Meet CJ Quinlan | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with CJ Quinlan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi CJ, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I think music is such a beautiful thing because no matter what struggles you go through in life—from your past or the people you surround yourself with—it can shape the way you see things in your day to day. I use making music as a coping skill from all the childhood trauma and lots of other things in my day to day life to make it positive in letting out my emotions through writing and melodies that definitely helped shape me into this superstardom of who I am today.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I love making music—more specifically, I love catchy choruses and pouring my emotions out with ambient sounds, ad-libs, and really telling a story with all of my projects. Whether it’s the cover art or just the order of songs and interludes, I really put a lot of thought into it. Sometimes, I put less effort into certain songs—then later, I’ll hear a fan remind me of a favorite of theirs, and I’m like, “Wow, I almost deleted that because I made it in under 10 minutes—what was I thinking?” But I think, as an artist, it’s all about the way you present yourself. I feel like in this industry, there are a lot of f*ke artists, punk kids, and people who try to take advantage of young independent artists. It’s a cold industry, to be honest. But if you find the right people and connections, you can get very far in your goals, assets, and accomplishments—whatever you want to do in life. No matter how big or stupid the dream is, as long as you don’t listen to what anyone else has to say and stick with your intuition, you can make it very far—but also be willing to learn and take advice.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
So in Colorado, I’m from a suburb, but when I go out for shows downtown, there’s lots of fun to be had. I love after-parties, meeting fans—whether we network, make some content, or go out to do things at parks or restaurants. I think the thing with Denver is there are so many interesting people you can meet just walking on the streets. I myself am a social butterfly, so I love getting to know people, their stories, and I think music can also help people through tough times they go through in life. We’re all from different walks and have our own things going on, but we all bleed red. I’m a very caring, giving guy as much as I can be. I love talking to fans and walking Denver’s downtown streets.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I think back—lots of music has been passed down through my family, with my uncle being a world-touring man himself, working with big names like Gene Simmons, Zakk Wylde, and Jamey Jasta, to name a few. I definitely look up go him and he definitely was a big influence—just as much as a lot of artists from the SoundCloud era like Peep, XXXTentacion, Juice WRLD, and Ski Mask the Slump God. Even though I don’t do my uncle’s genre of metal and rock, I like to make it my own in my own way. I started to make music during the pandemic. As much as I love the lifestyle, I don’t like to think of myself as a rapper—I think I’m an artist. I like to do melodic rap, yes, but I sub-genre bend as well. To name a few, I definitely influence my music on artists like Lil Peep, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Lil Uzi Vert, D4VD, The Kid LAROI, Dax, and my biggest influence, the legend Juice WRLD.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thalilcjoffical?igsh=cHJjdjdiOGxmc2E%3D&utm_source=qr

Linkedin: https://linktr.ee/Thalilcj

Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/mYsPmNKZ9nOMIM4wdO

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/16SBZWT9gj/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@thalilcj?si=0vf6kPH14uKlTaBP

Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77g9gOiB1Y8DS6YLi10dCN?si=SzJJLJLORoOGpkPbkcNToQ

Image Credits
Photography
@premium_pixles