Jeff Blue on New Book and Discovering Pure Talent

If it were not for Jeff Blue, we would have never been introduced to iconic music artists like Linkin Park, Macy Gray, and The Last Goodnight.

A multi-platinum, award-winning music producer and A&R executive, Blue has an eye for recognizing and discovering talent. He believes in an artist’s potential to achieve their dreams, and he carries the passion and determination to be a true pioneer for them in developing and skyrocketing their careers to stardom.

A driving force in the industry, Blue has changed the lives of so many. He recently released his debut book, One Step Closer, where he reflects on discovering Linkin Park, chronicles their rise to fame, and gets candid about his experience working in a cutthroat business.

OFM had the opportunity to talk more with Blue about the book, how he got his start in the music industry, and some of his upcoming projects including a six-part docuseries and a brand new iHeartRadio podcast.Hi, Jeff! Thank you for taking some time to chat with me. I would like to begin by asking you about your new book, One Step Closer, which was released in December. Without spoilers, can you tell us more about it?
The book is about the authentic and genuine journey of some incredible musicians who finally found the chemistry in a band called Linkin Park and the ability to overcome obstacles and rejections. It is about the journey of me meeting an intern, and his process along with a rapper named Mike Shinoda, putting together a band that would encounter 44 rejections from every record label known to man, and overcoming the rejections, and sticking with their plan, sticking with their beliefs and authentic vision. My part being somebody that understood their vision, was there to help guide them, and nurture the process. I was a believer in them.

The whole concept is that it only takes one person to believe in somebody and to see that vision because in life, like anything else, you are going to get rejected a million times. You are going to hear ‘no’ a million times, and it is that ability to overcome adversity and overcome those roadblocks. You must persevere. That is the kind of story I thought people would want to hear, and I thought that Linkin Park’s story was something that people should hear because those guys really stuck true to their vision and created amazing albums.

How has the book been received by audiences?
Amazing! The great thing is, I had no idea the demographic would literally equal male and female, and the age demographic is primarily 18-24, which these kids were not even born when the album came out, or they were at least toddlers or infants. It is incredible that the message and the truth of this album reached these young people, and it is not because of their fathers, uncles, or parents, but the music, message, and emotion is timeless. A ton of people who went through a lot of depression have reached out to me; I have received messages from people who are confused about their career goals. I just found a new artist who is 23 and LGBTQ who was a huge fan of Linkin Park reach out to me. Tons and tons of people have been hitting me up.

Is this your debut book?
At a law school, I was a music journalist, so I have written hundreds of articles, but this is my first book. Writing a book is much, much different, especially how important of a book this is. There are so many factors involved, and I literally had thousands and thousands of pages, deck tapes, CDs, faxes, just tons of stuff I had to go through. It was a very arduous process, but also a very emotional process to go through the ups and downs of making the album and the hard times that we had making it. All those rejections and hard times we encountered were difficult to write about.

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What inspired you to write One Step Closer?
A couple of things. One, I was asked to write a book analogous to All You Need to Know About the Music Business, which is the Donald Passman book that is extremely famous and incredible. It gives you all the insight on how to get into the music business or as an artist.  I was asked to write a companion piece that was a story about all you need to know about the music business and the things that Linkin Park had to go through. From publishing deals, demo deals, soundtracks, finding musicians, getting rid of musicians, record deals, producers—I wanted to include everything so it would be educational, as well as inspiring.

Then when Chester, I tried to write about six or seven times but gave up because it was so difficult, but when Chester unfortunately passed away, a lot of people read the article I did for Billboard Magazine and were inspired by him. I wanted to do something for the 20th anniversary of the album, which was the largest and biggest selling debut album in the 21st century. I wanted to let people know that you can have a dream and get rejected and told ‘No, you are not good enough’ a million times, but there is hope out there and please stick to your core beliefs and your own authenticity. If you speak your truth, there are listeners, and you can affect the world in a positive way.

That was really it. A lot of people asked me to write a truth telling book about all the negative stuff and the drama stories. While writing, I was like, ‘This is really an inspirational story, and it needs to be told in a positive way that is going to uplift people’s lives.’ There is a lot to learn from it about believing in yourself and not giving up.

The one thing that I really found is that when you talk to people these days, especially with social media, you ask people what they want to do. Like, I am going to do this, this, and this. I got this in the works, I got this movie, I am going to school for this—everybody has a million, different dreams, but very few people set out to achieve them. They just talk about them. Of those people that actually set out to achieve them, 99 percent are going to get rejections, but it is those people who can take the rejection, overcome it, and persevere, that is when stars and icons are made.Can you tell us more about how you got your start in the music industry?
Like a lot of people who have reached out to me, I did not know what I wanted to do with my life. I went to UCLA to become an orthopedic surgeon, and then I turned to economics and business, and then finally communications. I worked with TMZ’s Harvey Levin, he told me to go to law school because I was doing a lot of commercials and I could become a legal reporter. When I was going to law school, I was also in a band. I realized that I did not want to do law, so I started a music magazine and discovered what A&R was during that time by a complete fluke, which I go over in the book. There was a mistaken identity, I got into somebody’s office who thought I was a completely different person.

