#SouthBendHighlights

By Joselyn Ellington BA

July 22, 2019

SOUTH BEND – Greg Mooneyhan who goes by the stage name “Jee Em,” is an up and coming rising artist who loves to create hip-hop music. He is president and co-owner of the multifaceted music company Gutter to Glory Entertainment, with new manager Rebecca Lucier.

“I was welcomed so warmly by Greg and Trav (second owner of Gutter To Glory Ent. Travis Lottie) honestly,” Lucier said. “It was nothing but good vibes during my interviews.” Lucier applauds both men for being very positive.

Luciers job is to keep up with artist’s schedules and availability to ensure everyone stays on the same page. “Greg has been so nice and he’s great with keeping the lines of communication open so I can do my job for them to the best of my ability.”

Mooneyhan was born in Michigan City, Ind., and currently lives in Bremen. He works with various artists from South Bend including founder of Killin the Beat Ent., Kyle Bishop and recording artist Travis “God Travvy” Lottie who is collaborating with him on their new and up coming album “Now or Never,” releasing August, 2019.

Album Expectations

Fans should expect to hear a healthy blend of hip-hop and r&b music, good production, and versatility from Gutter to Glory’s artists as well as others who showcase their talent in an effort to prove what makes them different.

“It will also be gratifying to show people just how hard we have been working and the quality of music you can expect from talented artists who genuinely have love for each other.”

Local artist’s views on Jee Em

Jee Em is a very ambitions and lyrically driven artist. His determination and willingness to get out and get it sets him apart from others. I look forward to seeing his progress.

President at Killin The Beat Ent., Kyle Bishop

Bishop is Mooneyhan’s publisher. He helps register songs and provides International Standard Recording Codes (ISRC) for tracking. He helped him set up distribution through Distrokid as well as make local connections with other artists and studios. https://distrokid.com/vip/seven/725236

Stand up guy. Definitely a unique sense of music.

Producer, artist, and engineer at N’Tha Dark Recordings, Duecey Montana

Montana produced Mooneyhan’s single “Faith in Me,” now on Spotify.

Back Story

Mooneyhan took a significant pause from writing and recording and got back into it about a year ago.

“I stopped recording around age 15 and it really was because I got heavily into high school sports. I never stopped writing though. That is something I have always made time to do because I love it so much. But after high school was college, then my mother’s illness, and marriage and children happened so I kind of couldn’t find the time to get back to recording.”

Mooneyhan lost his mother Colleen in 2009 to complications of thyroid cancer. She worked at Walgreens, Michigan City for over 25 years and as a bookkeeper and cosmetologist. His father Steve is a huge Notre Dame fan and a retired custodian from Michigan City area schools. His parents and his brother Jeff were all born in Michigan City. He has enjoyed attending Notre Dame Games together with his dad and brother.

“He still lives in Michigan City and despite my wishes, still has not had any ideas of moving closer to my family and I,” Mooneyhan said regarding his father.

“I’ve learned very many things from both of my parents, and a lot of the positive and negative traits I have, I can attribute to them.”

Mooneyhan has excelled in writing, vocabulary, and the English language since an early age. From age 11-15 he wrote and recorded hip-hop songs using his own lyrics and recording them over industry beats that came out as singles on old cassette tapes.

So I have always loved writing and obviously you have to do that with being an artist/musician. On top of that, music has always been very near and dear to my heart, and I’ve found it to be very therapeutic.

Using his combined talents and his love for music “hip-hop being number one,” made it easy for him to pursue music as a career. He regrets taking so much time off but is making up for it and says he couldn’t be happier.

Love for hip-hop

Mooneyhan is a fan of pretty much all genres of music, but 95% of the time he enjoys writing hip-hop lyrics.

“You can do so much more with your words, and the fact that hip-hop artists only instrument or close to it is their mouth, means you have to work very hard, but you can be very expressive.”

Mooneyhan also aspires to make some crossover genre hip-hop songs using hip-hop and country, and hip-hop and southern/classic rock.

Inspired by True Lyricism

Mooneyhan is inspired by true lyricism. He feels it is an important quality and a trait that has somewhat been lost in recent years. He admires the art of storytelling and an artist’s ability to paint a vivid picture with their words. “And I appreciate it even more if it’s about a life event or situation I can relate to.”

His number one influence is American rapper Eminem. “It has been him for a very long time.” These days Mooneyhan mostly listens to underground and independent hip-hop. He is also greatly inspired by American rappers Jelly Roll, Yelawolf, Jay Z, Andre 3000, and Notorious B.I.G.

Gutter to Glory Entertainment

The name

Mooneyhan grew up in Michigan City in a really bad neighborhood with high crime. Money was tight and many things were hard to come by, he said. “The closest word I could think of to give the situation justice was ‘Gutter;’ I came up from the gutter, and ‘Glory,’ for my teams aspirations to be very successful in the music industry.” Gutter to Glory’s meaning is coming up from the gutter and headed for glory. 

Goals and New Music

A major goal for the company is to grow and put out as much music as possible, Mooneyhan said. In addition to “Now or Never,” he is half way finished completing his debut album “Darkest Times to Brighter Days.”

More music from Jee Em: “Embrace the Chaos” feat. God Travvy

Mooneyhan prides in having a family oriented business atmosphere. “Everyone’s opinion or ideas matter and are taken into consideration, and what makes it very easy is that all of us have an overall goal, we all want to reach it and we are working to reach it together as a family.”

The biggest problem Gutter to Glory had was prioritizing various projects individually and as a team but should now feel at ease. “We successfully hired a company wide artist manager to help with a lot of the tasks so we can focus on doing what we do best, and that is making great music.”

Rebecca Lucier on hopes for the company

“My hopes for the very near future is to be able to get each artist their own personal big show and two to three smaller shows by the end of the fall. The hope is to be able to get the whole label together for a big concert in Indy (Indianapolis) by the beginning of winter.”

Ultimately, Lucier said “I want the world to know and love each artist associated with the label by this time next year. We may be a small group, but it only takes a few small waves to create a tsunami.”