March 5, 2025 • 20 mins
Join host Kahn Ellmers as he sits down with Juan Carlos, a talented musician with a powerful story. Juan Carlos shares his journey from Mexico to the United States, his early love for music sparked by the accordion, and how a relationship led him to discover the Seventh-day Adventist faith.
Hear the story behind his moving song, "Salvation Came To Me," a heartfelt expression of gratitude for God's grace..
Thank you for tuning in to Adventist Waves! It's been a joy sharing Juan Carlos's inspiring story and music with you. Your support helps us highlight the incredible talent within the Adventist community. Donate now to support the production of our next season of Adventist musicians stories.
Listen to "Salvation Came To Me" on Juan Carlos's YouTube channel @JOTT777. Subscribe to his channel and share his music to support his ministry!
Next week, Adventist Waves will be featuring another Adventist musician who has dedicated their life to music ministry - Laura Williams.
This episode was brought to you by Blue Vineyard Audio. It was produced, edited, mixed, and mastered by Kahn Ellmers. Need help with your podcast or audio project? Visit bluevineyardaudio.com.
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to Adventist Wives.
(00:13):
I've composed many songs already.
Surprisingly enough, that one came to me when I was in the shower.
I hope...
I'm a little embarrassed to say that
because I hope I'm not the only one that hums and sings when he's in the shower.
(00:36):
Keep in mind that at this time when I got the inspiration to write
Salvation came to me, I had already composed like two or three other songs.
But this one, this one was very different because this one...
(00:58):
I consider to be my favorite among all the compositions that I've done so far.
This is my favorite. It just came to me.
(01:21):
Welcome to Adventist Wives. I am your host, Khan Elmas.
So today we're going to be talking with Carlos.
Before we do that, make sure you guys stick around.
It's going to be a great conversation.
Subscribe to this podcast. Share it with a friend.
And make sure that you give us a five-star review on
anywhere you listen to your podcast.
(01:43):
So let me introduce you to Carlos.
Carlos, could you explain to us a bit about who you are?
You can share with us where you're from.
I was born in Mexico and my mom broadens here to the United States.
(02:05):
Me and my siblings, I was around eight months old.
So I practically grew up here in the United States my whole life.
We moved to this small town in California called Corcoran,
which is the farming capital of California.
(02:26):
And I was raised in the Catholic community.
I always had an interest in music from a young age.
We listened to a lot of Spanish music growing up, secular music.
And I always had an interest in playing the accordion.
(02:49):
One of my favorite bands would play that instrument a lot.
It's just part of the Mexican culture it's built.
And so that influenced my love for music.
We would listen to music all the time at home
and just surrounded by the culture.
(03:16):
I joined the church choir there at a church.
This was at the Catholic Church?
Yes, it was there.
And that kind of helped develop some of my, I guess you can say, talents music
(03:37):
in terms of music because that's what kind of helped me get a little bit better
understanding music and how would we address that?
I was around, I want to say 18, around 18 or 19 around that time.
(04:01):
Okay.
And so how did you end up like meeting your, I mean,
how did you end up becoming an Adventist musician?
Well, it was because of my wife.
She's the one that has her to blame.
Yeah.
(04:24):
We were dating online.
We were dating online and it was to a lot of distance relationship.
It was hard at first, but she did mention that she was an Adventist.
That was the first?
Well, not the first, but maybe second time that I heard about Adventism.
(04:45):
So I was a little curious.
And so she would always bring up the Sabbath, always bring, talk about her faith.
And I really kind of, I really touched my heart because I never saw any type of faith like that before.
There's a big difference between Catholics and Adventists in terms of at least practice.
(05:12):
I'd say, I mean, going to church, going up and going to Sunday church and services and then also attending Mass and things like that.
What did you think when you first, we'll start attending church and listened to the services?
Well, I found it a little different, of course, you know, because they, you know, everything was so just new to me.
(05:41):
I mean, they didn't have a priest or anything like that.
It was pastor.
You don't have to confess your sins to, you know, to a man.
And it was, it was quite a lightning, actually.
It was a refreshing to see that it didn't have to be how I was brought up.
(06:03):
This was a totally different, like new approach and, and I loved it.
And I was convicted around this time when, when my wife came to the United States because there was that time that we were doing Bible studies.
And, and then that's what that's how I found out all the truths about the Sabbath state of the day, the doctrines.
(06:33):
Praise God for your testimony.
