Jeff Lloyd was born on October 15, 1999 in the city of Magnitogorsk in the Ural Mountains of Russia. He was second of six siblings. Of his family, Lloyd says “They are really supportive. My parents have always taken my music seriously.” He received his first guitar as a gift at the age of six and by the age of eight had written an entire album. “It was pretty abstract and heavily inspired by Viktor Tsoi [lead singer of popular Russian rock band Kino],” says Lloyd. Though be began with classical guitar, by the age of ten he had transitioned to jazz. He credits his guitar instructor, the jazz musician Aleksandr Malenov, with instilling a passion toward blues and improvisation. In 2010, Lloyd started playing with the group Jazzy Gang. The band began to take off, but meanwhile Lloyd had begun to write music of his own that didn't align with the sound of the group. In 2011, his family moved to the US. He began adding his voice to the songs. “I decided to start singing in English right away because I didn't want to try to relearn the songs in English. Also, it's an international language and makes my music more accessible.”
In the States, record producers began to take an interest in Lloyd's music. Jeff recorded a demo at The Village Studio and continued to write. Since he had only been singing for several months, he sought the aid of a vocal coach, Mark Renk, whose previous clients include Greyson Chance, Chris Daughtry and OneRepublic, agreed to work with Lloyd and was quickly taken with his student's music. “What I love about his music is that it's influenced by Rock and Roll – not “rock” – you can definitely sense the influence of past generations,” says Renk.
