Meet Jason Hinkle of Orenda/Outerloop Records/The Nile Theater/Chirp Entertainment in Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Hinkle.

Jason, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was born and raised in Phoenix- I’ve lived in various parts of the city my whole life. From a pretty young age, I always felt drawn to music in most shapes and forms- I started playing cello when I was eight, and then at about age ten, I discovered Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’; a year or two (and a lot of rock and metal records) later, nothing else in life excited me the way music did. I felt like the only thing I wanted to do in life was be on a stage with a guitar in my hands; I picked up the guitar the following year.

As I got older, I realized that rockstar-dom isn’t exactly a college applicable career, and over the coming years of high school I started trying to figure out what else it was I could do in the music world, and hopefully not have to give up that sliver of me that was still hoping to be that guy on stage.

I started the band I’m in now, Orenda, in 2014, and that’s been one of my primary focuses outside of a traditional career path- the band is still growing each and every day.

Shortly after Orenda was formed, I learned that Scottsdale Community College has a business-oriented leg of the music program, and I could get a degree in Music Business; going after it felt like a no-brainer.

I really fell in love with that program; it taught me the building blocks for literally any leg of the music world I could imagine myself getting into- recording, label and management work, live sound, booking- the list could go on. Not to mention the level of reinforcement it put into how to progress my own band.

In early 2017, I started interning at The Nile Theater to polish off my degree, and that later became a job that I continue to work at.

Towards the end of that year, I began interning for Shan Dan Horan at Outerloop Records – that, in turn, became a job as well.

Shan Dan is no longer at Outerloop, but I continue to work for Outerloop as well as working with Shan Dan at a new label called Chirp Entertainment that we’re working to launch currently.

Has it been a smooth road?
Yes and no.

I’ve been fortunate to not have a lot of obstacles in my personal life- my parents and friends have always been supportive, and helped me plenty along the way.

Of the few that I did have, the largest was having chronic migraines for several years starting from about age twelve; they kept me out of school and in doctor’s office, hospitals, and alone in dark rooms a lot of the time – in fact, there were years of high school I quite literally missed over 1/3 of the school year.

I lived a lot of middle and high school in a bit of fog – despite any intellectual inclinations, I found myself pretty apathetic to school and anything about it. I wasn’t as close with friends because I simply wasn’t around, and I truly feel like I was pretty absent of any real creativity or motivation between the migraines themselves and the ever-changing drug cocktail I was on. They got better around the time I turned 19, and while I’m not entirely migraine free, they are infrequent enough I no longer take any medication.

The other major piece was a complete absence of guidance or experience with what I wanted to do growing up. In terms of interests, I’m a bit of a black sheep in my family. I don’t have any musician relatives or anyone that works in the industry – no one so much as plays an instrument in my family. I had no one to learn from, take advice from, ask questions so – I spent a long time kind of floating, unsure of what to do or how to do it, whether it came to writing music, being in and running a functional (let alone successful) band, or what career options were even really out there in the music industry.

In short, it’s just been a lot of work grinding to where I’m at now- I’ve seen people in the industry at moments zoom past me because they had knowledge that I didn’t, or had personal connections, unlike anything I had. I worked harder and stayed longer than any of my peers at unpaid internships, I stayed at some really terrible jobs just because they gave me the flexibility to do all these other things and to learn the skills I needed to.

The music industry is all about who has the biggest appetite, and for a long time, I was in a position where I didn’t even know where the kitchen was, let alone how to get my seat at the table and prove my appetite.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Orenda / Outerloop Records / The Nile Theater / Chirp Entertainment – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
I’m probably going to have divided this up by each job, haha.

I’m the lead guitarist and primary songwriter in a modern metal band called Orenda. The term “Orenda” actually comes from the Huron language, and best-translated means “the power of human will to change the world” – a sort of call to action to everyone to be the change they want to see in the world.

Orenda’s ideology from day one has been about being a source of strength for our listeners, and encouraging growth and change both internally and externally, covering subjects ranging from self-doubt and depression to multiple aspects of the current political climate.

I’ve been working on Orenda for five years now, and it’s been slow, but steady growth- from a band of guys who had never set foot on stage before to a group that’s now sold out local shows and are beginning to tour the rest of the country, I’ve been able to work and see the ethos of the band come true for the band itself.

On the label front, I work for two different labels, Outerloop Records and Chirp Entertainment, both in a label management/product management type role.

One is largely based around rock and metal artists, the other largely around contemporary pop acts, but both really focus on developing up and coming artists. I always felt like a lot of big labels never made as much sense; a well-established artist likely already have their own team and has their own money to put into the business- but being a part of a place that allows me to play a major role in what may be pivotal career moments for a lot of these artists- THAT is the sort of thing I’m in this business for. In both labels, I’m often the person that truly helps get the product from A to B- all the behind the scenes production, content creation, marketing strategies- those come into play in my role, and I really truly enjoy getting to do that for a lot of budding artists.

Lastly, I work doing live sound and sometimes lighting duties at the local venue The Nile Theater. I started seeing shows at The Nile when I was 14- ever since it’s felt like a home away from home, and working there is one of my favorite things.

The building has a ton of history, and a LOT of huge names in rock and metal came there over the decades when they were coming up themselves. There’s something about working at and playing shows in a venue that’s almost 100 years old, and something more to be said about the genres and scenes that have called the venue home- I’ll take two hundred sweat covered kids screaming their lungs out to songs they love in a basement over a high-budget arena show, always.

Working there has taught me a love and appreciation for touring and for production work- it’s the best kind of chaos, and it’s only deepened my love of live music.

What’s your outlook for the industry in our city?
When I first started out, I would have said no. However, I think Phoenix is really starting to bloom as a place in the music industry. I think the venues in town, the local artists, the overall appreciation here is growing quite a bit. Every time I think Phoenix isn’t good for the industry, I talk to bands in other markets, only to find we have such a massive pool of creative talent here – so many other cities don’t have 15+ local bands in the same genre or a host of skilled audio engineers or videographers or even places to play at like we do in Phoenix- and WITHOUT the level of competition and saturation present in places like LA and New York.

Contact Info:

• Website: orendaofficial.com / outerloop.group / niletheater.com
• Email: jason@outerlooprecords.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orendajason/

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.