The Power Of Songs
Music is more than melody and rhymes; it's the universal language that narrates our collective story. Take a journey with me as I talk to all types of people in the music industry about the power of songs. From the first songs that pulled them into the love of music, to the songs they've encountered along the way that had a powerful impact, we will have great conversations about the power of songs.
The Power Of Songs
From Classical to Collective Soul: Jordan Critz's Musical Journey to Frequencies of the Soul
As I continue my journey podcasting, I'm constantly amazed by the diverse and inspiring stories I get to uncover through the power of songs. In this episode, I found myself in Jordan Critz's stunning Nashville studio, diving deep into his musical journey and discovering more amazing and inspiring stories. From his early days of sneaking contraband Christian music to his current role as a respected producer and composer, I was Intrigued by Jordan's unique perspective on the creative process. As someone who loves exploring the power of songs on our lives, I loved our chat about the universal language of instrumental music. It's conversations like these that remind me why I started this podcast and fuel my passion for bringing the stories behind the songs that shape our world.
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Jordan Critz:It's hilarious dude, it's so funny.
Chris Estes:Because you get this Shazam list of all this stuff.
Jordan Critz:Yeah totally, that's hilarious dude. That's so funny. Oh my gosh.
Chris Estes:How close do we get to this? This is great, I think you've got good levels.
Jordan Critz:Check, check one two.
Chris Estes:Check, check one two.
Jordan Critz:Check, check, one, two. We're right on it.
Chris Estes:Am I on it?
Jordan Critz:Hang on a second or write on it. I think you press. Those are turned on check check check there you go that's you there we go, check, check the funny thing is you're on right.
Chris Estes:No, that's you okay. There we go.
Jordan Critz:Okay, I just need to turn it up a little bit, okay, hello, check, check one okay check one.
Chris Estes:Okay, the funny thing is your producer, I'm in your studio. We're both like, okay, let's get the volumes right here on this little handy daddy funny.
Jordan Critz:There was a. There was a another podcast that came in here one time and, uh, they were trying to do this yeah and they were like, hey, you have to have, like you must have, all this awesome gear for a podcast. And I was like I do, but like they're trying to get it on their laptop. And I was like, man, I mean we can do like legit mics. But they were wanting like usb mics. I was like I don't have usb mics, like yeah, it's pretty funny, xlr jacks, I know it's too simple.
Chris Estes:That's funny, man. Well, welcome to the podcast. Thank you, I wish this was a video podcast, because your studio is one of my favorite studios in Nashville, bro. Thank you, man. This is a little oasis. I'm not even going to begin to try to describe it to people and I'm not going to give your address away, but Jordan Kritz has one of the best amazing studios.
Jordan Critz:Thank you.
Chris Estes:In Nash Bro, so we just kind of had a pre-podcast while we were talking about music, which you always do, yeah, but, man, I love the diversity of guests I've been able to talk to. And the first question I start with is always the most interesting one to me, because I think everybody who's in the music industry, whatever you do, you love music and there's that moment that you fell in love with music, like you remember falling in love with music. So I usually start with that when do you remember first hearing music and listening to music and being curious about it, like what was that experience? What? What artists, what songs like, what? What was that like for you?
Jordan Critz:yeah, man, that's a great question. Where would you start with that? Um, goodness, you know, it's interesting. Um, when we grew up, uh, it was. It was a pretty like closed kind of more like fundamentalist background, yeah, and it was probably more than normal, um, and so we actually weren't really allowed to listen to any music that had backbeat in it, oh yeah so no, like not beat, or just not even christian music
Jordan Critz:yeah that had it um because it was considered bad and demonic. I mean it would make you dance. Oh yeah, totally you may start moving your hips what did they use to say uh gyration leads to fornication man, well, you're not the first guest who's had that. He's had that kind of background totally, and um yeah, and so it's interesting because we listen to classical music yeah and then we listen to like super, like lame, like southern baptist what era like what?
Chris Estes:what era would that been like? What was that like mid 80s?
Jordan Critz:yeah, yeah mid 80s and 90s, um, but you know, it's funny, I, I, so I I always played by ear and I started, you know, just with hymns, you know, just with hymns, you know, and certain hymns, I was like man, this is, I love this chord progression and I love this melody, um and that was safe cause.
Chris Estes:There's no backbeats Right, totally.
Jordan Critz:Yeah, and, like you know, six verses.
Chris Estes:Yeah.
Jordan Critz:Um, and so I started with that and then um, in a lot of classical, and then I, I, I played by ear but I also played classical music and you know, it kind of helped me later on in life because I did guitar and piano. And then there was a moment to where I went into. I think it was like an arcade that also had like trading cards, and I heard Collective Soul for the first time Come on. And I was like, oh my gosh, yeah, what is that? Like this electric guitar.
Chris Estes:Yes, and.
Jordan Critz:I was like this, like something in my soul like set on fire, and so I was like oh, my, my goodness, like there's this whole world.
Chris Estes:I mean, we were like sheltered, sheltered no tv. Um yeah, that song stopped you in your trial, like when you heard that you're like yeah, yes, and I was like, oh my goodness, this is unbelievable.
Jordan Critz:um, obviously I couldn't really listen to it later, and so I actually snuck a radio, uh like a Walkman, in to my bed at night and I would listen to music, um, and it's funny because like I even would listen to the Christian station. And it's funny cause like Christian music was like contraband you. And so like I always joke around because artists like michael w smith and stephen curtis chapman were like gateway drugs you know, that's funny yeah, and it's funny because I finally got my mom.
