The melodic tones coming from his trumpet have hypnotized the crowd into a focused lull. Every note is woven into the fabric of the cool night air. Justin Copeland has made ‘Embraceable You’ his own, without compromising the originality of the composition. The Portland-based trumpeter is making his mark on the local jazz scene. Many may know him from his popular “Stay Fresh Productions” channel on YouTube, where the world of fragrance is now slowly intertwining with the musicality of its star. Occhi Magazine spoke with Justin and delved into his unique journey.
Thank you for taking the time out to speak with us. You have your doctorate in music, playing the trumpet and piano. Have you always wanted to do music?
Yes! I grew up always listening to music, so my parents put me into piano early on. From that point on I found music as fun, and I didn’t see myself not doing it. I didn’t necessarily say early on that I was going to be a musician, but I just really enjoyed it from an early age and I didn’t want to stop doing it, because I enjoyed it. As I got older, I picked up the trumpet and joined a band. I got serious and at that point I was dead set on being a musician and artist, putting myself out to the world in that way.
A lot of musicians start with the piano. It’s a great base, but what led you to the trumpet?
I grew up hearing trumpet players, my dad is a musician as well. He exposed me to a lot of great music, and a lot of great instrumentalists. But beyond that, I liked the sound of the trumpet but there was no divine calling to it. The only reason that I switched to trumpet was when it came time to join a band, they already had a pianist so I had to choose something. My first choice was saxophone but my mom didn’t want me to do it, because she thought it was too heavy. I had skinny little arms and I’d probably drop it all of the time. I chose the trumpet because I already liked the sound of it but the main reason is that I thought it would be easy. It only has three valves. How hard could it be? Of course, I was completely wrong.
Before I knew that you were a talented musician, I followed you on your very popular fragrance channel (Stay Fresh Productions) on YouTube. Right now, you have a collaboration for a fragrance called Brass & Soul. How did that collaboration come about?
It was a gift. There’s a man named George Zaharoff, he’s the owner of the brand. I met him a few years ago. We reviewed the fragrance that he released at the time and continued to stay in touch. I went to a convention in New York, met him there and he told me about an idea that he had.
A project giving a few established reviewers their fragrance, starting from the ground up, giving me some insight into the industry, but more than anything, giving back to the community through members of the community.
The new year came around (2020) and we formulated it with our individual fragrances. Obviously, Corona(virus) hit so it elongated the process. Meetings were done virtually and I had to come up with the story that I wanted to tell through Brass & Soul. So I painted the narrative and had to send it over to the perfumer. The perfumer interpreted my vision a few different ways and then sent sample vials. I tried each one and picked the one that resonated with me the most. We chatted on the phone, tweaked it a bit, and talked about the creation. From there the scent was born.
As far as music is concerned, what’s next for you?
It’s been an interesting time as we’re emerging into something that resembles normalcy. Lately, I‘ve just been focusing on performing. I’m getting calls for gigs again. I’m more or less a contracted musician at the moment. I go where people ask me to be. I am also still composing, but in terms of projects, I’m taking a moment to redirect my energy. During Corona, I would do these mini-projects that I would share but a lot of my energy went towards my fragrance channel because it was strengthened from the isolation. I’m slowly redirecting, as we exit this lockdown.
We’ll see where we end up.
For further information and updates follow Justin on the following links:
Main photo by Ryan Schorr. Photos courtesy of Justin Copeland
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