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Photography by: @Karlo Ramos
Dallas house and dance creative, JT Donaldson began his journey as a DJ at the age of 13 with inspiration from his older brother and co-workers at Bill’s Records.
His career launched at 17 by releasing his first record ever. Donaldson learned the trade by working at Bill’s Records while collecting keyboards from pawn shops and friends. In 1998, at only 21, Donaldson wanted to expand his horizons and take his music to the next level so he went to Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
“I took it as an opportunity to learn a lot and be immersed in my music,” Donaldson said.
With musical influence from Ahmad Jamal, Miles Davis, Coltrane, the Chicago and Detroit music scene and other jazz artists, Donaldson let the smooth synths speak to him for creativity.
Growing homesick over the years, Donaldson moved back to Dallas from New York for not only himself, but his family. Having removed the youth from his system and being able to reflect on his experiences, Donaldson sees Dallas as “different” from when he moved away many years ago.
Seeing how Dallas has a growing talent pool of young musical creatives and a great network community, Donaldson decided to start a production company called New Math Records.
“I want to shine light on people who are coming up in the industry,” Donaldson said.
Donaldson has co-produced music for Isabella Antenna and Dâm Funk while doing random collaborations and his own content. His many accomplishments reflect his successful production career. Opening New Math Records, creating a great team, having four vinyl albums, New Math Fest performances, being able to travel and stamping his passport are still only the beginning of Donaldson.
Photography by: @Reed Kenney (left) // Photography by: @Chris M. Knight (right)
Donaldson’s future goals are to continue building his team, opening a vinyl listening bar geared towards high-fi audio and by spring hopes to co-produce a show with Ghost Drank. Regarding music and performances, Donaldson is working towards producing more LP’s from the artists at New Math Records, signing new creatives, continuing the show to Los Angeles and creating an annual festival.
Catch Donaldson and New Math Records every Monday at Off the Record.
Instagram: @therealjtdonaldson
Soundcloud: JT Donaldson