Today we’d like to introduce you to John Cardenas
Hi John, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My story begins in the small town of Fayetteville, Arkansas. I was born from a Persian mother and Colombian father, resulting in lots of cultural influence and identity issues. My fathers side, owned event centers and a night club, which initially sparked my interest in music and entertainment industry. I quickly fell in love with art and music at a young age. Often always having earbuds or headphones on. Doing art projects. I first learned the keyboard at 10, DJ at 12, and trumpet at 13. Music helped me get through the troubling times at home.
My Mother raised me initially, however was often absent. We were often in dangerous situations, unhoused even. My mother had a tendency to get into trouble, often drug related. There were many times where I was taking care of myself for days at a time. My father finally got custody of me mis-way through high school, when she went to jail. However, that situation did not go well. He was absent the first part of my life, just occasional visits, due to his military background. My dad was an mma fighter and drill sergeant, and often had high set of rules around the house. Both situations, my freedom was rather stripped. The battle between parents resulted in me being homeless in Albuquerque where my dad was, and I wasn’t allowed to be with him or my mother at 17. I was still in school taking high level classes, I worked as a janitor at planet fitness at night, sleeping minimal hours to get up by 530 in the morning to get back to school. Regardless of that whole process, I always had music to fall back on to help me through it.
More details on that story here: https://www.uatrav.com/lifestyles/article_a4bae8a0-7de8-11eb-b3e9-afca45902f06.html
My goal in life was I wanted to help people. It initially started with anatomy related classes, fueling desire in a health related field. I quickly wanted to be a Physical therapist since I was in about middle school. I stuck with this till I moved back to Arkansas to go to the U of Ark. Initially I began at Northwest Arkansas Community College, while I slept on my friends parents living room couch, and worked at a restauraunt. I eventually saved up for a car, got my own apartment, and off to the races. I stayed in school for 2 years till Covid. Took a semester off to really look back and see how i’m going to make things happen. Leading up to lockdown, that time I had in the apartment and being a young college student was my first taste of pure freedom. I was going out more, and listening to music often. Music festivals every month, till I discovered house music. More on that in a moment. Once I did research, I discovered a physical therapist assistant program, that is part online and part in person. We were the first class to ever start this program, and there was already an in person PTA program thats been happening for 10+ years, so I knew I could trust it. And it was affordable vs 100k PT program. I jumped on it immediately. We started with 9, and I was one of 3 who finished. After I passed my exam, I moved to Austin within a week. (I could go back to school to become a PT if i’d like, would be only an extra 1.5 years.)
While I was in school, I would work on classes or be in clinical rotation 8-3pm, then work 4-9/10pm. Late night for study, or I worked more on music. As I was going to more shows prior to covid i discovered house music. This form of 4×4 beats with it’s own set of unspoken rules, yet a music that can be tied to any genre and connect to anyone. At first going to these shows, it was let’s see whatever was “hot.” But with some more underground house shows, they play less of what’s hot and more what fits the vibe. I also love it’s adaptability and ways you can fit your own style into it. I found this as a way to bond with other people. I love presenting and making music that brings people together in a way they didn’t know they needed. My favorite kind of DJ won’t play crowd pleasers the whole time but rather things you haven’t heard before and that are fresh in some capacity.
My genre history: When life was tough, I listened to alot of angry music when i was young. Rap, death metal, etc. However my cultural influeneces still maintain with latin grooves listening to aliot of salsa and merengue tracks in my familys spanish club, or the melodic voices of my grandmothers persian CDs in the car. All these tied together are how the CYR (‘syre’) project came to be.
CYR initially was just for expression. Started with mainly watercolor and painting media; delling canvases and etc. I would dj in my downtime with studying, make playlists for others, and people loved what I was doing. I first learned to DJ when I was about 12, mixing reggaeton with my uncle. I never stuck with it. Till those college days. I used covid as a time period to adapt and figure out what style I like and what I want to stick with. I began playing a little bar on West Dickson St in Fayetteville called “West & Watson.” I had a couple old friends there, and the scene is mostly experimental bass music. However I dove into this community of fellow artists who love to create and share electronic music, with an emphasis on the underground and unknown. They starts with the sound system first because the music is what matters, decorations later. I played West and Watson on a continuous basis perhaps 3x a month for those final years of finishing college after Covid. Initially it was slow, but towards the end we had grown the house music side of shows by alot. More and more people were coming to house just as much as the bass shows. Art is not a competition, but it showed that people were attracted to my sound and of course the experience West provided.
As of now, I’m a treating therapist in the West Austin area. I began working in a skilled nursing setting specializing in neurological diagnosis and low-level mobility techniques. I quickly grew to be the director of rehabilitation of my facility after about 9 months in Austin. Now I work as a traveling therapist, because it offers more flexibility. In terms of music, I’m still finding and discovering what the scene is like here and how to get more involved. There is ALOT more to navigate here and it can often be political. I’ve turned my focus more to producing music. I’ve been in a lucky place to upgrade my studio. My specific genre of house music is minimal tech house, or glitched minimal with latin influences. It maintains a grooviness with rap or latin vocals, but is deep and seductive by nature in it’s simplicity. I like to play things with a harder kick and deep bassline for that bit of aggression, while staying sly with percussions, and mysterious with whisper and low tone vocals. Music is still healing me at this point. One part of me is saying we’ve made it, and I’m so lucky and happy to be to this point in life. But I will never let that be the end of the story. There’s still so much more to do. While I figure that out, we’re gonna keep grooving away.
If there’s a common theme throughout this, I’d say the following: never let anyone tell you, you cant do something or you won’t make it, and even more so that you can’t just do one thing. I often get mixed between these two sides of my life one being so professional and serious where the other is mostly dancing and party; but being able to switch between those, keep creating, and make others happy in the process; this is freedom.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Lots of mental struggles. Comparing myself to others who were not in the same situation. If anything being so young I grew up alot faster than most. Or just comparing financial differences can be frustrating. But you have to realize everyone is at a different point in there life, or just don’t have the mindset you do.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Physical therapist asst. Specializing in neurological diagnosis and low level mobility. As of now I travel to people’s homes who don’t have access or the means to get to a clinic. I’m known most for leadership ability due to years of management experience beginning in restaurants. I grew to become the director of rehabilitation at a clinical at one point. What’s sets me apart is my grind and willingness to be persistent to help others. Will go the extra length for someone.
DJ; I specialize in glitched minimal tech house, with latin and groovy influence. Heavy kick, deep bassline, mysterious vocal and buildups, groovy drop. It tooks years to discover this is the sound I wanted to stick with, and it’s also not the most common form of house either. When people think of EDM this form of house music is not necessarily in the categories. Also what sets me apart is that I don’t traditionally play crowd pleasers, only unreleased and things that fit my set and vibe better. I play rather what people didn’t know they would like.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I can’t say much on risk taking except to be patient and take smart risks. Don’t just sump into something because it sounds nice. I could have jumped straight to PT school with debt, quit school and pursued music. But rather I took my time to see what fits, and yes the PTA program was rigorous and I could have failed but was a much safer bet.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cyr_world/
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/cyrworld
Image Credits
Caden Champagne
