Meet Jacob Schreiber | Drummer / Chef

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

Hi Jacob, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Being both a chef and drummer has many challenges in regards to work life balance. The kitchen is grueling and demands hours of work and time, while drumming in a band requires touring and being away from home. My professional cooking career took off when I was given the opportunity to lead the kitchen and help open up Tartine in Pasadena, CA. Simultaneously, the artist I play drums for – Mothica – began to really take off and touring became more of a priority to me. Being torn between cooking and music was extremely difficult and damaging to not only my body, but my spirit and my personal relationships with people I cared deeply about. It was tough.
Nowadays, work life balance is something I prioritize so I don’t make the same mistakes I previously made and burn out. I play drums better when I’m happy, and I cook better food when I am happy. Being happy for me means taking care of people I love and being there for them. The great philosopher Ru Paul says ” if you can’t take care of yourself, how the hell do you expect to take care of anybody else.” I truly believe that is an essential approach to life.
I want to take care of those around me, which requires me to take care of myself first. Work will always be there, but time with people you care about might not always be there. I love drumming, and I love cooking, but I love my friends and family more.

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.
So, I play drums for Mothica and am part of a drum collective in Glassell Park and am currently cooking at Otium in downtown LA.
I went to Berklee College of Music in Boston and dropped out and moved to NYC with my then band mate Pam Autuori who goes by the artist name Tomi. We toured and went thru the meat-grinder of the music industry together for 12 years and moved to LA to keep things going. When the pandemic hit, It was extremely hard and I had a lot of time in my apartment alone and my mom made the suggestion to work in a kitchen because cooking brought me joy. So I started cooking and an entire world opened up that was super exciting and fun! So that happened while the artist i now play with started poppin off and I pretty much try to balance the two things. Drums and cooking! My life in a nutshell : )

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 actually perfect timing for this question because one of my best friends – Lauren – who i grew up with, came to visit last weekend and I was given this task!
So we went to the Rosebowl for the CruelWorld music festival which is an all 80’s / goth music fest – The rosebowl hosts so many cool music festivals and is super easy and convenient to get to if youre an east side LA person. They also had some shows connected to it hosted at Zebulon near silverlake / atwater. As an 8 year New Yorker, the addition of Zebulon to the La Community is fantastic!
Lauren happens to be vegan, so we went to crossroads and Pura Vita, but also did some hiking / walks around eagle rock where I live.
LA has so many incredible restaurants and venues to see live music that the challenge is mostly where to decide to go to hang out. I can for sure digress and keep going on favorites because there are some many!

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?
The coolest thing about playing drums in a band is learning HOW to play drums from people I look up to. The people who have taken me under their wing and not only shown me how to play drums better, but also how to live and exist in the industry are drummers like Matt Flynn ( Maroon 5 ) who taught me how to play for artists and be a supportive bandmate, Adam Christgau (Tegan and Sara) who taught me how to be a valued member of the community and respect my colleagues. Matt Johnson ( St. Vincent, Jeff Buckley) who taught me how to be approach the drums as an artist. Charlie Gott (JD Shelburne ) Who is my best friend and always picks up the phone when I’m losing my mind. Brian Viglione ( Dresden Dolls ) who told me, “we’re all gonna be a grave someday, why not give a shit before then” and I think about that before every show! and the mighty Matt Musty ( Train ) who is a pure example of how to be and how to function in the music industry.
I consider them all my brothers and would definitely not be where I am with out them. They have all picked me up when I have not had the strength to do so on my own.

For cooking, I owe my entire cooking career to Chef Amanda Lanza, she gave me my first shot at working in the kitchen and still to this day is there for me. Chef Max Blachman-Gentile who trusted me to help open up Tartine Pasadena and has a bad ass Pizza pop up called ‘Jules’ up in san fransisco. Chef Kai Wilson who showed me how to work on the line and to ACTUALLY be better at the job. And Chef Chris Cano who showed me how to treat people in the kitchen with love and respect and always show up.
These are my chefs and I would do anything for them.

Website: https://www.mothica.com/

Instagram: drumdawgmillionaire