So going back to your music, though, are you like a full-time music missionary?
Well, I actually, I'm actually cook.
I went to culinary school here in Los Angeles.
There's an Adventist hospital.
I mean, I, I, I work there and also live on campus.
(07:00):
So it's a very scary walk to going to work because it's only like a few heads of a lot.
I don't have to worry about gas or anything like that.
And it's, it's nice because it's so close.
Yeah.
So you work at an Adventist hospital cooking, but part-time you're doing music on the side, right?
(07:27):
Yes, yes.
The music, I guess it's always been a calling to me always.
It has always been a calling from, from a very young age, just as I mentioned before.
And I, I didn't, I didn't get to do it often because, you know, life throws a lot of challenges that you have to work.
(07:53):
You have to, you know, responsibilities, kids.
So I do it when I can.
And it wasn't until the year of 2020 where things started really taking off in terms of what God put me here on Earth to do.
(08:17):
And that is to share music.
That's when I found out that I have something that God wants me to share.
Yeah.
So that's how it started.
So tell me a bit about what, about your music.
Like, how would you describe it to somebody who has never heard it before?
I would describe it to them beautiful, beautiful melody, very full of serenity, touching, just heartwarming.
(08:51):
It's both Thanksgiving.
That's how I would describe it to someone.
Hopefully it makes sense.
Yeah.
Let's, let's jump into one song that you have composed.
Could you share with us the name of that song, how that song first became, came, came to life?
(09:16):
Well, one of them was Salvation, Came to.
(09:38):
I've composed many songs already. Surprisingly enough, that one came to me when I was in the shower.
I hope, I'm a little embarrassed to say that because I hope I'm not the only one that hums and sings when he's in the shower.
(10:15):
I can't even mind that at this time when I got the inspiration to write Salvation, came to me.
I already composed like two or three other songs.
And, but this one, this one was very different because this one, I consider to be my favorite among solid compositions that I've done so far.
(10:39):
It just came to me.
When I, I pray and then God answers my prayer, I pray, God, please give me something.
(11:03):
And then it just automatically, the tunes come to my mind and I create the sounds in my head and sometimes I use instruments.
(11:27):
A lot of times it just goes just directly from humming in unexpected moments like that, like the shower.
And so the melody came to me and then I was like, wow, this sounds beautiful.
(11:51):
So me and my wife started working on the song.
All I had in my mind when I got the melody was like, this has to have footprints in their summer.
So I wanted to be a song of appreciation.
(12:16):
But my God, I'll surely see, soon all the nations shall bow to thee.
It's something where people can connect in terms of how grateful one is for having that salvation that came to them.
(12:39):
Have you ever had somebody come up to you and share with you about how the song in particular has impacted their life?
Well, yes.
When I first started to send the songs to people, so one particular person came to me and said,
(13:05):
I can listen to this all day. It's so beautiful.
(13:35):
Love.
And so I told them, well, I mean, my whole intention for me making music is for people to appreciate Jesus more.
(14:00):
That's my intention. And that's, I felt fulfilled at that moment because I was like, yes, this is my purpose.
This is what God has planned for me.
Yes, I think that God has given you a gift in creating music that is simple but yet very moving.
(14:26):
Before I let you go, I would love to ask you if there is any way that somebody could like help Adventist musicians,
support Adventist musicians like yourself, what ways can they support your music?
No, I think the most practical ways is to like, share, and to just take in everything from the song to just say how I mentioned previously to just appreciate the lyrics,
(15:08):
appreciate the melody, and to share it, share the love. Just like Jesus wants us to do, just sharing is caring, right?
So that is my desire, just to share.
Where about can people find your music, Carlos?
They can find it on YouTube. They can just put at Jot777 and I should be on YouTube.
(15:38):
I'm probably the only one with the name. It's called the Journey of the Talents. That's what it stands for, the journey of the Talents.
On YouTube. Okay, awesome. You said that you haven't yet released all your songs but you're planning to kind of release them in stages.
(15:59):
Can you explain a bit more about that?
Yes. Right now, so far, I have two songs that are out. Salvation came to me and the other one is We Shall Be Changed.
And then right now I'm working on one that has a different approach.
It's not what you encountered in those two very, I guess you can say, heartfelt songs.
(16:29):
This one is going to be different. This one's going to be a little bit more happy.
And I am working on it with a friend of mine and it's almost done. It's nearly finished.
It's just that she has a lot on her plate right now. So hopefully, hopefully soon we can release it.
