Interview with Jared Scherer

One of 2 album covers for the Ghosted Album

This interview is with Jared Scherer, he is a songwriter from 1BiscuitRecords and he recently released an album called Ghosted (linked above).

1. What inspired you to create music in general?

My parents were singers in our church, and they instilled a love for music and creativity in both my brother and me. When I was younger, I dreamed of pursuing a professional career in music, but it never progressed much beyond winning a few talent competitions and singing at weddings. For the past 20 years, I’ve mostly been a “bedroom artist,” writing and recording my own music at home as an outlet for my creativity.

2. Will you ever publish more albums besides the Ghosted album? Will it stay around the Halloween theme? If not, what are some other themes you may be interested in?

I have quite a few music releases lined up across various genres and themes. Tomorrow (10/24), I’ll be releasing a 7-track album of bluegrass songs inspired by my mother, who passed away in 2020. These songs reflect my feelings after her death and the nostalgia I have for my childhood visits to Tennessee, where she was born. Following that, I’m really excited for people to hear the three separate collections of Christmas songs I’ve written that will be released during the first three weeks of November. Currently, I’m also working on a concept album of fake television theme songs, which has been a lot of fun to create, and I hope it will make some people laugh. There’s a lot, I know.

3. I recently found out you use AI to generate parts of your music. Do you intend to continue that? If so, do you see yourself not using AI at some point?

The “1 Biscuit Records” project will continue to be a collaboration between myself and AI in the foreseeable future. I do have my own background vocals on a song that will be released early next year, but I wanted this project to be a separate endeavor, allowing my work to be fully realized with a variety of styles and voices that I wouldn’t be able to create on my own. While AI is a controversial medium right now, I view it as a technological advancement that allows artists to create in ways they couldn’t in the past. Some of what is produced will be bad, and some will be good, like non-AI assisted music, but I believe both can coexist, provided that people are transparent about their processes.

4. What inspired you to include Elvira in “Mistress of the Dark”? Or why create a single song talking about just her when not a lot of people know who she is?

When I sat down to brainstorm ideas for the "Ghosted" album, I wanted to include some humor, and “Mistress of the Dark” was one of the first concepts I had. As a child of the 80s, I have such a fondness for pop culture icons of that time, and Elvira stands out as one of the all-time greats, especially during Halloween. Similar to Pee-Wee Herman, I feel that Elvira is a character who has transcended her peak popularity and stands alongside other Halloween icons like Vincent Price, The Cryptkeeper, and Beetlejuice. Even Kim Petras featured her on her “Turn Off the Light” Halloween-themed mixtape released in 2019, so I know I’m just one of many fans out there, both young and old.

5. Which one of the songs is your personal favorite? If you had to choose and why?

It’s a tough question to answer. You might think my favorite track is “Ghosted” because that’s the name of the album, but I’d actually choose “In the Night.” It’s a classic pop song with a catchy melody and a soaring chorus, making it something I hope people would listen to even outside of the Halloween season.

6. Was there an event or person that inspired some lyrics to some of the songs?

Personal experiences greatly influence my writing, especially when dealing with themes of love and death. However, for this concept album, other than my general feelings about the spooky season and horror films, I mostly engaged in storytelling. When I write, I often visualize the lyrics playing out like a movie in my head, similar to a dream. I imagine many people write in a similar way, whether they are serious novelists or the person who wrote “Friday” for Rebecca Black.

7. If your younger self heard this album, how do you think they would react? Did you ever expect yourself to publish music when you were younger?

I think my younger self would wonder why I’m not incredibly famous, starring in my own TV show and headlining world tours. But once the initial shock wore off, I believe he’d be happy that I still have an outlet to express myself creatively, and that, at the very least, my family and friends can enjoy my music.

8. What do you expect for the listeners to experience or get from the album? (personal connection, vibe, pure enjoyment, etc.)

I don’t have any preconceived notions about what people should take away from my music. I’d be just as happy if they listen to dance, laugh, or cry, as I would be if it simply serves as background noise while they zone out. Music can mean so many different things to different people, and all those interpretations are valid. I just hope they give it a chance, and of course, with a Halloween album, they're inspired to listen at least every time October comes around.

9. Who are some of the people who inspired you to publish/create music? How did they inspire you?

Although I grew up in a religious household, my parents never restricted the types of music or media we could enjoy. As a result, I spent much of my youth watching MTV. While enjoying videos from my favorite artists like Brandy, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston, my mother also introduced me to the sounds of Nat King Cole, Doris Day, and The Carpenters. I believe that my inherited talent and being exposed to such a wide range of music during my formative years is what motivated me to pursue it as I have.

Specifically, with this 1 Biscuit Records project, I drew inspiration from another AI project called Obscurest Vinyl. The creator of that project produces various songs that are humorous (though quite explicit) but sound like long-lost recordings from decades past.😊

The idea that you could create something that sounds so authentic and fully produced, yet expressed in your own words and on your own terms, truly inspired me.

I began crafting the kinds of songs I wanted to hear and used AI to revitalize songs I had written over the past twenty years. After sharing my work with family, they encouraged me to go ahead and release them on streaming platforms and that's what brings us here.