Rising Stars: Meet Jake Kitley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jake Kitley. 

Hi Jake, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’ve been playing music at this point for longer than I haven’t. Creeping up on 20 years at this point. I started on drums, then guitar, then bass, and a few other instruments. Bass is my favorite by far. It’s the perfect combination of drums and guitar. I started putting videos on my YouTube channel Morel Compass TV last year as a way to promote my music. I have a friend that I grew up with that is an outstanding photographer (CJMK Photography). One thing led to another and now we run a video production company. Morel Compass Studios started as a music recording company but quickly snowballed into so much more. It’s like we were pushed in that direction. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road. We have had many struggles pop up over time. A lot of times they are financial issues but occasionally it has been forgotten or missing equipment. These situations always seem to be perfect opportunities to flex our creativity muscles. How bad do you want to get this project done, you know? As they say, the show must go on so it becomes of a question of what do we have to do to make this work. I can remember once we were an hour away from home filming a racing series and we were missing batteries and had to make a makeshift mounting plate for one of our cameras. It could have been a smoother day for sure but everything worked out great. It ended up being one of the best videos of the series. Another time I was recording songs for a client and my protools software kept crashing for some reason. I couldn’t figure it out. It was the beginning of the session so I decided to switch it up and use Logic Pro to finish the session. Logic is not a DAW I was or am super comfortable with but I had to make it work. Again, everything turned out just fine. Sometimes I think we get challenged by life to see how we’ll respond. I find that when my team tries to remain calm, we find the creative solutions we need much more readily available to us in the face of adversity. Issues are always going to pop up. All you can do is find a creative solution and do the best you can. 

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a musician mostly. I am a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, singer, producer… We live in an age where it’s easier than ever to do it all and I try to do just that. I just released a single called, “I Can’t Deny” through my solo project Morel Compass and it’s one of the best songs I’ve put out in my opinion. I really think people will dig it. Even though I do all these things I’m probably best known as a bassist. I just competed in the Phil Jones Bass solo bass competition in Brooklyn, NY last fall. It was a blast. Also, I started endorsing Breedlove Guitars and MTD basses last year. I got to meet Mike and Daniel Tobias of MTD at the competition was a dream come true. They were so kind. Actually, they got me back to the bus stop to get home. I might still be stuck in NY if it wasn’t for Daniel haha. Aside from my music ventures I also run a video production company. Maybe this is a “creatives” thing but I’ve never felt comfortable with a camera in my hand. I think more or less we are all like that. It’s easy to doubt yourself and your ability. Luckily my business partner is phenomenal with a camera. Chris does photography as CJMK Photography as well and I really can’t say enough good things about him. Generally, I’m allowed to focus on editing the videos which is where I really excel and it minimizes my ham-fisted blunders as a camera operator. 

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
For music, I hope we transition back to real music played by real bands being mainstream again. It seems like there is a pendulum shift every so often where we hit extremes and overcorrect. I see nothing inherently wrong with perfected pop music but I feel like the music of yesteryear where there was little to no quantizing or autotune has stood the test of time. Going even further back to things like classical music. It is still enjoyable. There’s something inherently human about the imperfections in the records of the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, etc. I try to remember that in my songs and not put out perfected pieces. I will allow the guitar to push or pull or for a little fret buzz to be in my songs. It makes it real. Or at least that’s how I view it. As for videography, I think because technology keeps getting better and cheaper, we will see the potential for much better consumer-level videos. We are already seeing it in places like YouTube. Some people are capable of making fantastic videos with a little know-how, a decent camera, and a MacBook. I think we’ll see more of that. As the general public gets better at producing film hopefully it drive competition up and make the median filmmaker want to be better. 

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morelcompassband/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MorelCompassStudios/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCajXisj7rwWm7vRaHGSEl1A
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/morel-compass?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
• Other: https://morelcompass.bandcamp.com 

Image Credits
CJMK Photography