While in law school, I was able to learn that artists and repertoire, A&R, is the whole process of discovering and nurturing talent. I could not believe a job like that existed, especially when I was in law school beating my head against a wall. It was a completely enlightening experience hearing that you could actually make money discovering and nurturing talent.

I set my goals to become an A&R person without any experience whatsoever and passed the California bar, which is very difficult, at the age of 24, and my music magazine also took off. I started managing, producing, songwriting about a year later after passing the Bar, and I got a job at Zomba Music Publishing. Again, it is all in my book. It was a long journey filled with nonstop rejection.

Just like Linkin Park, which is part of all these themes running through the book, I was rejected by every, single record company management saying I was not good enough and did not have the experience. I persevered and got a job with Zomba Music Publishing, which was literally the last company in the Yellow Pages of Rock. It was a huge book composed of every single music industry company from A to Z.

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Not only Linkin Park, but you helped develop and sign several other iconic multi-platinum artists. How does it make you feel when you see these people achieve great success and know you were partly responsible for their big break?
I would not say I am responsible, but I think it is very important to know that my job as a nurturer or developer is to spot the talent before anyone else and be the facilitator to help them hone their message and get that message out to the world. I just go off my own gut and my own passion for music. To do what I do, it is like an addiction. It is an obsession. The minute you hear something that hits you in the heart and you get the hairs standing up on your arms and neck, you must have it. It is literally like a drug; it can really overtake you.

The same thing happened with Macy Gray. People told me it was career suicide. She got passed on by so many record labels and nobody thought she would do well. Hearing other people get inspired by the vision that you had years prior is a feeling you can never get over. It is very emotional. There have been many times where I have burst into tears when somebody can actually see kids singing back lyrics that meant so much to me when people told me that they did not feel anything when they first heard them.

Can you talk more about the six-part docuseries you are currently producing?
I am working with Michael Becker, one of the producers of the Twilight saga, and the series focuses on the behind-the-scenes stories of the people that discovered artists and had to fight to get them signed and help the artist get their vision out into the world. It goes from the 60s to present day. We got the stories of AC/DC, Genesis, the story of Madonna and how an A&R guy found her in a club, took her to Seymour Stein, who started Sire Records, and had her perform for him while he was in his hospital bed recovering from open heart surgery—so many stories people do not know about.

Obviously, the story of Macy Gray and how many times she was rejected and that we had to change her name. The story of Linkin Park and how we changed their name three times just so people could listen to their music without having the stigma that they did not like them already. From hip-hop stories to country stories, again, it is a very inspirational tale about not giving up because there is always somebody that will listen. You just have to feel through enough rejection to get to those people who believe. These are the stories of unsung heroes, and how much goes on behind-the-scenes before the artist became successful.You are also working on a new iHeartRadio podcast?
Yes, I am working with Adrian Roundtree, and the podcast is very similar, about all the passion that music executives have that go into the discovery process. It focuses on being very present and the quality it takes to be present and realize when you are seeing something that is going to affect the world. Turning that rock over that somebody normally would not turn over. Looking at it and going, this is going to have the power to change the world. We interview music executives and artists who tell us about these moments and what led to them changing the world.

Before we wrap up, are there any other upcoming projects or anything else you would like to mention or plug?
I am very excited because I just wrote my first screenplay, and it is about five celebrities who find themselves in rehab. Just like any type of business, they all have interlaced paths where they have reason to suspect each other, and there is one or more killers in the rehab facility. It is a classic slasher/psychological thriller, and I am super excited about it because I am a fan of psychological thrillers and horror. There are very few good ones that I believe come out, most of it kind of sucks. This is an intelligent ‘whodunit?’ There has been a lot of interest in it, and we are in negotiations right now. It is also very diverse. We have the “Me Too” concept, racial diversity, LGBTQ, it covers almost every social issue that you can imagine in a psychological thriller, so I am really pumped. It was a labor of love.

Interestingly enough, my intern helped me write it. I am very big on nurturing young people as well. That is how Linkin Park started. Brad Delson was my intern from UCLA, and he came into my office with a demo tape. I think we all need to be present, even with people who have no experience, like an intern. I would say 90 percent of my interns have gone on to hold major positions in the entertainment industry. I found another kid at UCLA who seemed passionate to learn, and he is now at Fox. Within months after working with me, he is now working with Ryan Murphy.  We do not always allow people to show us what they have. We always demand experience, and we always require the most experienced person who has proven themselves. There could be somebody right in front of us at any given time. Everybody has something of value, and that is key.

To stay up-to-date with Blue, follow him on Facebook and Instagram, or visit his official website. One Step Closer is available at all major book retailers.

Photos Courtesy of Jeff Blue