Engraving a new chapter for himself in golden letters in the world of music is the mellifluous virtuoso Jacob Brand, bringing in a new wave of progressive pop music, evident in his melodious masterpieces. Drawing influences from legends like Queen, The Beatles, Radiohead, David Bowie, Seal, Sting, and Pink Floyd, the talented artist brews the perfect concoction of creative authenticity and innovation that gives his music a distinct quality of its own, creating an immersive soundscape of simple yet elevated songwriting, spoken intensity, and vulnerability that pierces deep into the hearts of the listeners.
Unlike his songs previous songs like ‘Beauty to Recognize’, which stands as an epitome of a romantic, feel-good song, or the energetic, rebellious, and upbeat vibes of ‘Game Changer’, his newest creation ‘Love in Disguise’ delves into the darker, edgier, and unpredictable side of the artist, and is available for streaming on Spotify.
DMR: Hello, Mr. Brand, and welcome to Daily Music Roll. First of all, our heartiest congratulations on the release of ‘Love in Disguise’. How are you feeling, now that the song is out on Spotify?
Jacob Brand: Hello! Thank you very much, I appreciate it! Haha- Mr. Brand- I love that! I’m so happy you guys are enjoying my songs including Love in Disguise! I feel really good, I feel more at ease now compared to the time my first ever single was about to be released. I’ll be honest, I couldn’t recall the last time I felt the most nervous about anything, but the moment the song was out and people welcomed it with open arms, I felt so relieved. Now I don’t feel so panicky anymore when I release stuff.
DMR: Do you believe yourself to be one of those artists who believe songs arise out of stories? If yes, would you share with us the backstory of your recent release, especially what inspired the lyrics?
Jacob Brand: I do! I dated a couple wrong people at the wrong times, and after each had their messy breakups, they pursued me and pretty much used me as their rebounds. The reasons why they wanted relationships with me was because they just didn’t want to be lonely and they wanted to feel worthy for themselves, which was selfish and uncalled for looking back. And as you’d probably figure out by now, my relationships with them didn’t end well. I don’t hate these people, it was just unfortunate what happened a long time ago, and I’ve grown an emotionally stronger person because of all that.
DMR: When did you first become aware of your creative flair as a songwriter and musician and was it at that point that you decided to pursue a career in music?
Jacob Brand: I was aware of my flair very early in life when I was a kid. I would hum to cartoon theme songs naturally or hum something random in my head. Never had the courage to write or record something out, because believe me, putting yourself out there can be pretty scary. I used to be so intimidated by the thoughts of what toxic and angry people would say about me, especially on the internet these days. Then, that one fateful year when the world shut down due to COVID-19, and when there was nothing practically to do, I finally forced myself to sit down and let my creativity out. I even found ways to strip away fears of the unknown when your work is out there. I write songs and sing them because I love it and I know I have a musical voice to share. If people don’t like it, it’s their loss.
DMR: In your opinion, what are the key ingredients that make a piece of music worthwhile, and why?
Jacob Brand: I think I can speak for every other songwriter out there that it typically takes good chord progressions, good melodies, and good lyrics to make a song worthwhile. However, in my opinion, there is one major key ingredient I use and it’s what I call “Hooks”. Hooks are what draw you into a song or what clings to you either musically or lyrically. For example, the chorus for Love in Disguise when it goes, “Hey you, whatcha doin’ to me-” I intended that to be a hook. It hooked when I wrote it. For me, If an idea generally gets forgotten in T-minus 2 hours, it’s not a hook. If it stays with you for a week or two, then YES! You came up with a clever hook! I showed my parents the early stages of the song, and it was that part they couldn’t stop humming to! It felt really good! Of course, your intended hooks can’t always be guaranteed to happen to everybody, but if you see people get hooked onto something else, that’s okay! You know you’ve at least done it! I feel like a music professor already! Haha!
DMR: What made you decide upon Progressive Pop as your preferred musical genre?
Jacob Brand: That genre actually didn’t come to mind when I first started writing my songs believe it or not! After asking around how people would describe my music, it was my audio-engineer partner and friend, Josh, who described my music as Progressive Pop, and I felt it was the most accurate answer of all. We looked up examples of that specific genre, and one example that stood out from the rest was Queen- Freddie Mercury- and I was like, “Hmm, okay! That does make a lot of sense, I’ll take it!” So yeah, there you have it!
DMR: You mentioned that ‘Love in Disguise’ explores a darker, edgier, and unpredictable side of you as an artist, and will take listeners by surprise. What was the most difficult aspect of mastering this new style and what do you wish listeners to take back from the song?
Jacob Brand: Really good question! I’m a theatre actor, so we express a wide range of emotions. It’s easy to do when you play a character on stage and show their objectives, but surprisingly enough, expressing emotions through song as yourself and being honest about it was what I found a whole new level! I’m not a hateful or angry person, but I took this song as an opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and really express how I felt from back then by making full use of my vocal range. As for what I wish listeners would take back from this song, is that no matter who you’re with or what you do, anything unpredictable can happen at any time and you have every right to feel frustrated about it.
DMR: When it comes to creating music, who/what is your greatest inspiration and why?
Jacob Brand: The biggest inspiration I get when it comes to lyricism is looking at famous singer-songwriters like Paul McCartney and Ed Sheeran, how they come up wit words. Very early on they would keep on humming their melodies roughly 50 times until the right words come in and flow nicely with the songs they write. I do the same thing with time and patience, and then I get the words I feel the most satisfied with!
DMR: Tell us about your most cherished memory when it comes to your tryst with music.
Jacob Brand: Oh my god, I’d love to tell you!! I was on vaycay in Puerto Vallarta with my family, and it was the day of my first release, Beauty to Recognize! It was my last day at a resort, and the DJ by the pool was taking song requests, and I asked him to play my song. He agreed to play it at a specific time, and when the time came, my song was playing all around the resort and let me tell you, it was so surreal! People were bopping their heads to it, and I think I saw one guy Shazaming my song!! I was bursting into tears under my shades, I couldn’t believe it was happening! My family was so proud of me and they gave me the biggest hugs! It was one of the happiest days of my life and I will never forget it!
DMR: As an up-and-coming artist in the industry, what has been the greatest challenge for you, given that the industry has quite a reputation for being especially tough on newcomers?
Jacob Brand: That’s unfortunately true. So far for me, it’s been difficult building a new network from the ground up. I wrapped production on my upcoming album last holiday (Releasing April 15th by the way!), and the last couple of months have been nothing but sending emails, and emails, AND EMAILS to reviewers, bloggers, publicists, and radio DJs, but barely any of them write back to express interest in promoting your music. I only had a very few write me back, and you guys were one of them, so thank you- really! I told Josh a while back “The beauty of being an independent artist is that it’s all on you. But the hardest thing about being an independent artist is that- again- it’s all on you.”
DMR: Be it romantic feel-good vibes to rebellious strains, so far the three songs you have released represent three different vibes and styles. How big a role does versatility play for a music artist?
Jacob Brand: I think versatility plays an important role when you’re presenting yourself as an artist. I wouldn’t recommend repeating yourself or feel restricted to just a selective lineup of instruments. It would make your sound and repertoire come across repetitive. I think every artist shouldn’t be afraid to try all kinds of things and be bold with sounds, instrumentation, arrangements, even the formatting, as long as you stay true to yourself and who you wanna be in the industry. It’s about knowing the fine line between experimentation and musical identity. True, the three singles do have different vibes and styles, but they are distinctively Jacob Brand. Make sense?
DMR: What was the best and the worst piece of advice you received when you were first starting off as a musician?
Jacob Brand: I don’t remember the best advice I ever got, but I did get advices from an odd person or two who were pretty opinionated, basically telling me “I can’t write songs like this” “I should be doing this” “You need to sound like other people to make it”- haha, what does that even mean?! I don’t need to be a carbon copy of another artist or conform to the music industry. The music industry is gonna learn to conform to me. The best advice I wish I got a long time ago- and I pass this on to every other singer-songwriter starting off is to BE YOU!
DMR: What is your opinion when it comes to the state of the music industry today, and in this ever-evolving industry, how does one remain relevant?
Jacob Brand: Hmm… I feel like even though the music industry’s become more accessible, it also feels corrupted. Services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music allow your music to be played any time, anywhere, and everybody can hear them, but streaming services- even Record Labels still- make WAY more money than an artist does depending how many streams and listeners one gets, which is sad. People could arguably say it’s literally a wild-west right now, haha, but I guess being adaptable and always learning what’s happening in the moment is the way to go when trying to remain relevant and surviving this quick-changing market.
Follow Jacob Brand : Spotify//Instagram//Facebook
Song Link :
https://open.spotify.com/track/5FnB3kH7jvoEKgn0kr30qq
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