Jordan Critz:I was like, hey, I want you to just like listen to one of these songs yeah and uh, somehow, I think she's like place in this world, right, yeah totally, and I think it like got her hooked, yeah, um, yeah, it's really funny. Um, that's funny, yeah, and then so I would say it was a different kind of background, but I I will say, um, not having something, yeah, actually created like a greater desire for that, and I think, in a good way yeah you know, there were a good 10, 15 years of my life that, um, that I.
Jordan Critz:I didn't have those things, but in a way it kind of really shaped who I am, you know, and how I approach music and how I view it. Yeah, um, so yeah, and then it was you too, and you know all of the all of the typical bands.
Jordan Critz:Um, but it's funny because I would I kind of, you know came on the scene like 10 years late to like everything you know, even movies. I'll talk about these movies to my friends. I'll be like dude. Did you just see? You know whatever movie? And they're like dude. That's like so old. So it's kind of funny.
Chris Estes:I'm just a little bit delayed in experiencing so what was the first like classical song you remember hearing that was like it pulled you in.
Jordan Critz:Debussy.
Chris Estes:Yeah.
Jordan Critz:Debussy, I would say Claire de Lune or Dr Grotus at Parnassum. Yeah, there's something about the, the, the like the diatonics of in the, the romanticism of that, of his music that kind of broke the boundaries of counterpoint, like you would hear in the baroque period and all of these rules, and I think there was something like kind of interesting about how I grew up also is that it was a culture where it was so many rules um, there wasn't room to break them or even question them wow you know, and so for, honestly, for me, music was, it was survival for me yeah um, it was the only way that that I could get out, um, some things of the deep soul questions that I couldn't get out, um, you know, just in our, in our system.
Jordan Critz:So music was the only way for that and so I think I was. I was drawn to maybe Debussy, because some of that stuff actually kind of broke some of the rules yeah, and it opened up wonder and questions and and I don't know it was.
Chris Estes:It was like an adventure in a way, amazing. How were you, how did you access that music? Did you guys have like records?
Jordan Critz:records. Yeah, yeah, it was records, so you would just sit down and you would hit and a record I.
Chris Estes:I love the vinyl experience cause you listen through at least half of the record in one pass, typically, yeah, and then flip it the other side, yeah.
Jordan Critz:It was all vinyl, Um, and I did have some classical, uh piano teachers that were really great, Um, really staunch and, you know, really intense, but they would, they talked about that music Like it was life, you know, like sustenance and um, and so they introduced me to a lot of that stuff as well. It's amazing.
Chris Estes:It's such an immersive experience that had been taught that, feeling it. Even the vinyl. Like you know the touch, the. You know the the I love looking at the vinyl. Like you know the touch, the you know the I love looking at the vinyl art. I actually don't have much, or I don't think I have any, classical vinyl. I need to start adding that to my, my genre. I got the Beatles white album today oh yes, there's a vinyl shop at the factory that I stopped by it's oh yeah, luna.
Jordan Critz:Records. Oh yeah yeah.
Chris Estes:I just popped in and I saw a stereo mix anniversary re-release of the White Album and I was like I gotta get that. Oh, that's amazing but I don't have any classical. I need to do that. Do you remember looking at? Was the art on the classical pieces? Was that anything to look at or was no?
Jordan Critz:yeah, it's like name, yeah yeah, maybe like an old picture, and I mean a lot of the, a lot of the classical things was uh, you know, depending on who it was, it's, it's um pianists yeah just you know playing it exactly how you know. They thought, yeah, the composer would have wanted to play it or would have played it, and so um.
Jordan Critz:It was like the pianist or the orchestra okay, you know and there's so many different orchestras that kind of reimagine those those people. So it's funny, because I always knew that I wasn't really made to stay in that world because I would be at. I did classical performance and I was at the end of one of the pieces I was playing. It was a Bach piece and I was like man, I really wanted to change the ending because I felt like it would just be more impactful, wanted to change the ending because I felt like it would just be more impactful, and so I I just like kind of made up a thing at the end and people like gasped, you know, and they're like what are you doing?
Chris Estes:you don't do that, yeah. So I was like yes, I don't think I belong in this world.
Jordan Critz:you know, I think I should probably write my own stuff, and it was pretty funny. But yeah, there wasn't much in the album art.
Chris Estes:That's funny man. So when you made the move through the gateway drugs of Michael W Smith and those guys when you're listening to your Walkman radio, were you in Texas?
Jordan Critz:Texas yeah.
Chris Estes:So what stations do they have, like a rock station, a Christian station?
Jordan Critz:Oh yeah, in Texas it was KLTY.
Chris Estes:Yeah, that's still around. I think that's still the Christian station.
Jordan Critz:And then they had Q102, which was alternative.
Chris Estes:And then they had the Edge. Any of the 100 stations are usually the rock yeah.
Jordan Critz:And then KSFM 1061, which Kid Craddock ended up being a friend of mine, and he ran it for a long time. Oh yeah, so it was all of it.
Chris Estes:So that was your next step into it.
Jordan Critz:Oh yeah, man, it was like the floodgates opened, yeah. And there was this moment to where I would tell my brother I'd be like man, do you hear all of those different instruments making up this whole thing? And he'd be like, oh, you know, tell me more about that. And I would always hear it in layers. Yeah, and, and so I.
Jordan Critz:I, at some point I was like I think I can do this yeah um, like I, I think I think I could build these layers, you know, and I it was kind of cool because just kind of listening through I realized, like how I heard it was a little bit different. You know, it was just interesting.
Chris Estes:You had a producer mindset back then, man.
Jordan Critz:Yeah, I guess so.
Chris Estes:That's interesting. So you were still a piano player at that point.
Jordan Critz:Yeah, I did piano and guitar Guitar. Those were my main instruments.
