When native Californian Joe Khajadourian decided to dedicate himself to making music, little did he know the life-changing events that would lead him to become one of the most successful Armenian Americans on the music scene today.
Through his sheer talent, passion, and perseverance, the Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer is credited with multiple platinum records heard on radio stations across the world. He is now a member of the exclusive “billions club,” a music industry term for songs that reach more than a billion digital streams.
Through it all, Khajadourian manages to stay true to his values of hard work and self-discipline, while his connection to his Armenian culture remains strong.
“All I knew was that I would stay true to my dream and do the hard work to get there,” notes Khajadourian. As he tells
it, his Lebanese Armenian parents wanted their three children to succeed in America without losing their Armenian identity. They enrolled him at the AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School (MDS) which he attended from third grade through middle school. He recalls those formative years with fondness and gratitude. “I am extremely proud of my Armenian heritage,” he states.
His life in music began in earnest during his AGBU years. One day, his father, a jeweler, had made some repairs for a customer who owned a pawn shop and, in lieu of payment, bartered for an electric guitar at the shop to bring home. “I was spellbound with Michael Jackson’s Thriller at the time and music was already under my skin,” Khajadourian recalls. While he didn’t know the first thing about playing a guitar, his obsession with music deepened and his parents agreed to pay for lessons at a local music school. He took guitar classes for three years and as soon as he nailed down a few power chords, he jumped head first into putting a rock band together to play at local parties. “I would sit in my room for five hours a day and write all these songs and record them on this little boombox. They were probably bad, but I believed they were great.”
The day we were all laid off, I promised myself that I would never look for another job again. I decided that I would sit in my studio until something happened.
Ever resourceful, he remembers the many hours he spent visiting Guitar Center and Sam Ash Music, itching to expand his musical tastes and create his own recordings. “I didn’t have the means to rent a studio” he says. “So I took a side job at a supermarket to earn enough to purchase my first drum machine. I immediately started creating songs, putting them on tape, and performing them in bands with best friends I grew up with in my neighborhood. I would say, ‘Hey, listen to this song I wrote.’ I had no fear of rejection or ridicule.”
Khajadourian’s parents recognized their son’s discipline and dedication and never tried to quash his dreams. “All my father made me promise is that I would graduate from college, which I did, and I am better for it,” he shares, adding that while he majored in political science and took music and production classes as electives, he was impatient to get on with writing and producing songs full time.
However, with no connections to the music industry, there was no clear path or easy entryway. Khajadourian went out on a whim and applied for an internship at the fabled Atlantic Records. “I figured maybe I could kind of infiltrate from the inside and pitch my demos and maybe get a record deal,” he explains. He got the gig. Then, in a twist of fate, Khajadourian met a fellow intern, an aspiring songwriter Alex Schwartz. “Alex saw that I was serious. I had already set up a small studio in my bedroom with money from my side jobs,” Khajadourian recounted.
Together, the duo, who dubbed themselves The Futuristics, would spend hours in their bedrooms, making tracks and submitting them to Atlantic Records. “They liked a few of the tracks and that encouraged us,” noted Khajadourian. “We worked diligently for five years without any success. It sounds crazy, but when you try for five years working late into the night, sometimes seven days a week, it’s because you believe it will work. In the meantime, Alex was wrapping up university and I started working at a bank to pay bills.”
All the while, Khajadourian rose through the ranks at the bank, ultimately to command a six-figure salary. He found himself in a classic tug-of-war between financial security and creative freedom. It was then that, in another twist of fate, a life-changing event occurred: the 2008 collapse of the financial industry. The bank went under. “The day we were all laid off, I promised myself that I would never look for another job again. I decided that I would sit in my studio until something happened. Alex was all in. We made track after track after track. We maintained this wild idea that we were not going to fail.” And they didn’t.
Fast forward a few years and the consistency started to pay off. “We finally began to see some success and we’ve been building on that momentum ever since.”
Now, through two decades riding the rollercoaster that is the music business, Khajadourian’s repertoire runs the gamut across the pop, hip-hop, dance, R&B, and country genres. He is credited with hits for such household names as Justin Bieber (“Lifetime”), Selena Gomez (“Fetish” with Gucci Mane), G Eazy (“Him and I” with Halsey), Robin Thicke (“One Shot” with Juicy J), Camila Cabello (“Something’s Gotta Give”), MGK and Camila Cabello (“Bad Things”), Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga “3-Way” (The Golden Rule-Emmy Nominated), The Chain-smokers (“In Too Deep”) and Bebe Rexha (“You Can’t Stop The Girl”, “Amore”). These and more have helped catapult Khajadourian to the top tier of music producers in the country.
Khajadourian and Schwartz also launched Treehouse Records in 2024, a record label they named after their treehouse-like studio space. A full length album for pop/R&B artist Pia Mia was produced in its entirety and released under the Treehouse Records label.
When asked which aspect of the creative process he enjoys most, Khajadourian doesn’t hesitate. “It’s the engineering side of producing that is my forte. Making chords work perfectly with the drum beats comes easy to me. The best way to explain music producing is that you become a ‘tastemaker’, where you are working with an artist with an idea for an emotion they wish to convey. Alex can come up with the perfect lyric and I can conjure up just the right kind of chordal tonality and progression that may compliment that concept and elevate the melodies. I figure out whether the song is better fast or slow. If fast, what style could this live in? There are so many layers to this process.”
He goes on to explain the dynamics of creative collaboration in the studio, the importance of being flexible, leaving one’s ego at the door, and why the final creative solution depends on the vibes in the room rather than a structured chain of command. “When we finally get the concept, lyrics, and melodies figured out, then the fun really begins. That’s where I sit with the song on ProTools for eight hours straight perfecting the sound.”
It’s also where his inner teacher emerges. “I enjoy sharing my expertise with aspiring writers and producers. We now have producers we help develop and interns from colleges across the country. I show them tips, tricks, and offer critiques for improvement.
Paying it forward indeed appears to be another passion for Khajadourian. He fondly recalls traveling to Armenia for the Armenian Genocide centennial in 2015 and volunteering his time to teach music students at The TUMO Center for Creative Technologies. “Those kids are so talented. Playing even a small part in their musical development was an honor. I’d gladly go back and do it again anytime.”
Nowadays, Khajadourian’s musical impact doesn’t just stay at the Treehouse or at TUMO. His home is also alive with music. Khajadourian’s five-year old son Alec, who currently attends AGBU MDS preschool, is already paving his own musical journey as a young pianist. When Alec showed signs of a piano prodigy at three years old, the family noticed the same fearlessness that his father displayed from childhood. “Like me, he doesn’t need permission to perform,” Khajadourian observes. “Recently, he was invited to play in recitals both at AGBU and elsewhere alongside students multiple grades above him. He showed up undaunted and reveled in the applause.”
Meanwhile, Khajadourian’s Armenia-born wife Diana Sanders Khajadourian is a classically trained singer and an entertainment lawyer whose clients are music royalty. The couple’s deep connections to the music industry today are a far cry from their own humble beginnings as children of immigrants. “My wife and I are blessed to be able to guide our kids if they remain passionate about music, but we know all too well the importance of hard work. Alec is a pure talent, but he is also extremely dedicated. He’s practicing, he’s learning musical theory, he’s putting in time. There are no shortcuts to that.”
As for advice to aspiring musicians, including his son, Khajadourian concludes: “It’s all about nurturing your talent, believing in yourself, and taking risks.”
Fortunately, perseverance is just in Joe Khajadourian’s nature. From where he sits now, perched on high in a spacious glass-enclosed actual treehouse for a studio, he remains that rare creative genius who is truly grounded.
