Daily Inspiration: Meet Shaun Jacobs

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shaun Jacobs.

Hi Shaun, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started out in Johannesburg South Africa, where I wrote, recorded, mixed and produced my own music, got some hit songs on the radio, and won a SAMA Award (South African Music Award – highest musical accolade in South Africa) for Adult Contemporary album of the year, as well as SAMA nominations for best producer and best mix engineer. I then signed to my manager in the US spent three months in Nashville before moving to LA where my manager is based. I then signed to my manager Bob Murray in the US and spent three months in Nashville before moving to LA. I signed with Loki Artist Group and now have studio in LA where I write and record my own music as an artist, and also work as a writer, producer and mix engineer. I have collaborated with artists like Bruno Martini, and my work has been featured with brands such as XBox, Ralph Lauren, UFC, Cirque du Soleil, Facebook, Google TV, Nike, Ford, KIA, General mills and others.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It sounds like things just fell into place, but nothing happened without a serious amount of blood, sweat and tears. For every success, there have been many more disappointments. It took me a while to breakthrough in South Africa – I would cold call the radio stations, get through to the music supervisors, send my song, and get turned down. So I would go back, lick my wounds, get up and try write a song that they couldn’t turn down. Eventually, I managed to break through ad get major radio success. That got me first to Nashville and then to LA. When I came to LA, I basically had to start over from scratch, and that was a long climb with some really tough times of struggling to get by. Every day I would get up and make music, staring down my doubts, disappointments and fears every time I opened up the computer in front of the speakers. It took every bit of resolve I had.

My father had told me when I left for LA to take whatever opportunities presented themselves to me. I came as an artist, but I took every opportunity that came in the form of writing, composing, mixing and producing, and performing on other shows. I always used to wish I didn’t have to do everything myself on every song I did – that I could just hand it off to a great producer and mix engineer to make it sound great, but I couldn’t afford to. Having to do everything myself though, forced me to hone my skills in all those areas, which is where some of my best opportunities now come.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I think I have done well in being multi-dimensional in the music-making process – as a songwriter, as a performer, as a producer, mix engineer, and composer. I think being able to do all those things, as well as being a multi-instrumentalist whereby I can play all the instruments in my recordings has been something that has been very helpful when it comes to making music.

I think I am proud of persevering through the hard times and proud of growing through them, both as a person and in my skill set. I am proud of my family for going through it with me and always supporting me.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I think I always had a big imagination and was always in an imaginary world of sorts. I loved sports and played everything I could. My dad was a vet and I grew watching and assisting at the vet practice, which instilled a great love for animals. I grew up with music all around me, with my dad being into classical music and my brothers into rock music, and my mom and sister loved dancing to music.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shaunjacobs.com
• Instagram: @imshaunjacobs
• Facebook: shaunjacobsmusic
• Twitter: @imshaunjacobs
• Youtube: shaunjacobsmusic

Image Credits
Kyrstalán Chryssomallis (studio pics) Andrew Gorman (live drum pic) Jonathan Jacobs (Live crowd pic)