Chris Estes:So when did you? What age were you when you started doing that? Like I'm going to make this, I'm going to start making music.
Jordan Critz:I was probably 16, maybe 15. And Pro Tools it was before the Digio One.
Chris Estes:Yeah.
Jordan Critz:If any of the nerds out there know what I'm talking about? Yep and they just they had this little uh PCIe card and you would put it in the back of your computer and it had two like just basically a stereo.
Chris Estes:Yeah.
Jordan Critz:Um, but it, it was, uh, it was RCA jacks. Wow, yeah it wouldn't, even, uh, quarter inch or anything, and so. So yeah, I I just did that and I I started um. Before that it was just on little tape machines.
Chris Estes:Yeah, um yeah, like Tascam or like the old Fortex, yeah.
Jordan Critz:Yeah, and then I got Pro Tools and but it was back when everything was audio suite, so you actually, like, had to process to hear what it was gonna do, so it wasn't in real time, so you had to kind of guess, you know, and then hit process and then listen, which was kind of cool. There was something about that you know, um, yeah, I got that and then just started recording my friends and and then what are you guys playing Like?
Chris Estes:what was the style that you were into?
Jordan Critz:You know it's interesting. It was all like I loved cinematic music.
Chris Estes:I always loved movie music. You still do. Yeah, it's funny.
Jordan Critz:Like I'm kind of still doing it. You know, guitar and piano were driven, yeah yeah. So I mean, was it was all kind of styles, but but mostly kind of in the, in that genre, I guess yeah, yeah, yeah.
Chris Estes:So at that stage 16, you're starting to create music. What songs like really had an impact on? Like shaping? Okay, this is I'm hearing, like, this is what I'm.
Jordan Critz:This is the, the north star I'm starting to point towards yeah, gosh, there were artists or albums yes, so many songs um you know it's interesting early on um a lot of old country music was really impactful for me. Like how old was it back then? I mean, you can go old like Johnny Cash and some of that, but even some of the 90s country music. I mean I learned how to sing harmony from so many of those bands.
Chris Estes:Garth, did he have an impact on you? Oh, garth, yeah, oh yeah, I mean even in that era from like diamond kind of ruled in the 90s.
Jordan Critz:Yeah, like diamond rio blackhawk, little texas garth, yeah, I mean even our neighbor. You know um tim mcgraw and like a lot of these people. It's like it's so interesting um yeah, tim's old, I forgot.
Chris Estes:yeah, he's kind of old school, oh yeah.
Jordan Critz:I mean, like some of the early, early stuff there's so many great ones around then. So, yeah, it was kind of classical country and then I was super into U2, of course, of course.
Chris Estes:What was your first U2 song you experienced?
Jordan Critz:It was Bad.
Chris Estes:Really Bad.
Jordan Critz:Yeah, you experienced, um, it was bad, really bad, yeah, and that lick just like set everything off. Yeah, um, yeah, man, I mean anything from joshua tree also streets, and I mean it just yeah, that album, I mean beatles, yeah, I mean there were just so many that I would just ingest.
Chris Estes:How were you getting those then? Were you sneaking them in?
Jordan Critz:No, okay, so there was a point to where I got old enough, to where, I don't know, my parents kind of let up a little bit. We were kind of in this homeschool situation andchool uh situation and and you know it was kind of this group and you know, very fundamentalist and um, so we started kind of pulling out of that um, started getting shunned, you know. And so, um, yes, my parents wanted to stay in the church. Um, this group was like, hey, you'll wanted to stay in the church. This group was like, hey, you'll need to pull your kids out of the church and do home churches, because the church corrupts your kids.
Chris Estes:And yeah, it was weird. And so it was kind of like the village, the M Night Shyamalan movie, and then you left the forest and you realized, yeah, I mean really, and so they let up. And then I was able to kind of start listening to some of that other music. So were you buying? Like at that point, were you out? Buying CDs, then oh yeah, tapes, tapes, tapes, for sure.
Jordan Critz:I wasn't going to age you that much, but I'm a tapes guy too.
Chris Estes:Not eight tracks, but cassette tapes.
Jordan Critz:Man I love cassette tapes. It was so fun. You go to Sam Goody I mean, it was before Blockbuster and you would get singles. You could buy cassette singles.
Chris Estes:Yeah, you just had less tape in it. It was the best. If you lay a cassette tape down on the table with a pencil next to it, guys like us will know exactly what that's for A hundred percent.
Jordan Critz:That's it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it was tapes and then CDs. Yeah, yeah.
Chris Estes:I remember graduating from tapes to CDs and I always liked the artwork. So I was like always I wanted to read all the credits me too, all the stuff, right. And then the cassette tapes. It was like you're reading a? Um, a small, like tiny pamphlet, but um, cds was like oh, this is like a booklet, this is like bigger. Yeah, it was amazing. But yeah, I remember some of the cassette tapes. You'd fold it out and you'd have, like you know, arm's length of folded out small paper.
Jordan Critz:Oh yeah, I miss that so much. I do, yeah, I miss reading all the lyrics and, like everyone that was a part of it and they would always have these excerpts of, like you know, this thought behind the whole record and, man, there's just something about it.
Chris Estes:It's just amazing. I bought um John, so vinyl actually takes us to the next level which I kind of missed the vinyl age. I didn't grow up with vinyl around the house. Um, I knew about it but it just wasn't a thing. And it's had a massive resurgence now. And um, I bought John Coltrane's love supreme, oh yeah, and I didn't realize, like when you, when it's a double, uh vinyl gatefold, so when you open it up it's, you know, massive, and it's a letter that john coltrane wrote no way describing why he did the album.
Chris Estes:it's his god, it's his response to the gospel wow, he's like and it's, it's a, it's amazing, but I never knew that. I've heard the album a million times, but until I got the vinyl I was like, oh, I didn't know, that was like the whole story, wow, yeah and that's insane.
Jordan Critz:I was thinking the other day. It's so interesting how music I mean, because you know we can all make it from our homes yeah there there's.
Jordan Critz:There's something beautiful about that that everyone can make music anywhere alone yeah also you can make music alone, so like you don't need this whole team of people, and there was something beautiful about having so many people a part of something and talking about it and it's like we're all now these islands, like little castles and being like hey, listen to my song, but it's just us. I had to learn to do engineering and mixing more out of necessity than anything, because I love just creating and producing, but it's just so interesting how I feel like it's a lot lonelier these days in writing music and I thought about the movies. I was watching a movie the other day and how the credits are going on every movie, like movies are still something to where you cannot be one person.
Chris Estes:Oh, no, like the actors.
Jordan Critz:Even like it, it takes, takes the entire thing, but when it comes out, all these people are excited about it because they had a part in it yeah like man, I want, I want to recreate, I want to start recreating that in some way of like, yeah, I could do this record myself, but how do you bring in more people just for the experience and just for the journey of it? I don't know, it's just so interesting and maybe go back to making you know like art and like you know, writing the lyrics or just something beautiful that connects people yeah
Chris Estes:yeah, I don't know if it's just long gone, but I don't know, man, I think music's always been a communal thing, right? It is yeah and even classical background. I love you know classical was probably one of the one of the first forms of music that was mass distribution, you know, through um experiences and orchestra halls and like you know performances and it was communities and people gathering around orchestra of instruments and people and it's like I think that is the essence of you know of how music works.
Chris Estes:I love that man. You, um, there's an artist doing a recording tomorrow night in town and he's doing live in the studio because he wants to. You know, he's at the gnome studio which has a big yeah, yeah, but he's going to bring in a small crowd of people going to track it in the studio, but it's going to be live because it's a communal experience.
Jordan Critz:Yeah, that's amazing.
Chris Estes:Yeah, dude, so you've had decades. We've already gotten to the age part, so we can say decades of music experience.
Chris Estes:So, man, I'd love to hear, like, as you go through the years, what you know because you've done so much in music, Like you've done a lot of different styles. You can get into some of that, like you know, with bands and alt bands, and you know a lot of different expressions of music as you've explored that over the years, like, are there, like there, like you know, you two had an early impact on you. Are there other artists or songs that have impacted, like seasons of your music journey?
Jordan Critz:oh yeah, man, where do I start?
Chris Estes:well, we hit you two already, so we can go from there.
Jordan Critz:I mean, goodness, there are. Just it's funny. Some people are like they'll ask like hey, what do you listen to? Yeah, my response is always like what am I not listening to? Yeah, you know, I got super into r&b, um, and like soul, um, gosh, I mean there are, so there's so many. I mean it's it's hard to even really pinpoint certain seasons. Like I mean, I think certain songs definitely have an impact. But you know what's interesting for me? The things that which I was always drawn to, instrumental music, because it's like, like we were talking about earlier. There's something about things in the deep soul that you cannot say with words.
Chris Estes:Yeah.
Jordan Critz:And some things are so impactful that they can only be spoken through frequencies. You know that idea yeah. And, honestly, as much music as I listen to, the things that hit me the most were like film scores, you know yeah. I mean it's weird, but I I think I had so many, so many um questions and and I feel like I kind of lived like for me the veil has always been very thin, you know, um, between maybe this existence or this reality and another reality, you know, outside of the three dimensions.
Jordan Critz:Yeah, not to sound weird, but I it always usher that in yeah it always felt very thin and for me instrumental music and scores were like a thing that impacted me the most honestly. There was always a place for bands and songs. But yeah, I was heavy into I mean, early on you had Jerry Goldsmith. I don't know if you remember him, but some of his scores for some movies in the 80s were just so incredible and how he used synthesizers mostly and like mix some with strings and you know, and then moving from him to like John Williams, of course, yeah.
Jordan Critz:Thomas Newman yeah, newman, and so many other composers, I don't know. I would just sit and listen to scores nonstop and even if you'd watched the movie and the scores supported that story, I feel like listening to them on their own told their own story and, in a way, certain songs would soundtrack your life. Yeah, you know so I felt like yeah, I kind of would just live in this. I don't know, I kind of lived in that world most of the time and even some classical music too.
Jordan Critz:But yeah, um, but yeah, I, I would just yeah.
Chris Estes:I think I would live mostly kind of in the instrumental world honestly, in the instrumental world, what, um, what are some of the like? You're like man, that changed how I approach things like that actually was a, was a, was moved it in a different direction. From here. There are certain scores or composers.
Jordan Critz:I mean, yeah, I mean Williams, of course, john Williams with so many of his scores, but, man, I'll say, like Thomas Newman when he did, like Shawshank. Redemption or even Road to Perdition. There is a song in there, it's called the farm and it is just like so like heartbreakingly beautiful. Yeah, um, yeah. I mean his scores a lot of times. American beauty was just so yeah, so incredible good score um gosh, I mean, there's so many of them um it's the beauty of a score.
Chris Estes:I think it takes the visual and the in the cinematic audio experience into like a different, deeper dimension 100.
Jordan Critz:Yeah, yeah, it really without it you don't.
Chris Estes:The best ones are the ones that like it. They just marry together. They're symbiotic so much that you're just like it's just one piece right.
Jordan Critz:Yes, for sure.
Chris Estes:And without it you'd just be absent of all that.
