2025 Year-in update

I usually like to do an update here every 6 months or so. I lovingly call it “Joe Chris’s Giant Half Year Dump” (yes, poop jokes are always funny. Watch the Naked Gun if you want to understand my humor or want proof). Anyway, this one was a lot harder for me to write than usual. And not because of work, but because of mental health.

If you follow any of my content, you may realize quickly I am somehow both very emotionally expressive but also not the most open. I can laugh passionately, love deeply, and cry heavily and publicly and not worry about it, but when it comes to more vulnerable things I am very walled off except for a close handful of people.

2025 was very much a battle of man vs mind for me. There is so much I WANT to do. There is so much I NEED to do. But everything I TRY to do, it’s a constant fight. And when I have so many ideas (and many of which excite me to the point of nausea) I also overwhelm myself with them quick and knock myself out for the count. Even just getting out of bed is a challenge I’ve lost many times this year for sometimes a week or two at a time.

So 2025 was a year of learning. Being a freelancer exposes you in ways you can never imagine. All of your weaknesses, insecurities, and personal issues (such as relationship stuff or mental health things) don’t just affect you, but bubble to the surface and can take over in ways you never have to deal with when you are working a “normal” job. Hell, even when I was working a kitchen shift at a job - my boss still had me come in when I was incredibly sick and work. You don’t get the luxury of external pressure or being forced to come in when you freelance. You always have to force yourself, and it’s already a battle when things are good - when things aren’t? It’s a war. On top of that, it’s not just about completing what’s on your docket, but also managing your time well enough to line up more work for the future (but not too much you overwhelm yourself).

So 2025 was a year of balance. A year of success, but also of failure. A year of great highs but also mega lows. If there’s one thing I want to be better at in 2026 it is accepting that it is a balance. I used to see this therapist (like romantically, not professionally) who would say “let yourself feel without judgement.” I think next year I need to focus more on that. Don’t get upset or frustrated when I am upset, but also don’t let happiness or excitement cloud my mind either. Just feel things, ride them out, and continue on.

If you couldn’t tell from my opening poop joke, I do have a sense of humor which leads me to “The World’s Greatest Crashout.” It’s a youtube series where I started vlogging me trying to break out of this sort of funk I’ve been living in on and off for a few years now. I thought it’d be really funny way to frame what I’m going through while also trying to hold myself accountable to change. Regardless, I’d like to use this as an opportunity to pivot from talking about my health to talking about what I learned this year, updates on my goals, and my plans for 2026.

2025 was a year of growth.

When I went back to look at what I wrote in December 2024 (when I had no intention of doing music full time 2 weeks later, if I am giving myself grace) I was actually really upset. A whole year went by and I didn’t finish ONE of these goals. But then I looked closer…

• My IT book has some sections released and the scoringtech.net channel is actually quite active with 300-400 monthly readers AND a store selling products - neither of which I ever imagined. We even have a discord server with HUNDREDS of members, and multiple active and recurring composing challenges. WILD!

• My digital hygiene still needs to be taken care of, but the electric raindrop and scoring tech sites were rebuilt from basically the ground up. Outside of my main website (this one) I actually cleaned up my social channels, had some stuff go semi-viral, and even started MULTIPLE new channels of communication (podcast, youtube, discord community, newsletter, etc). It is a lot to manage, but I’d rather be doing something new and growing than micro-managing what is essentially a business card (though I do need to update my portfolio tracks more often)

• Podcasts - One of them has been REALLY good for me. I am figuring out the other 2 still. I know what I want to do but it’s more about “how will this be a good use of my time” right now. And actually, it’s not just 2 more. It’s 3 more (or 4, depending on if a marketing meeting goes that way next week). Either way, podcasting is amazing and even with 10 episodes (more than like 80% of podcasts get to - statistic I read somewhere and the number DEFINITELY isn’t accurate) I have made so many great connections and learned so much!

• Dance collab. This one is the most heartbreaking/challenging. I’ve been talking about it for a while and it just is never a good time for our calendars to synch up properly. That said, I already have a LOT of collabs lined up for 2026 and am really pushing to make that more of a goal going forward. Music for the sake of music.

• Experiences - didn’t do any of the fitness stuff down below, I was injured, friendships grew apart (who I was planning to do these with) and other excuses. That said, I plan to roll those into 2026 and make a focus on LIVING not just getting by.

So that’s the 2024 goals. But we have more. 2025 was a year of development. And develop we did.

• I released my first sample pack on scoringtech.net with a plan to release at least one a month (and build content around it)

• I started an artist group in the “not upstate” region of New York that I am SO excited to keep running and see what sorts of connections I make

• I made a lot of incredible new friends (many of which compromise my absolutely AMAZING support system that I am so deeply and eternally grateful for - you know who you are)

• I started a youtube channel and learned so much about video production, scripting, editing, marketing, content creation, and more. So much so that I am genuinely interviewing for full time marketing gigs (in music) because I have self taught myself to a high level for specialized skills, AND freelance marketing on the side

• I started a podcast interviewing composers and got to meet some really awesome folks

• I really started feeling like I was coming into my own as a composer. Not every piece I write felt like a 10/10, but there are quite a few I was genuinely proud of and really love the personal style I’ve been developing

• I started writing an actual book that I plan to bring to an actual publisher??? (Yes, even I am shocked at that one)

• I rekindled my love affair with cinema (as of writing, I have seen 148 movies this year!! in 2024 I saw 22)

• I rode a bike for the first time since like 3rd grade!

• I read more books in 2025 than almost any other year of my life

• I did a 10k spartan trail race straight up a mountain that I am incredibly proud of

• I formed a really good friend group that gets together regularly

With all that being said, I’d like to talk about my plans for 2026.

2026 will be a year of intention.

I no longer want to scramble to find any gig I can and write music for anything. I want to dial in exactly the kind of person/project I want to be a part of and target them specifically. My goal for 2026 is to land just ONE project in that realm and do everything I can in order to land it. I have a strategy in place, let’s see if I stick to it and if it works.

I also want to get multiple revenue streams FLOWING. We are at the point where I have a good number of streams trickling with one being a primary flow-er. I want all of them to pick up. Sonic branding, teaching, marketing, youtube, composing, assisting, etc. What I learned in 2025 is there will be ups and downs throughout the year, and being able to focus on a secondary (or even tertiary) income source during a slow season of one or another will be a LIFE SAVER.

Speaking of youtube, I want to go hard and go fully in on it. I see so much untappd potential as a composer and someone who understands film music specifically. There’s really no one doing what I want to do in that space, and I think that it can be an INCREDIBLY powerful tool for me if I can get it up and running. I set my goals high here with 1k subscribers in april (4 months from now…) and 10k by october. But that just motivates me more to work harder (and use it in my strategy for the other two goals above).

Other small goals include:

release my first book by the end of the year

collab with at least 20 different artists (not strictly music)

Land one feature with a major indie film studio

run a marathon, do a polar plunge, first day sunrise hike, paul revere midnight ride

Perform a silent film live

Release an EP

Do 3 data sonification experiments/videos

Write a screenplay for a feature length film

At the end of my 2024 post, I quoted Erich Fromm and spoke about how I need to love my art more. I’ definitely fell in love with the film side of things, but I’d like to show the composing side more love. On top of that, I am making a conscious and intentional effort to try and show myself more love too.

Here’s to an intentional, loving, and fulfilling 2026.

Yours Truly,

Joe Chris

#It’sAJoeChris26