(16:52):
And those are all the details I can give for now.
Okay, well we'll keep an eye out for that one then for the great release.
Any idea, maybe roughly, how long away it is in terms of months?
Well, to be honest with you, maybe a month? Maybe a month or two months around there?
(17:22):
I need to bug my friend about it.
Yeah, you're bugging your friend.
Let's read this up and hopefully we can get it soon.
But for our listeners, you can listen to the songs that Carlos has released already on YouTube.
And keep an eye out for the new ones that are to be released very soon in the next month or two on this YouTube channel.
That's it, right? There's no other place where they follow you on Instagram, Facebook?
(17:49):
Yeah, on Facebook you can find me on Facebook, just type Juan Carlos and hopefully you can find me.
You can find me on TikTok as well. But I would recommend just going to YouTube.
It's a lot easier at job 777.
(18:13):
Okay, okay, cool. By the way, do you still play the accordion?
Yeah, I still play it.
You got it? Man, that's awesome. I love it if you could just send me a clip or something like that.
Then I could just put it on the end of this podcast so then people can hear you play. Would you be able to do that?
Yeah, I can. I have a couple clips that I can send you later. Why not?
(18:36):
That would be awesome and I would really appreciate that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course.
And we'll make sure that people can get a link to your channel. It's in the description below.
Once again, this has been Adventist Waves. I've been talking with Juan Carlos.
Make sure you check us out and follow the podcast and share with your friends.
(18:59):
Share it with somebody who you think can benefit from this podcast.
If you have been personally impacted by it, make sure that you share because it encourages other people as well in their journey.
So thank you so much Carlos for coming on.
Thank you, thank you Con for having me.
(19:22):
Yeah, you're welcome and we'll definitely have to do it again maybe even one time when you release your next ones.
Yeah, of course.
Awesome brother. Hey, take care.
Thank you so much for joining me on this episode of Adventist Waves.
(19:44):
I hope that you have been blessed by Juan's story as much as I have.
Thank you for being a part of this adventure, of sharing the songs of Adventist musicians and supporting the next generation of music ministries.
I encourage you to check out Juan's music, Salvation Came to Me and We Shall Be Changed.
It's on his YouTube channel, Jot777.
(20:05):
Please share his music and let his talent inspire and uplift you.
Make sure you tune in to next week's episode.
We'll be featuring Kimi Ogundi, a talented Adventist musician who's just released her latest album, You Won't Want to Miss It.
This episode of Adventist Waves was brought to you by Blue Vineyard Audio.
(20:29):
It was produced, edited, mixed and mastered by Khan Elmas.
If you need any high quality audio services, make sure to check us out at bluevineyardaudio.com.
Until next time, keep riding the Adventist Waves.
Welcome to Adventist Wives.
(00:13):
I've composed many songs already.
Surprisingly enough, that one came to me when I was in the shower.
I hope...
I'm a little embarrassed to say that
because I hope I'm not the only one that hums and sings when he's in the shower.
(00:36):
Keep in mind that at this time when I got the inspiration to write
Salvation came to me, I had already composed like two or three other songs.
But this one, this one was very different because this one...
(00:58):
I consider to be my favorite among all the compositions that I've done so far.
This is my favorite. It just came to me.
(01:21):
Welcome to Adventist Wives. I am your host, Khan Elmas.
So today we're going to be talking with Carlos.
Before we do that, make sure you guys stick around.
It's going to be a great conversation.
Subscribe to this podcast. Share it with a friend.
And make sure that you give us a five-star review on
anywhere you listen to your podcast.
(01:43):
So let me introduce you to Carlos.
Carlos, could you explain to us a bit about who you are?
You can share with us where you're from.
I was born in Mexico and my mom broadens here to the United States.
(02:05):
Me and my siblings, I was around eight months old.
So I practically grew up here in the United States my whole life.
We moved to this small town in California called Corcoran,
which is the farming capital of California.
(02:26):
And I was raised in the Catholic community.
I always had an interest in music from a young age.
We listened to a lot of Spanish music growing up, secular music.
And I always had an interest in playing the accordion.
(02:49):
One of my favorite bands would play that instrument a lot.
It's just part of the Mexican culture it's built.
And so that influenced my love for music.
We would listen to music all the time at home
and just surrounded by the culture.
(03:16):
I joined the church choir there at a church.
This was at the Catholic Church?
Yes, it was there.
