About two weeks ago, I made a really tough decision to leave my position at an awesome company that I have been working for 7 years, to pursue my passions in the creative world. This was a very difficult decision to make, taking the leap; leaving a company that was like family to me and going into a new world that is unknown and a little scary.
Right after giving my notice to my teammates I sat back at my desk in sort of a shock and suddenly heard a Facebook ping message… M Josephine sent me a note and a link to Josir’s new video for “New dawn”. I put my headphones on and clicked on the link…. “It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day… We dream high, we touch the sky” The lyrics and the music hit me hard, it was a moment I will never forget. It made me smile, and gave me that warm hug I so desperately needed at that exact moment.
I knew I had to meet this wonderful person that made such an impact on me that day. I met Josephine at Beechwood Cafe on Monday morning, the first day of my new journey…. blogging (unemployment). Josephine is an amazing person, she is a wife, a mom to two kiddos under 5, she has a full time job, a singer/songwriter and she also looked fab head to toe. I am so unbelievably impressed with her, she is a beautiful human being that makes beautiful soulful music with her hubby.
Tell me about your music. How did you start? M Josephine is the music that I have been working on for some time… I am Jersey City born and Raised and I started to really focus on my craft back in 2008/09. It’s a lot of soul, it’s a lot of R&B, a lot of hip hop influences…. I think I am definitely more familiar with the underground world because that is the scene I have been associated with. That is the community that I’ve grown to love.
Josirs is my husband and I who is DJ Iris who also goes by the name of Deviator Iris cause he deviates…. We came up with Josirs as a way to continue to work together because we’ve always been doing our own separate things and now that we have a family…
Is that how you guys met? Through music? “We met at Makeda’s in New Brunswick which is an Ethiopian restaurant at a jazz album release party. A mutual friend introduced us after 6 months, he found me on myspace where we kept in touch. A few months later, we got serious and so now we have a 4 year old and a 1 year old.”
What about your day job? I started to work for rising tide about 5 years ago….
What does Rising Tide do? We help entrepreneurs and small business owners start up their own business. We do technical training, we do consultation, education, we have seminars…. workshops. I feel like as I am going through my own journey as an entrepreneur , as a creative… I have them as a support, I am learning at the same time.
Can you tell us about “A New Dawn” ?Well its the first music video off of the Josirs album and its really just to promote the idea of whether you have a 9-5 or a 10-6 you still need to keep doing what you love to do. The more you do that, the more you become an expert of what you love to do …. when it comes to artists and creatives money is always an issue… if it wasn’t then we would all be doing what we love….
Where did you shoot the video? We shot at Cafe Sole on Communipaw. It’s a carribean cafe but they do art exhibits, open mic’s and the beautiful people that allowed us to shoot there where Wendolyn, Wimie and Roxanna…. they have nothing but passion and soul for the community in Jersey City. That is what I love… I love to be able to surround myself with those kind of people that are all about creating and doing good for the community.
Do you have any upcoming shows? Right now, I want to focus on the planning and development side of the music so nothing yet.
How was it working with your husband? It was interesting, we’ve always had different minds and ideas …. I like to take my time and he is a little more direct. Sometimes it was a little challenging but we did good together! We were each others source of inspiration, we co-wrote alot of the songs.
What inspired New Dawn? My experience being an entrepreneur … I love music but haven’t been able to give it my all… and I want to be able to give more of myself to it…. and so in a way I am speaking to people but I am speaking to myself … to keep dreaming, keep believing … to keep pushing on, no matter what the situation is… you have to fulfill your core!
Where in Jersey City did you grow up? We lived everywhere , we live by the west side ave area…. At one point we were living in my aunts house, cause we struggle financially and we kind of been moving between Journal Square…. Greenville etc.
Do you have a favorite hangout spot? I would say for lunch I love going to Carmines on Mallory ave. They don’t even take credit cards cause that is how good they are. As far as a hangout spot…. I am not really a hangout type person… my hangouts are the community events. What I love to do is go to where the people are. I went to Creations, and the theme was resistance….What I loved about the event … the theme of resistance also went hand in hand with the theme of a New Dawn because you are resisting the urge and temptation to stop what you love to do… and every day we are reminded of that challenge.
What’s next? More videos, more visuals. We love to give more eye candy and showcasing more local talent as much as we can. Possibly start recording and writing another album.
It’s a New Dawn, It’s a New Day.
Josirs
M Josephine Music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbDYVdovVLM
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