Jen Schwartz
Jen Schwartz is a multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter, producer living in Los Angeles (originally from a small college town in Western Massachusetts). From the beginning of her musical endeavors, Schwartz has been driven by a spark of independence that inspired her to play almost every note her debut album, from drums to guitar to voice. She was also in charge of every facet of the album, including production, mixing, mastering and the design and creation of original cover artwork.
With this in mind, it is not surprising that at the tender age of 11, Schwartz got her start by teaching herself how to play the drums during middle school recess while her schoolmates were outside on the playground.
From there her musical talents exploded and she soon began playing with several different groups in many different styles, winning Outstanding Musicianship awards from such esteemed institutions as Berkelee College of Music and the International Association of Jazz Educators.
While pursuing her bachelor's degree at Mount Holyoke College, she studied drums with Greg Caputo (a disciple of Jazz great Joe Morello), and electro-acoustic music composition and recording techniques from Ronald Perera (Smith College) and Charles Bestor (UMASS). An autodidact, Schwartz taught herself how to play both bass and guitar and began writing songs for Candy From A Stranger towards the end of college. She then moved to New York City to concentrate on writing and playing music. She soon found that the long, cold winters did not suit her, so she followed the sun west and ended up in San Francisco where Candy From A Stranger was born.
While performing in support of Candy From A Stranger, Jen also spent three years playing drums for the legendary punk band Tribe 8. In December of 2003, she left the band to make more time for her solo career as well as her career as a Producer and Audio Engineer.
In 2004, she mixed the debut album from New York hip-hop artists God-Des and went on to produce and engineer songs for a San Francisco band named, ironically enough, Candy From Strangers. The EP from those sessions won "Best EP of the year" from a British publication.
Jen was also asked to contribute a drums-only composition for a compilation called "Just Drums II," released in 2004 by Fever Pitch Magazine and Music. The piece, entitled "Heads Up," was written on the heels of the San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade and is the culmination of over 20 years of drumming experience.
In late 2005, Jen started pre-production on the debut album by Los Angeles singer/songwriter Adrian St. John. Jen and Adrian went into the recording studio in the summer of 2006 and will wrap up recording by the end of the year.
Lastly, Jen is currently writing and recording demos for her second solo album. No word on a release date yet, so stay tuned!