Review Fix Exclusive: TJ Stafford Talks ‘Crazy’ And More

Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter TJ Stafford who discusses his new single, “Crazy,” as week as his future in music.

About TJ Stafford:

TJ Stafford gets sinister with his dark debut single, “Crazy.” A Los Angeles-based songwriter, Stafford performed in various bands before finally stepping out on his own, saying “being a musician for most of my life, not making an album that was just me, with the exact words I wanted to say, and the exact sounds that fit those words, would have been an unimaginable regret.”  The songwriter has a long history of success with sync placements that included AMC’s The Walking Dead, HBO’s True Blood, NBC’s Parenthood, and FX’s Sons of Anarchy. While his music filtered through various television shows, his live performance has led to sold out shows at famous L.A. venues like The Roxy, The Troubadour, and the House of Blues. His track Shoot First recently won the Production Music Award for Best Rock Song. His music is a mixed bag of alternative rock fused with blues and pop influences that fearlessly explores the darker side of human nature.

Review Fix: What makes “Crazy” a special track?

TJ Stafford: It’s my first baby from this album. And it’s exactly how I wanted it to sound, no compromise, for better or worse. I kind of feel like a parent talking about their child. You know how every new parent thinks their baby is the most beautiful baby that’s ever existed? That’s me. People may talk shit about how ugly the child is when I leave the room, but man, I love this song. We’ll see how I feel when it hits puberty.

Review Fix: How was it written? What inspired it?

Stafford: It was written in a small room in Silver Lake with my producer, Matias Mora. I brought in an iPhone recording of a piano line, a lyric idea, and a lot of baggage from the story that inspired it. I was in a relationship years ago that left me very literally questioning reality, wondering if I was the crazy one, and losing myself in the process. One of those relationships that felt like a game in which the rules kept changing without notice, with the other party insisting that they hadn’t changed. So, I finally wrote about it, and being in a very literal mood, called it ‘Crazy’.

Review Fix: Who do you think will enjoy it the most?

Stafford: People that have been in a situation where they’ve felt crazy and are ok with acknowledging it. People that like a tinge of darkness in their art. Also, fans of good music…I think.

Review Fix: How do you think playing at famous L.A. venues like The Roxy, The Troubadour, and the House of Blues have influenced you?

Stafford: It’s inspiring in the most humbling sense. I’m a homebody and studio rat, so I’ve done most of my live performing in the LA area, and LA is a beast. First playing at those venues when I was younger, like a lot of young artists starting out, I thought I ‘deserved’ to be playing those venues and that, yes, of course people would want to come hear me play at iconic venues purely based on my musical abilities. I quickly realized that LA does not give a shit about my musical abilities. Talented people are ubiquitous in this town. Fans want to be entertained, and if you’re not gonna do it, they’ll find 317 other options on any given night. So, I guess you could say that it made me very grateful and determined to make sure that if people were giving up a night of their life, spending money on tickets, fighting traffic, paying for parking, buying dinner, buying drinks, and essentially being at least $70 in before the show even starts, I’d better put on a show and make it worth their while.

Review Fix: What are your goals for 2017?

Stafford: To continue to become who I am. Namaste. Also, finishing this book “Godel, Escher, Bach” which has been kicking my ass for a couple years now. It’s my white whale.

Review Fix: What’s next for now?

Stafford: The studio and a hundred other plates I seem to like trying to keep spinning. Selling out the Troubadour, continuing to work on a bunch of other music projects I’m excited about (i.e., The Rigs), licensing and syncs, a little bit of travel…and finishing that damn book.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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