And that kind of helped develop some of my, I guess you can say, talents music
(03:37):
in terms of music because that's what kind of helped me get a little bit better
understanding music and how would we address that?
I was around, I want to say 18, around 18 or 19 around that time.
(04:01):
Okay.
And so how did you end up like meeting your, I mean,
how did you end up becoming an Adventist musician?
Well, it was because of my wife.
She's the one that has her to blame.
Yeah.
(04:24):
We were dating online.
We were dating online and it was to a lot of distance relationship.
It was hard at first, but she did mention that she was an Adventist.
That was the first?
Well, not the first, but maybe second time that I heard about Adventism.
(04:45):
So I was a little curious.
And so she would always bring up the Sabbath, always bring, talk about her faith.
And I really kind of, I really touched my heart because I never saw any type of faith like that before.
There's a big difference between Catholics and Adventists in terms of at least practice.
(05:12):
I'd say, I mean, going to church, going up and going to Sunday church and services and then also attending Mass and things like that.
What did you think when you first, we'll start attending church and listened to the services?
Well, I found it a little different, of course, you know, because they, you know, everything was so just new to me.
(05:41):
I mean, they didn't have a priest or anything like that.
It was pastor.
You don't have to confess your sins to, you know, to a man.
And it was, it was quite a lightning, actually.
It was a refreshing to see that it didn't have to be how I was brought up.
(06:03):
This was a totally different, like new approach and, and I loved it.
And I was convicted around this time when, when my wife came to the United States because there was that time that we were doing Bible studies.
And, and then that's what that's how I found out all the truths about the Sabbath state of the day, the doctrines.
(06:33):
Praise God for your testimony.
So going back to your music, though, are you like a full-time music missionary?
Well, I actually, I'm actually cook.
I went to culinary school here in Los Angeles.
There's an Adventist hospital.
I mean, I, I, I work there and also live on campus.
(07:00):
So it's a very scary walk to going to work because it's only like a few heads of a lot.
I don't have to worry about gas or anything like that.
And it's, it's nice because it's so close.
Yeah.
So you work at an Adventist hospital cooking, but part-time you're doing music on the side, right?
(07:27):
Yes, yes.
The music, I guess it's always been a calling to me always.
It has always been a calling from, from a very young age, just as I mentioned before.
And I, I didn't, I didn't get to do it often because, you know, life throws a lot of challenges that you have to work.
(07:53):
You have to, you know, responsibilities, kids.
So I do it when I can.
And it wasn't until the year of 2020 where things started really taking off in terms of what God put me here on Earth to do.
(08:17):
And that is to share music.
That's when I found out that I have something that God wants me to share.
Yeah.
So that's how it started.
So tell me a bit about what, about your music.
Like, how would you describe it to somebody who has never heard it before?
I would describe it to them beautiful, beautiful melody, very full of serenity, touching, just heartwarming.
(08:51):
It's both Thanksgiving.
That's how I would describe it to someone.
Hopefully it makes sense.
Yeah.
Let's, let's jump into one song that you have composed.
Could you share with us the name of that song, how that song first became, came, came to life?
(09:16):
Well, one of them was Salvation, Came to.
(09:38):
I've composed many songs already. Surprisingly enough, that one came to me when I was in the shower.
I hope, I'm a little embarrassed to say that because I hope I'm not the only one that hums and sings when he's in the shower.
(10:15):
I can't even mind that at this time when I got the inspiration to write Salvation, came to me.
I already composed like two or three other songs.
And, but this one, this one was very different because this one, I consider to be my favorite among solid compositions that I've done so far.
(10:39):
It just came to me.
When I, I pray and then God answers my prayer, I pray, God, please give me something.
(11:03):
And then it just automatically, the tunes come to my mind and I create the sounds in my head and sometimes I use instruments.
(11:27):
A lot of times it just goes just directly from humming in unexpected moments like that, like the shower.
And so the melody came to me and then I was like, wow, this sounds beautiful.
(11:51):
So me and my wife started working on the song.
All I had in my mind when I got the melody was like, this has to have footprints in their summer.
So I wanted to be a song of appreciation.
(12:16):
But my God, I'll surely see, soon all the nations shall bow to thee.
It's something where people can connect in terms of how grateful one is for having that salvation that came to them.
(12:39):
Have you ever had somebody come up to you and share with you about how the song in particular has impacted their life?
Well, yes.
