Ridgeview High School holds many students full of glowing talent, ready to make a career. John Jarret, or “Goon” is a junior student in the Pack that creates music and produces it on his own, after his best friend, Manuel Castro, helped him start his path. Jarret’s stage name is currently “ilygoon” and can be found on Soundcloud, but he has changed his name before and may do it again to find the perfect fit.
His family is well-involved in music, with a father who plays in a church band and a brother that travels through countries playing the drums; Jarret’s mom works in the Parent Center at Ridgeview. His family is completely supportive, and his mom even listens to his Soundcloud, ignoring the few vulgar words.
Jarret’s inspirations are the people closest to him and his own biggest supporters, his family. One of his brothers is a touring drummer and is his biggest inspiration although he only plays the drums. Contributing to his drive for music, is that his oldest brother is a Christian singer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and his dad sings for churches. Jarret has found his own taste in music that isn’t much like his Christian family’s preferable music.
When asked about how his family reacts, Jarret laughed then answered, “I wouldn’t think that my parents would support me as much as they do, because I do have vulgar language in my songs sometimes and I’ll slur it for my mom’s sake”. His family’s laid back approach and open-minded support has made the journey a little more fun for Jarret, recalling the first time his mom heard his music, “She found my Soundcloud and she came in my room playing it and she was like, “Oh my god I love it!’” Since the first time hearing his music, his family and friends have continued to support him.
Jarret does all of the developing and producing at home now and works on it on his own, except for when he is bouncing off ideas on friends and social media. He takes his time to get it right and says, “I do everything myself because I feel like I have more creative freedom that way, and with most of my creative writings I have weird rituals or habits, like meditation”.

“I do everything myself because I feel like I have more creative freedom that way, and with most of my creative writings I have weird rituals or habits, like meditation”. – Ilygoon

Making music takes time and you have to be in the right headspace and have the energy that matches the music. When he starts his music he takes the time to bring himself into the energy, “Even though the type of music I put out it doesn’t seem like I put a lot of work into it, but it takes a lot of prep and I usually start working around two in the morning when I feel the most active.” He’s come a long way and found his path and can now say he is proud of the work he’s put in.
Look out for lilgoon’s new music: The Tape and Second Tape is coming soon, a twelve song album complete with an interlude, intro, and outro and will be a majority self-produced, “a look into my head, so it’s gonna be really scattered.”
“Also shout out to Tyler, one of my best friends who has done a lot for me and been an inspiration to me, and Manuel who’s helped with my music.”