Jordan Critz:Oh yeah, totally, and even later on. I mean you have, there's something transcendent about the Gladiator soundtrack that Zimmer did.
Chris Estes:So I'm curious about the new Gladiator. Oh yeah, I don't know.
Jordan Critz:I don't know how they could.
Chris Estes:I feel like they're not going to be able to tap into what that was. I know yeah. I feel like our culture now is like hey let's just Probably going to be a bunch of bands, yeah.
Jordan Critz:Yeah, it's like hey, let's just make them not as good yeah, that's one of those.
Chris Estes:You can't touch man.
Jordan Critz:It's like oh, I know that's just a masterpiece man in those those last three songs, um, it is uh elysium honor him, and now we are free yeah those in a row. It just takes you on such a journey. Yeah Um, I feel like it's. It's like transcendent. Yeah Um, I used to go hike in the mountains and just put those songs on repeat.
Chris Estes:Yeah.
Jordan Critz:And man, it was just something, something about it. Yeah, um, gosh, yeah, there are so many, um, I just have to think about it. Yeah.
Chris Estes:Man, so many, um, I just have to think about it. Yeah, man, there's so many, there's so many great scores and um, I'm the same way I can go back to you, can you know? Obviously we have access to everything now, so you know we can stream whatever and when you go and stream a soundtrack in, in order, you know, just not perry, uh, cherry picking you actually can you start remembering scenes like oh yeah, you feel the moment, you know, almost because you visually you've registered that from from watching the film, totally, yeah.
Jordan Critz:Yeah, Sometimes I think that the the access of music now kind of degrades it.
Chris Estes:Yeah.
Jordan Critz:You know, it's's like there's something about the struggle to get something that makes it more beautiful yeah you know, and delayed gratification, you know, yeah, and somehow if you can just like get it immediately.
Jordan Critz:I remember that feeling when napster came out yeah it was like wait, you could like download any song anytime and listen to it. But there was also something that felt cheap about that too. It was like, instead of having you get a hold of this song and it's like the song of the month, now you have a song of the minute Hour.
Chris Estes:The hour and it's just this.
Jordan Critz:I remember having this 16 CDd changer. You know it was so awesome because that's like kind of what you had. It was just and you would just, I mean man, talk about 90s albums or really early 2000s. Yeah, dude, live throwing copper that that album sounds so good. It does Lightning Crashes yes, I Alone. I mean, dude, some of these songs you're like, this is so such a moment.
Chris Estes:Yeah, man, that song.
Jordan Critz:I mean, isn't it funny that certain songs like you, could have 16 bars of, just like one guitar playing a. Thing and and no one would shoot it down. They're like this is awesome amazing, isn't that funny yeah yeah, and now it's like, oh, you got to get to the chorus and like song's gonna be three minutes or less.
Chris Estes:I mean you would have like an intro be almost a minute. Oh yeah, and you have the long outro solo dude. Yeah, like you just want to hear it. When it fades out, you're like what's the rest of the solo sound like You're just still going.
Jordan Critz:Totally. But man, that 16 changer it was. I just remember the certain moment in my life where it was Debussy, it was John Williams. I don't remember the soundtrack, it was live throwing copper, it was Silverchair, frog Stomp.
Chris Estes:Dude classic album. Those guys were youngomp. Dude classic album. Yeah, they were. Those guys are young too.
Jordan Critz:They were, and there was something, yeah, this angst about that album that was so great yeah, it was nirvana yeah um, it was bush 16 stone, yep, kind of in that era, pearl jam. Oh yeah, I think it was 10 rem stone temple pilots radiohead, yeah.
Chris Estes:Stone temple pilots yeah come on.
Jordan Critz:Yeah, oh man, dude, I just, that was such a great.
Chris Estes:It was a great era. I remember when I first heard the industrial alternative like nine inch nails and stuff I was like at first, I was like wait a second, and I was like, okay, all right. Well, I got, yeah it was like it was such a shift. But I was like, okay, yeah this is like a totally more program but had such a different type of vibe and feel to it did pull Jim 100%.
Jordan Critz:Yeah, yeah, man. Pearl Jam and STP for me were just unbelievable and, of course, collective soul.
Chris Estes:I ended up knowing ed roland later on, yeah um did you tell him there's a project that was a part of you?
Jordan Critz:used to sneak him into your room I did oh yeah, oh yeah, dude yeah, he's the coolest dude, but, oh my gosh, yeah there are. So I don't remember running crows, oh, oh my gosh, okay, talk about a song around here, come on from august and everything after. There was something that that, like, sparked my soul yeah that album around here? I mean, I have no idea what they're talking about, but my soul knows what they're talking about the way the the vocal delivery like yeah it's not extra deep lyrical content, but it's just like a vibe and the delivery of the whole thing.
Chris Estes:man, yes.
Jordan Critz:Yeah, that song. Of course, Mr Jones was a big song.
Chris Estes:Yeah.
Jordan Critz:The song A Murder of One. Yes.
Chris Estes:Yeah.
Jordan Critz:Is so good. I mean really all those songs, yeah.
Chris Estes:I remember early Shereryl crow oh yeah, that was like it's incredible kind of kind of incredible oh yeah, I mean her old career has been great, but early cheryl crow was like yeah, goo goo dolls.
Jordan Critz:Oh yeah, man, I mean they were. They were kind of a rock grunge band but when they came out with that song name yeah and the alternate tunings I was like there's something so beautiful about this yeah yeah, um, they always had such a cool like a special place so when did you so?
Chris Estes:you want to talk about your band years like you did. Like band, you're in bands, you played tour like oh yeah, when was like? How did that evolve?