When I first started to send the songs to people, so one particular person came to me and said,
(13:05):
I can listen to this all day. It's so beautiful.
(13:35):
Love.
And so I told them, well, I mean, my whole intention for me making music is for people to appreciate Jesus more.
(14:00):
That's my intention. And that's, I felt fulfilled at that moment because I was like, yes, this is my purpose.
This is what God has planned for me.
Yes, I think that God has given you a gift in creating music that is simple but yet very moving.
(14:26):
Before I let you go, I would love to ask you if there is any way that somebody could like help Adventist musicians,
support Adventist musicians like yourself, what ways can they support your music?
No, I think the most practical ways is to like, share, and to just take in everything from the song to just say how I mentioned previously to just appreciate the lyrics,
(15:08):
appreciate the melody, and to share it, share the love. Just like Jesus wants us to do, just sharing is caring, right?
So that is my desire, just to share.
Where about can people find your music, Carlos?
They can find it on YouTube. They can just put at Jot777 and I should be on YouTube.
(15:38):
I'm probably the only one with the name. It's called the Journey of the Talents. That's what it stands for, the journey of the Talents.
On YouTube. Okay, awesome. You said that you haven't yet released all your songs but you're planning to kind of release them in stages.
(15:59):
Can you explain a bit more about that?
Yes. Right now, so far, I have two songs that are out. Salvation came to me and the other one is We Shall Be Changed.
And then right now I'm working on one that has a different approach.
It's not what you encountered in those two very, I guess you can say, heartfelt songs.
(16:29):
This one is going to be different. This one's going to be a little bit more happy.
And I am working on it with a friend of mine and it's almost done. It's nearly finished.
It's just that she has a lot on her plate right now. So hopefully, hopefully soon we can release it.
(16:52):
And those are all the details I can give for now.
Okay, well we'll keep an eye out for that one then for the great release.
Any idea, maybe roughly, how long away it is in terms of months?
Well, to be honest with you, maybe a month? Maybe a month or two months around there?
(17:22):
I need to bug my friend about it.
Yeah, you're bugging your friend.
Let's read this up and hopefully we can get it soon.
But for our listeners, you can listen to the songs that Carlos has released already on YouTube.
And keep an eye out for the new ones that are to be released very soon in the next month or two on this YouTube channel.
That's it, right? There's no other place where they follow you on Instagram, Facebook?
(17:49):
Yeah, on Facebook you can find me on Facebook, just type Juan Carlos and hopefully you can find me.
You can find me on TikTok as well. But I would recommend just going to YouTube.
It's a lot easier at job 777.
(18:13):
Okay, okay, cool. By the way, do you still play the accordion?
Yeah, I still play it.
You got it? Man, that's awesome. I love it if you could just send me a clip or something like that.
Then I could just put it on the end of this podcast so then people can hear you play. Would you be able to do that?
Yeah, I can. I have a couple clips that I can send you later. Why not?
(18:36):
That would be awesome and I would really appreciate that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course.
And we'll make sure that people can get a link to your channel. It's in the description below.
Once again, this has been Adventist Waves. I've been talking with Juan Carlos.
Make sure you check us out and follow the podcast and share with your friends.
(18:59):
Share it with somebody who you think can benefit from this podcast.
If you have been personally impacted by it, make sure that you share because it encourages other people as well in their journey.
So thank you so much Carlos for coming on.
Thank you, thank you Con for having me.
(19:22):
Yeah, you're welcome and we'll definitely have to do it again maybe even one time when you release your next ones.
Yeah, of course.
Awesome brother. Hey, take care.
Thank you so much for joining me on this episode of Adventist Waves.
(19:44):
I hope that you have been blessed by Juan's story as much as I have.
Thank you for being a part of this adventure, of sharing the songs of Adventist musicians and supporting the next generation of music ministries.
I encourage you to check out Juan's music, Salvation Came to Me and We Shall Be Changed.
It's on his YouTube channel, Jot777.
(20:05):
Please share his music and let his talent inspire and uplift you.
Make sure you tune in to next week's episode.
We'll be featuring Kimi Ogundi, a talented Adventist musician who's just released her latest album, You Won't Want to Miss It.
This episode of Adventist Waves was brought to you by Blue Vineyard Audio.
(20:29):
It was produced, edited, mixed and mastered by Khan Elmas.
If you need any high quality audio services, make sure to check us out at bluevineyardaudio.com.
Until next time, keep riding the Adventist Waves.
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