By John Ostapowicz / The Jambar
From Cleveland to Brooklyn, New York, multi-instrumentalist and indie artist Jordan Dean has moved away from Northeast Ohio in search of new musical opportunities.
Dean departed from Ohio in 2021 and landed in Nashville, Tennessee, which kick-started his musical career as a singer-songwriter. In the same year, Dean released his debut EP “Local” and in 2022 released his second and most popular EP “Feeling Strange.”
Since his departure from Northeast Ohio, Jordan Dean’s top tracks have garnered over a million plays across all music streaming platforms. In addition, songs such as “Feeling Strange” and “Free Advice, No One’s Buying” have garnered over 200,000 streams.
Most recently, Dean left Nashville for a bigger opportunity in Brooklyn, where he settled on his band’s consistent rhythm section of guitarist Brian Sellers, drummer Dylan Spiro and bassist Boris Gachot.
In response to the band’s new members, Dean said both the writing process and live performances have felt “natural” after their arrival.
“It’s really great. Everyone’s on the same page and it feels like as a unit, we’re moving forward and just growing,” Dean said.
Dean returned to Cleveland on April 5 at Beachland Ballroom and Tavern to celebrate the three-year anniversary of the music publication, “Kind of Consistent.”
At a young age, Dean gravitated towards the piano and wrote songs that strayed away from the normal musical conformities.
“I was never someone who dived into technicality. As an instrumentalist, I would get bored and go off and try composing my own stuff,” Dean said. “That longing for using [music] as a creative outlet was always there.”
The move to Brooklyn has provided Dean with new opportunities, such as his band’s consistent residency at the Mercury Lounge — a nightclub in New York City. The four piece also started recording new music in a studio called Thump, which is in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Dean said the move provided him with a boost in confidence and has helped him grow musically.
“It’s been good to me thus far, I’ve been playing a lot of gigs and meeting a lot of new people and really expanding my horizons artistically,” Dean said. “I think it’s where everything is meant to be right now.”
In Dean’s songwriting, he gravitates towards punk influences with hints of indie rock and incorporating the catchy hooks of the pop genre.
“[Our music] is an amalgamation of everything I always wanted it to be. At live shows we play loud and in your face,” Dean said. “We can do many different things, we make you dance and we can make you mosh. It’s supposed to be fun at the end of the day.”
Different versions of Dean’s hit songs are currently being rerecorded with the band and new tracks are on the way, with the first one scheduled to release Sept. 20.
While the title of the new album is unknown, it’s scheduled to release in early 2025.
With no new plans to return to Northeast Ohio as of now, Jordan Dean’s music is available to stream on Spotify and Apple Music.