’s actually a bit challenging, and I’m not sure I would describe it as one perfectly cohesive identity in a traditional sense. I tend to be someone who thrives on change and variety, so I’m naturally drawn to different musical worlds as they come up. Even getting into film scoring came from that same place. A friend had written a series and didn’t have a composer, so I volunteered. Most of my work has come from responding to interesting opportunities rather than trying to fit into a single lane.

What connects everything, though, is singing, writing, and an intense desire to express. Whether it’s solo music, film scoring, choral work, or even a musical I’ve recently started working on, those things are always at the center of it.

I think my artistic identity is really rooted in curiosity and exploration. I’m most engaged when I’m learning a new musical language or stepping into a space I haven’t worked in before.

Interview by Alex Petkovski

Check out Jocelyn’s directory page here!