Meet Jacob James | Musician/Producer

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

Hi Jacob, what’s one piece of conventional advice that you disagree with?
I think a misconception people have been led to believe is that if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. I’ve been a working musician for well over 10 years and I can safely say that it is a full time job and it can really beat the hell out of you. What I do is truly a labor of love, but a trying one at that and one that is often thankless. When it’s good, it’s really good and one of the most, if not the most fulfilling part of my life. That being said, it takes a lot of hard work that I do the vast majority of and I fully consider it to be work. I do believe that work is good for people though, real diligence that builds character and a solid foundation to properly express yourself creatively. This is one of the reasons I’m so against anything referred to “AI art”. Not only is it ugly in presentations in most instances, but it’s outright stealing work from people who live and die by the work they put into their craft. It’s becoming ubiquitous and that’s a scary advent but us true to wanting to push ourselves creatively need to be calculated and adapt. I think the humanity in the hard work real people put into their art will ultimately overcome. Those of us who truly care will always be here to stand up against industries looking to farm an easy way out.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Well, pride has never been much of a strong suit of mine but I do stand behind my work and think that I’ve put out some solid records over the years, the vast majority of which I’ve produced, recorded, written, mixed and slaved over with little to no outside help. I put out a record around a year ago, “I Hope You’re Happy” and I’m currently putting the finishing touches on an outtakes project from it in addition to some new material in a collection I call “Photographs From Hell: Outtakes, Oddities and Others” that I’m really excited to get out there. I went all in on this one to make it a unique and different kind of experience for listeners. If you’re familiar with my work, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with what you’re going to get with it. I consider it in no way a throwaway mixtape or anything like that but I also wouldn’t consider it an official “album” per se. It’ll be out soon in its entirety and I do have a new proper album just about fully recorded, but that’s all I’ll say about that one for now. To answer your other questions, I think I got where I am today due to perseverance and not really caring what people think. Of course I’m going to try my best in whatever I do, I wouldn’t expect people to stick with my music otherwise. But to that end, I can’t say it’s been particularly easy especially when I really don’t necessarily feel like working. I know that no one is going to do it for me though so I have to will myself to keep my head down and set realistic goals. The last thing I’ll address is that I want people to take away from my music that they’re not alone even though they feel like they might be. Life can be very isolating and I don’t think most of us really have it easy right now. I’ve struggled with mental health issues my whole life and a great deal of my writing details how painful and isolating it can be to struggle with anxiety and depression, among other things. If life was easier I probably wouldn’t have a whole lot to write about so I’m grateful for my experiences, even the difficult ones. Like I said it’s been a particularly rough time for me lately, let’s at least hope some good music comes out of it!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well I’m lucky to live in a community with plenty of awesome places to eat, a lot of great Asian cuisine. I might start there, maybe hit up a Pho restaurant, we also have tons of great ramen and sushi spots. I don’t get out much aside from gigging but I still love seeing live music out in LA among the surrounding areas when I can. I recently saw a great show at The Zebulon as well as a venue called Scribble, both intimate spots to catch shows in Los Angeles. I’m a recovering alcoholic so I’d probably try to avoid bars despite the fact that those are typically where I perform at. So yeah, I’d probably take a friend to somewhere with great teas etc, been on a real big green tea kick lately. I really enjoy zine-fests as well, I’ve had a great time at those and checking out museums when I can. I lead a pretty uneventful life when it’s not in utter chaos, so I’d be surprised if I could even pull off entertaining someone for an extended period of time but it is LA and there’s always something cool going on if you look for it. I’m super grateful for my city and proud to call myself an Angeleno.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Thanks so much for letting me share my story, I’ve made a lot of new ones for better or worse in recent memory. It’s been a pretty tumultuous year, I’ve lost a whole lot and in many different situations. When your life starts to crumble, you find out who your real friends and supporters are and although change can be painful, I’ve come to realize who really has offered me these comforting networks and have had my back in these times. One person I’d like to dedicate my shoutout to is my dad. He’s really helped me pick up the pieces of some really terrible happenings even when I didn’t deserve grace or mercy. On top of that, he exposed me to some amazing music growing up; The Beatles, Al Green, James Brown, Rod Stewart just to name a few off the top of my head. We haven’t always had a great relationship though, one of my most requested songs has a line that goes, “Hell will freeze over when I hug my father, when I get sober.” I meant what I said when I wrote the lyrics but I can gladly say we have a much better connection these days. Honest feelings can change over time despite the catharsis of channeling one’s anger through art and poetry. My father’s been so much more supportive of my music in recent months and is helping me out with my sobriety as well, something I’ve struggled with immensely my entire adult life. I’d also like to thank my local music and art community at large, especially those who continue to give me gig opportunities and to my fans who regularly come out to watch me perform. If you’re reading this, I hope you know who you are and I send much love to each and every one of you. We are all parts of a larger moving ecosystem that will keep true creativity alive.

Website: https://jacobjamesmusic.bandcamp.com

Instagram: @jacobjamesmusic

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@jacobjamesmusictube?si=oSWO0w5HgFC74qxK

Other: My music is also streaming on all of the major platforms, Spotify, Apple Music etc.