Meet Jacob James | Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jacob James and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jacob, how do you think about risk?
Choosing to pursue any kind of art has an inherent risk factor. You risk your time, money and the way people view you to name a few examples. At a certain point you just have to accept that you’re going to have to take some risks to progress and that failure is a part of the learning process. In the long run, I think we’re ultimately better for having chose to bet on ourselves and lose than to play it safe and not know what could’ve been. It doesn’t feel like it sometimes but I know that persistence is often the key to success. I admittedly do play some things a bit safe sometimes but I try to ignore the discouraging inner monologue and just make stuff.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I think I’ve done one of these before where I talked about the music I have already made and am proud of; my last two albums, Intemperance and Death to the Songbird specifically. I stand by those projects but I’m really excited for the future and what I have in the works. The next one is definitely going to be darker and more atmospheric with more universal lyrical themes rather than personal, although that’s always going to be there in one form or another. I have a title for it and at least 2 albums worth of material I’m trying to get down to a digestible track list. The prospects of this work is something that keeps me inspired lately, I’m really looking forward to trying some new things. Being a songwriter can be really difficult if you care what people are going to think of you, but I’m getting older and I don’t really concern myself with that too much anymore. I just love to write. Therapy didn’t work for me but I’ll hopefully always have this outlet. As far as overcoming challenges, there’s always a new one in this type of work but I care enough about it to face them and learn from my mistakes. I’ve made more than a few!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This is a tough one because I don’t leave home too much these days and it seems like a great deal of Los Angeles is either falling apart or becoming gentrified into oblivion. Of course there’s always going to be stuff to do in the city, a few cool venues I’ve performed at recently are The Goldfish and The Offbeat bar, both in Highland park and are places I’d definitely take a friend to. I really like going to art museums too, although I can’t say I frequent them. I’ve only been to The Getty once but I’d love to go back. As far as food goes, a stop at Tacos Mexico is always rad, I’ve spent many a drunken nights with good friends there after shows.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to dedicate my shoutout to the people that have supported me over the years. Wether it be by coming to my gigs, buying my music and merch or even just shared a song or two. I hope these people know how much gratitude I have for them and that I probably would’ve stopped putting my all into this a long time ago if it weren’t for them.

Website: bandcamp.com/jacobjamesmusic

Instagram: @jacobjamesmusic

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@jacobjamesmusic5211

Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6vIdzI2mMW3bbyPgUgWG21?si=IR3Hg73sRVG3JPknVCOcLA