Jordan Critz:like what was that transition like well, I I had a um some, some full scholarships and some colleges to do classical and I realized that I was either going to be a teacher, yeah, or a classical performer, and both of those would have, I mean, as cool as those are, it just wasn't me. And so instead I just got with some friends and we started playing and writing and recording and yeah. So that, yeah, I did that with several people and we kind of just made bands and always had my own stuff. I mean, I just always had so many ideas, you know. And so, yeah, we did that, and then later on I ended up being more of like a music director, yeah, for some artists, and touring and and ended up playing shows with some of these artists that you grew up listening to and meeting them, and it's just like this is so surreal, you know.
Jordan Critz:Um, yeah, but also that time I I realized that I was like man, I love playing live but.
Jordan Critz:I also love the creation of it yeah, I love, like being behind the scenes, um, and so I really dove more into the producing side. Um, I would travel some, but I was like man, I was obsessed with, yeah, producing and pro tools and worked for a trailer house for a while and just I don't know, it was like the beautiful time in music that we all when we started, it was like magic and I still feel like that in some ways. But it was like just how do you get these sounds and putting things together? I always think about how art is so much greater than ourselves.
Chris Estes:Yeah.
Jordan Critz:And we are like we were saying we're kind of just birth givers of this thing that is, we don't know, it's just it's flowing.
Chris Estes:Yeah.
Jordan Critz:And I think when you're just there for it and then you just start putting things together and then suddenly you listen to it all and you're like whoa, like this is so cool. You realize it's bigger than yourself. So you can't be like, hey, look what I did. You're like wow, look what I was a part of. So I was so enamored with creating, you know. So I mean, I do miss live music and I do miss the road some, but I was always more on the producing side.
Chris Estes:What were some of the biggest road shows you did?
Jordan Critz:I mean when I was out with a band that I produced. We, I mean we played with Counting Crows and Goo Goo Dolls and all those guys. Collective Soul and gosh. A lot of those yeah bands, a lot of the bands that you grew up with. You're like dude oh Tonic oh yeah, vertical Horizon.
Chris Estes:remember those? Oh yeah, oh Tonic. Oh yeah, vertical Horizon.
Jordan Critz:Remember those? Oh yeah, I mean man, that was like they were awesome.
Chris Estes:Gosh, Vertical Horizon yeah, oh yeah, they were Christian guys, weren't they? That one album that they did? Yeah, that was the one album. I think they did more albums, but everyone just knows that one Didn't Carter Beaufort play drums on that one album he played on the tracks.
Jordan Critz:Oh my gosh, I don't know.
Chris Estes:He did, I remember because I was I remembered because of the busyness. I did because I interviewed them when I was in college. I was an entertainment writer for the college paper and I interviewed them and I remember researching the album and I looked at the credits. Like you know, always looking at the credits I was like Carter Beaufort and I think they had some connection to Virginia somehow but he played on a couple of tracks.
Jordan Critz:Wow, yeah, and that's awesome. I I got to kind of shadow the guy for a while that produced that record yeah, and produced a lot of those records, marc Endert oh yeah oh yeah, he's amazing. We worked on a project together and became friends and yeah um, yeah, he's, he's so awesome. I learned a lot from him, um. But yeah, it's just, it's funny hearing the stories of all of those bands and the records and man, yeah, I was just obsessed with that.
Jordan Critz:I also feel like, in a way, I feel like I I came on the scene like 10 years too late. Yeah, you know what I mean.
Chris Estes:Like just got out of homeschool.
Jordan Critz:Guys, I'm here yeah, I mean, or even just like the music industry changed so much. Yeah, you know, and I mean I I learned on tape, I I learned like yeah and I do think that actually helped me in the recording process, because my brain still thinks that way.
Jordan Critz:I'm like, hey, let's think about the part, put the part down and then not think about it again. Yeah, Instead of being like, hey, I'm going to do 20 playlists and then you get paralysis by analysis and then it kind of all starts going downhill because you start thinking about the art.
Chris Estes:I'm going to splice this together Totally yeah.
Jordan Critz:And maybe it works for some people to work like that, but for me, yeah, I don't know, I miss that in a way.
Chris Estes:But yeah, I don't know.
Jordan Critz:The whole industry kind of changed. And it is what it is. I feel like I was just kind of getting in when everything was like falling apart in a way, but it was always cool to like sit under producers and just kind of hear what it was like.
Chris Estes:So what if you had to pick a few songs over the years, like what's been some of the favorite songs you've worked on, Worked on? Yeah, oh, my goodness, I'd have to look at my hard drive honestly. The last one, oh my gosh, yeah, I know I mean any standouts like man. This was.
Jordan Critz:I remember this journey, the song man, there are gosh, there are so many. Yeah, I mean in a way, like I feel like I really love like everything that I'm working on. I know it sounds weird but I just, I don't.
Chris Estes:You're present to whatever you're doing.
Jordan Critz:Yeah, I feel like every song I worked on was a moment in time that I don't know. We were just in the present of it in the process. There was something about not worrying about where it was going to go but, just like man.
Jordan Critz:This is so cool. There's one song called On your Own. It was a record that I worked on with this band, green river ordinance. It's called out of my hands and they were signed with capital and there's something about that song that was just so magical, just like the piano and the melody and I don't know back when we used to like pull all-nighters in dallas and yeah, um, yeah, I don't know. I mean there there are so, gosh, that's a good question.
Jordan Critz:I would actually have to think about that yeah, yeah um, there have been so many songs and I've really liked so many and it's not like it wasn't really about reciprocity or if they ever did anything or not.
Chris Estes:I mean it was just there have been.
