Jonathan Pfarr may not be the youngest to receive Grammy nominations, but receiving two nods at only 22 years old is an inarguable accomplishment.
Pfarr, known professionally as jfarr, is an Ohio-born singer, songwriter, producer and recording and mixing engineer. He has been nominated for two Grammy awards for his credits on Kanye West’s “Donda” album as a recording engineer – “Best Rap Album” and “Album of the Year.”
“I always had this dream of working with Kanye, and I didn’t really expect it to happen in under two and a half years,” Pfarr said. “It just happened really quickly, and then next thing I know when the album came out everyone was telling me ‘Hey, you know, you’re going to get a Grammy for that.’”
He added that when he woke up on the day the Grammy nominations were announced his friends were texting him that he received two nominations.
“It still feels pretty surreal because it’s something some people spend the rest of their lives trying to even get close to a Grammy,” Pfarr said. “I feel fortunate.”
In addition to working with the artist who legally changed his name to “Ye,” Pfarr has served as an audio engineer for Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Imagine Dragons, BROCKHAMPTON and Tyler, The Creator.
“I have some stuff that should be coming out (this year) with other artists that I’ve either played bass on or produced,” Pfarr said.
He hopes that some of the unreleased music he worked on in 2021 will be nominated for Grammy awards in the future.
Pfarr was born in Marysville and moved to Richwood with his family in 2015. He attended North Union Local Schools between eighth and 11th grades. Pfarr finished his senior year of high school through Ohio Virtual Academy, which provided him the flexibility to pursue a career in music.
He started playing guitar when he was about 9 years old, then began writing and producing songs in 2012.
Pfarr, the son of Richwood Civic Center Executive Director Susie Pfarr, began his career as a teenager, DJing in Columbus nightclubs. When he was 16, he released his first single “Breathe” under the artist name jfarr. The album was signed to electronic dance music (EDM) record label Ninety9Lives. In 2017, jfarr released his first EP titled “The Pieces,” which peaked at No. 22 on the iTunes top Pop Dance Albums chart.
In September 2018, jfarr and Tomatow released a single titled “Bandaid,” which is signed to Frequency Music record label. The single was featured on more than 10 New Music Friday playlists on Spotify and was placed into the “Electro Mix” and other generated playlists.
That same year, jfarr released a few singles, including “Sunlight” and “thinking of ya.” With the use of the keyboard, drums, synthesizers and bass, the songs lean more toward contemporary pop and R&B.
In 2018, Pfarr moved to Mesa, Arizona, to study audio engineering at The Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences (CRAS).
After completing a six-week internship at Shangri-La Studios in Malibu in July 2018, Pfarr was immediately hired as an audio engineer in August 2018. Internationally renowned artists who have recorded at Shangri-La Studios include Adele, Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran, U2, Bob Dylan, Lady Gaga, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Lana Del Rey.
Although he is no longer an employee at Shangri-La, Pfarr continues to work with owner Rick Rubin as a freelance audio engineer.
Pfarr graduated from CRAS in 2019 and moved to Los Angeles, where he is currently residing.
His most recent songs, “Trippin” and “so bad,” were released in 2021.
He is expected to release new music later this month. Pfarr’s music can be found on Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music and Apple Music.
The 64th Annual Grammy Awards hosted by comedian Trevor Noah were scheduled to take place with a live audience at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Jan. 31. However, the awards were postponed as a result of increased COVID-19 cases because of the omicron variant.
Now, the awards will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, according to a joint statement released Tuesday from the Recording Academy and CBS.
The 64th Grammy Awards will recognize recordings released between Sept. 1, 2020 and Sept. 30, 2021.