SLJ grew up alongside music; it was omnipresent – in the house, the car, at relatives’ or friends’ places, the arena. But, early on, singing meant singing for family.
“my grandparents and great grand parent especially.”
His first professional instructor was guitar instructor Barry Switzer. SLJ remains indebted to him to this day for instilling discipline, carving out an interest in genres of music that still influence him, and actively practicing.

At age 14 the video game Rock Band became the spark of interest that ignited his peculiar but obvious rationale to sing whenever, wherever: at school or while driving around with friends.
It wasn't until age 19 where he began music-making with locals, mainly playing guitar. “It was my first experience which didn’t last long.”

SLJ met Jacob when they were both 20 and thus was born Below the Tempest. SLJ still had no veritable singing experience or training, but his fuel was the resourceful radio. Listening intently, SLJ’s passion for “vocalizing and evolving” outgrew his penchant to improve on the strings (although this never ceased) as BTT recorded and played the local circuit.

“I hadn’t understood what dedication in music looked like, so BTT broke up with me.”

After this, Jacob and SLJ remained friends, even after SLJ moved. Before moving, however, SLJ played with a metal group and did open mics with roommates. Once he moved, SLJ played and connected with locals in this new area as much as he could.

When SLJ moved back, he started and successfully obtained 2 degrees.
“Since attaining these, the crafting of unique narratives became centerfold in my life – whether I was writing for pleasure, post-sec., or personal poetry, I knew the more I wrote, the more I could develop. I also began singing and playing guitar in a more dedicated manner.”

After Jacob contacted SLJ in 2023, the processes of structuring, writing and executing music together became an enlightening endeavor that would last.

“We were still friends. We were influenced by similar genres, we knew we could learn from one another, so I thought ‘we’ve both matured since BTT, let’s see where this goes.’ The bow on the present, so to speak, that tied together our first album was picking up where we left off from the BTT days and setting, defining and sticking to pre-defined rules we made for ourselves in producing The Front Nine.”

S.L.J. and Jacob Alexander began the project titled "The Hungry Pyknic" in 2023 and have already released an album with more to come.