Jordan Critz:Maybe it's a good thing and a bad thing, but I feel like I don't know how to work on songs I don't like. Yeah, you know it's just yeah, I don't know, I've kind of just been present to them all and they've really done some something for me and in me in the time I needed it. You know that's good. I'll keep thinking about that, yeah.
Chris Estes:Well, the follow up question that is, you kind of touched on it. You know the podcast is called the power of songs. So, um, is there a song or songs that you that you can pinpoint so, like man, something powerful happened, like in the process, or I saw the power of that song impact somebody, or, um, you know, I work a lot on in the Christian music space, as you know, and there's tons of those stories like, there's testimonies, and I think, even beyond that, I think there's something about any kind of music that you experience that you're like man, the soundtracks of your life, like that song helped me get through this moment. But is there any songs that you can think of that like they're so powerful? It's like, yeah, I remember that story.
Jordan Critz:Oh, man, man, yeah, I mean I. I think there are so many of those moments, um, I'm trying to think of specifically, yeah throughout your life yeah, anyone's any standout ones?
Chris Estes:that you've heard like that any where you played or yeah, just impacted you that you're like man. The power of that song was tangible.
Jordan Critz:Gosh, yeah, I feel like there are so many of those moments. It is so interesting like we were talking how these songs, they live outside of our dimension, yeah, and it's like, and somehow they touch us on like a soul level, you know, and um, yeah, it's almost like magic you know, I mean how, how we could see it.
Jordan Critz:I've seen a lot of times, like even what I was telling you earlier. I have a song called Starry Night and I don't know, but for some reason people will message me all day, every day and in different languages all around the world. Wow, it's instrumental, but it's something about how I don't know why, but it hits some kind of soul level thing, um, and and they'll talk about how they were literally like at the end and it. They felt some, some, a spirit behind it. Uh, that gave them peace and hope and comfort. And I mean it's crazy.
Jordan Critz:I mean it's so weird to just see how songs that I mean I, I, I, I, you know I think you write for yourself, you know, cause I think they like help you, you know, it's something. I think that that's kind of where it starts, but then, as you do that, then I think it ends up just kind of being a gift to the world. Yeah, it's so interesting it is. It's, it's this powerful thing that and and I think some art, um, there's art that is self-expression and then there's art that's self-exploration you know it's good and I think that both of them are important.
Jordan Critz:Um, but I think the art that I probably do most of the time is just like man, what's in there? Like you're following this thing, you're not necessarily trying to say something, and I think there is a place to have songs that button things up. It's like, hey, I went through this, but then everything's. You know, it's just, it's very like you just kind of tell a story and it has a beginning and an ending. But there's also something beautiful about art, that is, it's like a canvas and it doesn't necessarily tell you a lot, but it paints a canvas and it's really just a place to feel, because I think a lot of times people are just holding in so many emotions and unprocessed trauma, and art is kind of like the exploration type of art I think creates a canvas for people to just look at, and then 10 people could look at it or hear it and get something totally different from it.
Jordan Critz:You know, it's almost like it doesn't, and that's just so. I think powerful about that type of art, you know, um, but yeah, I, yeah, I, I, I would have to think about certain situations, but I feel like on a daily basis, I listen to something and I cry like literally yeah, like I.
Jordan Critz:I mean I feel like I just kind of live in that space, yeah, to where it's like I would actually that that happens more often than not. You know, yeah, um, yeah, I mean it's hard to, it's hard to think of, like specific moments.
Chris Estes:It's interesting with a song like you mentioned, starry night that it's instrumental and music is a is a universal language, like I think it's.
Chris Estes:it's even beyond like languages on earth. It's like a universal frequency and there's there's captured emotion in it. That is undeniable. And it reminds me of like, even in biblical times, when it talks about David playing the stringed instrument for Saul to ease the spirits that were tormenting him. Like you're talking about somebody that's at the end of their. They're tormented, they're at the end of their rope, and a song, a frequency can like, can change atmospheres, can change realities for somebody like that, no matter what language you speak.
Jordan Critz:Yes, yeah, yeah, it's so interesting that you can. You can paint. Yeah, it's like you're painting a painting and there's something about and if I can write something that makes people feel like they are loved, you know, and like that, they are enough and there's nothing that they have to prove. Yeah, I mean like these things and I think there are feelings like you can get from that without saying anything. I mean, we've all felt those right there's just something in a melody.
Jordan Critz:I mean, I feel like a melody can say I feel like not to discount words, but there's something about melodies that can tell you deeper truths that don't really have boundaries, in a way yeah, it's it's so, so interesting they don't.
Chris Estes:They don't have rules.
Jordan Critz:They can go, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, and, and I think, like what? Maybe it was cs lewis that used to say that if you want to sneak past people's dragons of religion and tell them a deeper truth, you tell it an allegory or fantasy. You know, so I love that. It's like people's dragons of religion are so powerful that they'll just latch on to things and shove them out.
Chris Estes:Yeah.
Jordan Critz:But if you want to sneak past them, you know, you tell it in a way that it's like oh, this is cool, you know I like that, yeah, so. I think sometimes with frequencies and instrumental music you can do that, yeah, but yeah, I've seen it a lot.
Chris Estes:That's cool man Powerful story. Yeah, man, that's a great conversation. We could talk for days. Can you share a little bit? This would probably be a good way to wrap things up, especially with what we've been talking about. I'm excited about your upcoming project. Well, let's talk about two projects what you're working on right now, which is kind of getting back to the wonder of what you experienced in music at early age, yeah talk about that a little bit and then maybe wrap it with the uh, the future iceland trip oh yeah, of course.
Jordan Critz:Yeah, well, this, this project now um yeah, I I, I think, growing up kind of the romantic period, kind of the french like era that I don't know.
