Jay Cliffen (August 4th, 1990) is a Kingston, Ontario-based instrumental music producer. He specializes in textural cassette-based ambient music.

Born in a small Ontario town, Jay became hooked on music at the formative age of 13. Playing drums and cutting his teeth with local bands, Jay made the decision to go after music full time. 

While attending the Music & Digital Media program at St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ontario, Jay caught the bug for music production. This led him on a path to further his studies at Harris Institute, a renowned Toronto-based recording school. After an intense study period focused on audio production and music business, Jay graduated from Harris Institute in 2012 and entered the music industry full time. 

Following a brief internship at Bedtracks Inc. and The Hive, Jay was hired by this Toronto-based music licensing company/recording studio partnership, where he seized the opportunity to learn the art of writing music for media. As a producer at Bedtracks, Jay began building his catalogue of instrumental music for the purpose of sync licensing to TV series, documentaries, and online videos, and has over 200 placements in various media productions. 

In late 2018, Jay began to create artistic-driven music to be appreciated by a wider audience. Inspired by minimalist art and design, with influences from jazz, classical, and pop styles, Jay began producing instrumental and increasingly experimental compositions. He developed a sound that blends the harmonic richness of analog synthesizers with acoustic instruments, fused together by cassette tape, with all of its imperfections. From tape warble, pitch motion, hissing and crackling, emerges mood and emotions that are best described as modern nostalgia.