Jonathan Sandler

Jonathan has been writing music and performing since he was eight years old. Until recently, he dedicated most of his time to musical theater, writing music on the side for his own enjoyment. He moved to New York City in 2001 to attend Columbia University, and soon after began succeeding on the New York theater scene. At nineteen, he joined Actor’s Equity Association, when he took on the role of Missile Toes in a production of Holiday for Hope at the Bushnell Theater in Hartford, CT. He then booked a spot on MTV Wannabe, on which he “became” the pop sensation JC of *NSYNC and won. Soon after he was cast in the pre-Broadway workshop of Good Vibrations, the Beach Boys musical. Leaving the project before its short-lived Broadway run, Jonathan finished college a semester early with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance. Simultaneous to completing his last semester, he made is off-Broadway debut in The Last Starfighter at the Storm Theater. You can hear him on the cast album for Starfighter, as well as on the original cast recording of The Road to Ruin, a new musical that Jonathan has been part of throughout its development. Jonathan’s other television appearances include Guiding Light and The Late Show with David Letterman. And he’s still only 22. Despite his early success in the academic arena and on the stage, he still felt unfulfilled.
Not one to ever hold back his thoughts and opinions, Jonathan needed a forum in which to simply express himself…not a character, but himself. Therapy Sessions, Jonathan’s debut album, is just that. It’s self-expression. This album is just his thoughts…his feelings. There’s really not much more to it. When he is affected by someone, and it’s always a ‘someone,’ he writes. “The lyrics just come,” he says, “and later when I feel inspired I add the music. I guess I need to marinade in my feelings and the words for a while before the music comes out of me.” Jonathan seeks to create with this album material that people can relate to. “I can’t communicate unless I am singing. The emotions just aren’t there,” he says, “They’re just not strong enough.” One of his favorite artists, an Italian singer named Elisa wrote, ‘Music’s the only reason why I know time still exists.’ Jonathan believes that music is how he knows that he has feelings. Music makes him understand that he is alive. “I can talk all I want, and no matter what I say it seems empty. But when I put myself into a song, I actually communicate.”
This album came about in a whirlwind of emotion, good fortune, and determination. He spent the past two years writing songs about relationships, mostly heartache of course, emotions, obstacles, successes, and his growth. When he was recording the cast album for The Last Starfighter, he was sitting in a recording studio that “gave him a good vibe.” He struck up a conversation with the engineer, Jamie Gustis, he set up a meeting with the producer Joe Baker, and suddenly he was in the middle of recording sessions for this album. Joe is a genius, and Jonathan is blessed to have found him. Without his mastery, this record would not exist. The music was just Jonathan singing about shit that came out on the therapist’s couch at one time or another. And as you probably guessed, that’s where the title came from: Therapy Sessions. This CD is Jonathan…contradictory, complicated, emotional. It is his therapy. This music really can’t be called anything else. Enjoy.