Jordan Critz:That. That was always really exciting to me and it just gave me a lot of I don't know it, like kind of sparked wonder and even, like later on, like um, composers like copeland, like aaron copeland, and so those people I don't know. I just I've always loved that style. So anyway, I'm doing kind of an art piece called Romantique and it's kind of just a nod to that and the framework is piano and like eight string players and, um, yeah, just kind of, and I think every the whole thing will be kind of like a painting but, every song will be like a part of the painting, so they're kind of like movements.
Jordan Critz:And it's cool because I'm getting a guy to actually paint watercolor paint all of the covers and five of the songs will be.
Jordan Critz:Well, four of the songs will be for each member of my family, and so I just kind of wanted to take a snapshot of their personality and just put it to music, put it to frequency, so they'll always remember, like I mean, there's no way to put someone's personality in a song, but a snapshot of it is just, it's just fun, and I'll be like, hey, this is something that I loved, that I feel about your personality and who you are. So I wanted to kind of put that in music and I'm giving them the paintings with the song, so they'll just kind of always have that. So, yeah, that's been really fun. Yeah, so I'm actually working on finishing the last few Please tell me you're going to do vinyl.
Chris Estes:No.
Jordan Critz:You know what? I've never done vinyl, but I'm 100 gonna do you should you should hit tony up. Tony, yeah, oh, yeah, yeah, he told me all about it yeah, so an experience, oh yeah, for sure um yeah, I'll do vinyl of the album before this called novella yeah, and then this album, and then the new album, um, I think it's going to be called chasing light and nice um good out, a good title yeah, and I've been working on that.
Jordan Critz:I I think I've had some of the melodies for years and just kind of those things, that some of the deep soul melodies that just kind of I feel like are just impactful to me. Yeah, I'm gonna put those out and it's going to. I'm going to have an orchestra, probably in Macedonia or Austria, nice Record it. And yeah, I'm going to go to Iceland and that's the place. It's kind of drawing me. That's the the sound of the album, it's the look of Iceland.
Jordan Critz:Maybe, I'm just drawn to the thin place to go and just get more inspiration, and I'm also going to shoot some videos there and some of them are actually going to be narrated of some of the stories behind the songs, some of the ideas behind the album, because I feel like I put out music but there's so much more behind it that I was like man, I should, I should like talk about this, you know, for whoever cares, um, and so, yeah, I'm gonna go out to iceland and, uh, I have a few of the songs already written, but iceland will inspire the rest yeah and um, yeah, so that'll be.
Chris Estes:I love the idea of those two things being married together and how that may reach you know, literally right now, with you know youtube and streaming platforms for audio, like it can reach the ends of the earth, like people can be impacted by that.
Jordan Critz:Yeah, and there's this thing about how I think we can get so caught up in the end result yeah, Um that we just forget the journey, you know. But it's like there's this idea that you know I think everything is is measured so much in growth and success and like where it goes, and I know it sounds cliche, but just that idea is the journey is the destination. I've been in a part of so many projects where it was just all about the end goal and then we didn't have fun in between and I was like man, looking back on that, I'm like, yes, I could, I don't have to go to iceland, I don't have to do any of these things, but I'm like saving up because I want. I want the entire thing to be about the journey.
Jordan Critz:Yeah, you know, it's like that quote that says the only thing worse than not getting what you want is getting what you want because, then you're faced with a horror that it doesn't give you what you thought it would, and it was a trial, and so for me it's like, how do I? How do I kind of reverse that and just say, okay, how do I make the journey the best part about?
Jordan Critz:it yeah so I'm like I'm gonna go to iceland and and I could, you know, use midi instruments. But I'm gonna use MIDI instruments, but I'm going to use real instruments. I'm going to save up and have an orchestra do it. Will it pay off in the end? I don't know. But actually in the end I want to look back and say, man, that was like a story and I loved that experience. So that's kind of why I'm doing it.
Chris Estes:That's going to be your next song power song story. Like that's going to be a powerful story about the song journey. Like that I love the creative process in that, and even like you're going to write when you get there, like you haven't written the whole thing, which is inspiring.
Jordan Critz:Yeah, I know it's there, I know it's in there, which is inspiring. Yeah, I know it's there, I know it's in there, and I think that place is calling me to go, and I'm just going to go and see what happens, I think when you can feel something from inspiration and you can immerse yourself in that feeling, you know in all senses, because you'll be experiencing Iceland in all senses and you translate that into music.
Chris Estes:That is going to be what people feel when they like, and they're going to be able to see some of that too. They'll visually be able to see it as well, but I think it's going to be a beautiful thing man.
Jordan Critz:Oh yeah, yeah, there's something I think about marrying the visual with the audio.
Chris Estes:Yeah.
Jordan Critz:Um, and that's even what I try to do in the studio the projection, you know, it's like how can we, how can we? I think when people are in that space, the performances are already just. It's like easy. They're already inspired, you don't have to. I think that's the hard part is getting to that place, and you can't always do it. But when you can add visual, I think it helps and then it makes our jobs easier, because if we can just hit record and we are in that space of inspiration, then that's it.
Chris Estes:You can't mess that up. Yeah, and that's when you're not programming, you're creating Correct. Yeah, that's it, yeah, awesome man Dude, thanks for being on the podcast, yeah thanks for having me.
Jordan Critz:This has been great man.
Chris Estes:Thanks for opening up the studio again. I wish you guys could see this. It's a beautiful space.
Jordan Critz:Well, anyone listening, hit me up and you can stop by. I'll make you a coffee.
Chris Estes:Thanks so much, man. It's the power of songs with Jordan. Thanks, man, all right.