AUGUST 2019

ARTS & entertainment
JBACH
pursues
dream,
inspires
others
I think I’m gonna start a new life
New life
You want the old me?
Well I left him behind
—JBACH, Old Me
BY PAUL NATINSKY
An epiphany in the form of a
surprise phone call changed
the course of Jonathon
Bach’s life, and he hasn’t looked back
since. When he was 19, attending
the University of Michigan, singing
and playing piano, the now 23-yearold
picked up the phone. It was the
popular TV music show, The Voice,
and they wanted him to audition for
a spot.
Having quit piano lessons in 8th
grade and only beginning to sing seriously
at 16, he headed out to Los
Angeles at the show’s expense. What
followed was an odyssey lasting several
months and moving him closer
to his dream.
The Voice is a show that pits
singer-contestants against one another
once they are selected by celebrity
musician judges who coach
them on teams.
Bach sang an acapella version of
Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.” Pop
star and composer Pharrell spun his
chair after three lines and selected
Bach. Pharrell then enlisted rapper
and music industry impresario P Diddy
to co-coach Bach in the show’s
competition.
Before that fateful selection Bach
made it past the first couple of rounds
of auditions. The real competition
started in October 2016. Bach made
several trips to LA and back; at first
for a week or so and then for months.
He enjoyed the full Hollywood experience:
hotels, chauffeurs and star
treatment that included access to the
Universal Studios lot.
His life was filled with rehearsals,
voice lessons, lawyer and record
label meetings. “Every artist that
makes it onto the show is a Republic
Records signed artist. I was at one
point signed to Republic Records for
at least two songs with them.”
He didn’t share his music with his
family because he was unsure how
it would be received, so they really
didn’t know how good he was.
Bach, who lost his “battle” contest
to another team member, used
the experience to launch a budding
pop career.
Before his run on The Voice, Bach
sang in a school-based acapella group
at UM. The Voice talent scouts saw
some of his taped performances and
recruited him to audition. Keeping
his audition a secret—he told his
cousin and piano accompanist they
were going to an open mic night—
Bach made the cut and headed to Los
Angeles.
“It was crazy,” said Bach. “I was
not looking for it. I doubt I would
ever done it on my own. So it was
completely out of the blue.”
His “battle” contest was the first
time his parents saw him perform and
they were blown away by their son’s
talent. They supported his ambitions
from that point forward. Bach said
his experience on The Voice was the
first time anyone treated him like an
artist and told him that was what he
was meant to be.
“It was crazy, it was like full immersion;
you know like when people
go to Spain and then after three
months they can speak Spanish, they
come back and tell us how they eat
paellas and they are all changed and
stuff? It was like that, but for music,”
he explained It completely turned
everything upside-down for me.”
From Jonathon to JBACH
Losing on The Voice was hard to take,
but Bach took the praise and encouragement
he earned on the show, reinvented
himself as JBACH and moved
to LA to pursue his dream.
In the four years JBACH has been
in LA, he has released two singles,
“Old Me” and “Taste.” His funky pop
style and clever confessional lyrics
are infectious, but they have come at
a high price. JBACH spends most of
his time writing and composing in the
same apartment he leased when he
moved to LA. He once wrote 22 songs
in 21 days. So far, he has only deemed
three worthy of recording. His newest
single, “When The Dark Comes,” is
soon to be released. A video of “Taste,”
was due out in July. Both “Old Me” and
“Taste” are available on Spotify, Apple
Music and other streaming services.
Among the highlights of
JBACH’s career is a January 2017
opening act gig before 3,000 fans for
an Ohio performance by indie pop
stars the Chainsmokers. Tempering
the rush of that experience was
JBACH’s frustration that he only
had one song and some mixes to play.
While he has redoubled his commitment
to writing, he has eschewed
performing other artists’ music to
continue to work on his own, working
“every job under the sun” to make
ends meet. His labors have included
being duped into a telemarketing job
and teaching music.
“The starving artist life is very
real, I’m telling you,” he said. “It
makes you work harder because you
are funding everything yourself.”
Chaldean Celebridom
As he continues the long climb on
the ladder to pop stardom, JBACH
has become a celebrity in the Chaldean
community, a phenomenon he
calls “Chaldean celebridom.”
He has appeared on the cover of
the Chaldean News. People come up
to him all the time—even at a wedding
performance in San Diego. “I
feel like a cool ambassador for the
Chaldean people because people
will ask, “what are you.” We’re Iraqi
Christians. It’s so cool to explain that
and tell people what it is.”
JBACH said he has received a lot
of communication from Chaldean
people, especially after “Old Me”
came out and people said they could
relate to it.
“It’s about doing your own thing,
so every Chaldean who is not a dentist,
doctor, lawyer or pharmacist can
relate to it.
“The Chaldean people had to
come here from Iraq and make a life
for themselves and our generation
shouldn’t be afraid to go where we
need to go and make our own careers
the same way our ancestors did.”
His Instagram account is loaded
with young and older Chaldean people
inspired by his example.
“My mom told me about a friend
whose kid left everything behind for
Mission work, based on my telling
people to go forward and do what
they want to do,” Bach explained.
When he hears that people have
shed their self-consciousness to pursue
their dreams, he said, “it touches
my soul.”
38 CHALDEAN NEWS AUGUST 2019