Toronto singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jake Beck refuses to conform to the traditional.
Instead of formulaic releases which slot into pre-existing sounds, Jake creates music from his heart ensuring every release is one which he truly believes in.
Building a strong following on Instagram, Jake utilised the platform to build his musical audience, inspiring others to follow his musical journey that continually flows with a radiant passion for his work.
To delve deeper into his music, we caught up with Jake to find out about his musical journey.
Firstly, can you take us on your musical journey from starting to play to now?
I was 12 years old and tried to learn how to play the guitar. My cousin came over and taught me a couple chords and scales but I was massively uninterested. Ready to call it a day, my little brother showed up and taught me how to play the one-note version of ‘Holiday’ by Green Day – a true banger. This captured my attention and I saw how I could weaponise this thing and turn it into a force of good. From there, I became obsessed and proceeded to create noise pollution in the garage for a couple of years as I smashed through ‘Crazy Train’ and ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ repeatedly with way too much distortion. Then I started a band and would continue to play rock and roll until I went to an EDM festival in Toronto. As I looked around, not on molly, I saw everyone headbanging together and truly feeling the love and spreading it to everyone no matter where you’re from. I then realised that at my rock shows, that love seemed to only be spread to other rockers who were “cool” enough, and harsh judgments come crashing down upon whoever doesn’t listen to the same music as you. In this moment, I realised that sound is energy. I had been so confined by my way of thinking about this restricted world of “music” and all of its hierarchies – which is just when enough people agree that someone’s good that makes them good (wtf?). I disagree with the public on most things so I don’t know how I didn’t see that music wasn’t anything different. I think at one point when I said I don’t think Jimi Hendrix is as good at guitar as Jeff Beck and caused 3 heart attacks, a stroke, and a woman in a leather jacket to remind me that her parents don’t understand her.
You create a blend of genres across a spectrum of sounds, how would you best describe your music?
I get inspired from sounds I hear in the real world, in movies, or in my imagination just much as I do from other artists. The power of a well-done broadway musical has a bigger impact on my music than a generic trap song, even if I were making a trap song. I’m not trying to replicate anything that’s been done before which is what makes it hard to describe – I like to let others describe it as everyone hears something different. We have every single noise that exists at our disposal, not just instruments. This confined way of thinking about making “music” just means you’re trying to follow a certain structure. I feel like people work backwards by trying to make a song and then filling it with sounds. You must compile your sounds and then hope it turns out like a song.
If our readers have yet to hear a track, which would you suggest as a first listen?
Currently, I would suggest my song ‘Midnight‘. There is nothing that will warm you up to the style because it’s changing every song, but ‘Midnight’ is lighter so it’ll ease you into the journey. Alternatively, I am dropping a song and video called ‘Back Then’ on April 15th which I really think is the emotion that the world needs right now. it’s very homey, comforting, and inspiring.
You decided to utilise Instagram to share your tracks, what drew you towards this platform?
I used Instagram because it was the platform that was taught to me by my friend Karim. He explained that if you shout out pages they’ll shout you back, then eventually you’ll have enough followers to leverage 1 shout for 3. Seeing the path to success and being able to take actionable steps toward that goal is why I chose that platform – it made more sense than posting songs on Spotify and hoping they blow up. I’m not a shoot and pray type of guy. I know where I aim and do everything in my power to guide that bullet to the target. On Instagram, there’s more guidance that you can do for that bullet.
Did you expect your videos to take off in the way they did?
I have believed in myself since the very start and have been sticking to my initial gameplan, but the surprise lies in the fact that the videos that are blowing up are generally the ones I whip together in under 5 minutes vs. the videos that I put time and effort into that don’t seem to get a response. They respond to nonchalance on Instagram, whereas I thought they would react to “good music”. Instagram isn’t the platform for good music, it is the platform for entertainment and you are combatting companies with marketing teams of 50 for people’s attention. People respond to seeing a dude, just like them, putting stuff together in his room and have it turn out pretty cool. By no means does this mean they even like my singles on Spotify, I’m just developing a platform and name for myself and adapting for each platform.
How do you manage to maintain a strong online presence, alongside gigs and creating new music?
I only take important gigs, your time is your energy. We don’t live in a world where you need to play a thousand shows to find success – my very first electronic performance was headlining a festival in Baja. Maintaining a strong online presence truly takes a couple of minutes a day, with maybe spending 20 minutes making a video. People don’t compartmentalise their time so every additional task feels like a window into fatigue that they don’t even want to bother opening. However, regimenting your day really shows you how simple it is to fit everything in. Creating new music is fun, and the key for me has been not working on music when I don’t feel like it. I gather inspiration from all life events and when the tap runs dry, stop hitting the nail with the hammer even harder. Go out and have fun, get your heartbroken, travel the world, or just breathe and appreciate other areas of life – the songs will follow.
Alongside creating your own music, you also work in producing. How do you find the transition between the two?
The transition has been incredibly tiring. If you are trying to make it as an artist, taking on other people’s dreams as well as your own isn’t necessarily a sacrifice I recommend, nor do I continue to do that. Some producers have goals of turning other’s songs into hits and there are people who are incredible at that. However, these are two separate types of people, and the world has a place for them both. I have shifted all of my focus back to producing only my own music and I am generating my income by performing my art. When you perform your own material, it brings attention to your music as well as an income.
What can we expect from you in the next few months – particularly in these times of isolation!
On April 15th I will drop a song called ‘Back Then’. This is a very special song to me, as I got to work on it with one of my best friends. That’s what this is all about anyway, connection. I connect with others so greatly during times of music sessions that I am constantly seeking to expand that experience and to make it accessible to all via listening to the result. I like to think that you can really hear my enjoyment of the process in the songs and that you can see it in the videos. I am also constantly posting whack videos on Instagram of me making EDM bangers out of the sound of bubble wrap popping, playing the drums on beer bottles, and whatever else I’m feeling during this time of intense boredom/freedom.
Is there anything else you wish to add?
I would really wish to add that to all aspiring artists, do not let the advice of others steer you away from the direction you know you want to go in. This goes from famous artists to industry people – and this certainly applies to your friends. Firstly, what works for someone else isn’t what will work for you necessarily. Secondly, industry professionals contradict each other all the time, and most of them aren’t even from this generation (who still have massive wisdom to share but if they truly understand, they will tell you the same thing as me which is follow your heart). The world isn’t looking for another Diplo. They have a Diplo. And they certainly have a Skrillex. What they need is you, and you will never get there by following another’s template!
You can stream Jake Beck’s music below via Spotify: