Jacob Cummings shines in all the pieces he does and doesn’t say on his new album ‘Southern & Enlightened, a boldly weak and intimate physique of labor.
‘Southern & Enlightened’ – Jacob Cummings
Jacob Cummings is a singer/songwriter, producer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and most just lately, a filmmaker – and he may be considered one of my favorite discoveries this yr.
Following instrumental initiatives Gradual Paradise in 2020, and Fishing for Heaven in 2021, Cummings now returns with Southern & Enlightened (independently launched November 8th, 2024). A stunning sweeping soundscape with glowing preparations and timeless sensibilities, Southern & Enlightened was composed and crafted in Cummings’ late grandmother’s dwelling, in New Smyrna Seaside, Florida, proper earlier than it was set to be demolished. Paving the best way for the report’s emotional foundations, Cummings recorded this album in tandem with going by means of his grandmother’s belongings.
Maybe symbolically, the report arrives as a closing goodbye to his childhood, and the sentiments that include it – now stowed away inside the intricacies of Cummings’ preparations, perpetually for him to return to.
Southern & Enlightened presents a mix of indie folks and experimental artistry, evoking woody timbres and ethereal sea breezes. The subtlety of its sonic expertise turns into more and more complicated as you start to take it in, evoking sentiments of household, loss and the passage of time.
Cummings succeeds in sustaining a comforting nostalgia whereas shining in its intricate complexities. From standout tracks “Large Ol’ Deer,” “Incarnations,” and “Dropping a Pal,” the multi-instrumentalist combines reminiscence in addition to abundance, making the report not solely deeply intimate however infinitely touching.
Alongside the report, Cummings launched a self-directed brief movie, capturing moments in time and the cycles of life. Opening on the beautiful scene of a real-life delivery, the movie – fairly actually – begins its life cycle. Cummings then takes you thru a choice of recollections and locations, every one representing a special feeling of dwelling, passing time, and quiet nostalgia.
Atwood Journal sat down with Cummings to debate the conception of the report, timeless artistry, grief for the previous and optimism for the longer term. I haven’t stopped listening to Southern & Enlightened since I crossed paths with it, and discovering this report was like discovering one thing I didn’t know I wanted.
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A CONVERSATION WITH JACOB CUMMINGS
Atwood Journal: Congratulations on Southern & Enlightened! Inform us how the discharge has been like thus far?
Jacob Cummings: Thanks a lot. It’s been like probably the most enjoyable launch I’ve been part of thus far. It’s simply the thrill and the assist and getting extra messages saying like, , that is actually particular to me… It’s so surreal. I did an album launch occasion this previous weekend, and that was sort of a dream come true. I did it at this gallery area simply down the road from me and I made a full 40 minute visible to accompany the report, I performed that for individuals and it was identical to a bunch of pals and other people got here out. I felt like a rock star for a day. However yeah, since then I’ve simply been planning out my first present for subsequent month. I play with different individuals usually, like I’ve performed random gigs the place I’m on piano or one thing, however that is my first time singing and enjoying my music dwell.
I perceive this was the primary challenge you’ve put out the place your vocals are featured, are you able to speak a bit extra about that and what that journey has been like for you?
Jacob Cummings: I strive not to consider it an excessive amount of nonetheless, as a result of it’s only a bizarre factor. I really feel like most individuals don’t actually take into account themselves singers – myself included. Like, I’d simply sing to the radio or no matter. Rising up enjoying completely different devices, I feel I actually put myself within the field of being “the musician.” If I ever heard recordings of myself, I’d be like, Oh God, I don’t even wish to dive into that anymore.
However with this, I began buzzing alongside to concepts I had in my head and recording them as voice memos. I ended up with an array of those memos the place I’m buzzing, and lots of them actually caught out to me. Once I obtained the possibility to spend an entire month recording music, I went into it fairly uncertain. Like, am I going to sing these? Ought to I flip them into melodies for a special instrument? Ought to I’ve another person top-line them? Once I lastly began recording, I’d strive it out actually meekly. However listening again, I’d get simply sufficient glimmer of hope to maintain going, haha. I really feel like I reached this sure level within the course of the place I’d gone too far to show again.
All that to say, if something comes from this, it’s that I can relate to singers extra now within the initiatives I work on. Singing is simply such an exposing factor to do – particularly for recording. I completely get the stereotype of singers saying, These are simply reference vocals, we’ll do the true ones later, after which it turns right into a perpetually loop of attempting to get it proper. It’s been actually cool, but in addition exhausting to consider when individuals say stuff like, Your voice is so fairly, I find it irresistible a lot. I attempt to lean into the concept that the music I hearken to isn’t about good vocals or technical talent anyway. Alex G, for instance, doesn’t care about what the efficiency of the vocal is like – it’s extra in regards to the broader scope of the track. So yeah, I feel after I do the dwell present, it’ll be a special beast. Obsessing over vocals on a pc is one factor, however doing it in entrance of a bunch of individuals? That’s one thing else solely. We’ll see the way it goes.
You’ve drawn plenty of comparisons to Jack Johnson and Bon Iver, do you’ve got any influences?
Jacob Cummings: Yeah, these are two of the largest ones, oddly sufficient – which I’m completely okay with. I imply, they’re actually good comparisons. Jack Johnson was my first actual musical love outdoors of the stuff my mother and father listened to. His voice continues to be undeniably lovely. After which Bon Iver got here alongside shortly after that and have become one other large affect. A whole lot of my pals are in music, and so they understand how delicate it may be to match somebody’s work to different artists. I’ve even had pals who appeared on the verge of telling me who I remind them of however stopped as a result of they didn’t wish to mess with my notion of my very own music. I’m all the time curious to listen to it, although. However on the identical time, it does have an effect on how you consider your individual challenge, ?
Truthfully, I’m attempting to maneuver away from making these sorts of comparisons myself. It’s extra enjoyable that method. Rising up doing inventive issues, it was really easy to assume, Wow, that individual is wonderful. I’m simply going to try to do what they do. However over time, it turns into extra about your individual journey – peeling away these influences and letting your individual voice shine. In some methods, it’s cool that Jack Johnson and Bon Iver are the 2 artists I get in comparison with most. They’re not direct inspirations for what I’m doing proper now, and even what I’m listening to a lot in the meanwhile, however they’ve clearly left a mark on me.
I feel inevitably, although, I nonetheless have influences. There are specific artists I flip to after I’m feeling caught – after I’m pondering, What am I even doing? This feels so pointless. These are the artists who remind me why this issues and who encourage me to maintain going. I like to consider the affect they’ve had on me and the concept that, even when I’m not doing precisely what they did, I may be creating one thing significant for another person.
Let’s speak a bit in regards to the conception of the album, and I do know there’s an amazing story behind this.
Jacob Cummings: Yeah! So, to begin method again and never miss any items – I’ve been a musician since sixth grade. I began out enjoying saxophone in marching band, jazz band, live performance band, all that. Then I studied saxophone in school, and that’s the place I obtained into manufacturing and recording music. I began collaborating with different individuals, considered one of whom was my now-partner, Laney Tripp. I labored lots on her manufacturing initiatives. Throughout the pandemic, I launched this actually bizarre acoustic guitar album. It took place as a result of I rediscovered this outdated guitar my dad had gotten me in center college. It had a lacking string and was in these unusual tunings, however I simply actually loved enjoying it and educating myself methods to fingerpick. With COVID and nothing else to do, it changed into this enjoyable science experiment – determining methods to report and launch music. Shortly after that, my accomplice Laney and I made an album collectively. Quick ahead to about two years in the past: by means of life, sitting in inexperienced rooms, ready by means of soundchecks, or simply being bored at dwelling, I’d provide you with cool little concepts, report them as voice memos, and gather them. Ultimately, I had a whole bunch of those snippets. It’s all the time been a dream to hunker down and switch them into one thing.
Then my grandma handed away. She lived on this wonderful outdated home in South Florida, the identical home my mother grew up in, with terrazzo flooring and a canal out again. Once I came upon the home was going to be bought, it hit me exhausting. So, like a complete dummy, I dropped all the pieces I used to be doing, packed eight luggage filled with music gear, and went down there with the plan of staying in her area and making music whereas I nonetheless might. It was a extremely cathartic time. I’m not a lot of an astrology individual, but it surely felt like some sort of post-Mercury-in-retrograde power – lots of self-reflection and figuring issues out. I used to be studying The Physique Retains the Rating, beginning remedy for the primary time, journaling, meditating, working lots, and dealing on all this music. My solely guests have been my two aunts, who got here for a weekend, and a few pals who helped me monitor some devices. Apart from that, it was largely solo, which was uncommon for me since I’m sometimes all the time working with individuals.
After a month and a half, I got here again dwelling with a reasonably strong thought of what the album was and the way it could be laid out. But it surely was robust to find time for myself to truly sit down and work on it. It felt like this enormous job that couldn’t simply be chipped away at in a night. Ultimately, I made a decision to guide per week at this low cost motel I’d found earlier than. It’s in just a little seaside city three hours north of L.A. known as Pismo Seaside. The motel, the Sea Gypsy, is true on the seaside and precisely what you’d count on – simply probably the most comforting, nostalgic place. It’s obtained vacationers hanging out within the sizzling tub, a “goat man” who takes individuals browsing, and this carefree, frolicking power. It was the proper place for me to really feel comfy and focus.
What was it prefer to make this report at your grandma’s home?
Jacob Cummings: There actually aren’t phrases for what it meant to each be in her home for that prolonged time period and to begin a challenge contemporary there. I’m sort of patting outdated Jacob on the again for simply committing to it, as a result of it was a freaky factor to do. I freelance for work, and I fully set that apart to give attention to this. After all, as quickly as you propose one thing like this, life retains occurring – you begin questioning, Am I lacking out on all the pieces else? Not lengthy after my time there, the home obtained bought to an enormous actual property man, and he demolished it. That added this further layer of validity to the entire expertise – like mendacity on the tile ground, sinking into the sentiments and recollections the home held. It was the closest factor I needed to a childhood dwelling. We didn’t actually stick round in a single place rising up, so this home was the fixed. This was the place my brother and I spent summers when my mother was sick, the place we stayed after we wanted someplace protected. The pool within the yard hosted all our birthdays. I’d throw alien-themed events with slime and all that within the yard. It’s the place my dad stored his boat, and we’d exit into the Intracoastal as a household. We spent all our Christmases there.
So, to be in that area, engaged on this challenge, felt unexplainably necessary. It gave me this good sense of closure – not only for the home itself, however for that entire chapter of life. It felt like a bittersweet goodbye, particularly seeing the world now. The neighbors are largely individuals from New York or different locations, shopping for summer season houses to throw events. The ethos of the neighborhood that was there when my grandparents first moved in is gone. That shift made the expertise really feel oddly full, just like the tradition of the world and my connection to it had moved on collectively. I feel the album displays that. There’s this aspect of closure to it, prefer it’s closing the door on my youth or the years I spent rising up. Generally the music feels grandiose in the way it’s attempting to make sense of myself and my environment. It’s an enormous, private assertion in that method.
A whole lot of my favourite music has that high quality – it’s like trying into somebody’s thoughts or their journal, an opportunity for the artist to course of their emotions in a method that goes past phrases. It’s about creating the feelings, not simply describing them. That’s what this challenge felt prefer to me – an opportunity to do this, to show all these emotions into one thing tangible. It’s fairly particular to get the chance to do this in any respect.
How do you assume this album will develop with you? Like do you’re feeling completely different about it now from if you made it and do you assume it’ll invoke various things for you possibly 5, ten years down the road?
Jacob Cummings: Making the album felt like a complete thoughts battle at instances. It was this fixed push and pull of pondering, That is silly. I ought to simply cease. No one’s going to love this. I’m having a depressing time doing the four-hundredth guitar take. However there have been these little glimmers of hope – simply sufficient to maintain me going and see the entire thing by means of. Now that it’s out, it’s a totally completely different expertise listening to it. There’s no strategy to rewind the method, to revisit or tweak something, so it simply exists as it’s. It’s just a little embarrassing to confess, however I’ve by no means completely associated to artists who say they by no means hearken to their very own music as soon as it’s launched. I’m unsure if I take pleasure in listening to my music, but it surely brings me again to particular moments and emotions. There’s one thing I respect about that.
The place I’m at now, it’s simpler to pay attention as a result of individuals have mentioned form issues in regards to the music, which helps quiet the self-doubt. Nonetheless, I’m actually curious to see how I’ll really feel about it 5 or ten years from now – and the way others will, too. With the opposite issues I’ve put out, they’ve sort of grown in significance to individuals over time, which has been actually attention-grabbing to see. Half the songs on this album are instrumental, which I feel makes them really feel much less like a timestamp or one thing tied to a selected period. A minimum of, that’s what I hope. I’d love for this album to really feel timeless – like in ten years, it gained’t really feel like a 2024 album.
No, it truly is such a timeless album! It simply has that high quality to it the place it simply feels good.
Jacob Cummings: That’s superior. That’s cool. Yeah, I really feel like, as a lot flack as fashionable streaming companies get, there’s an actual magnificence in how they let initiatives dwell on and take form over time. Personally, I get caught up within the social media mindset typically – the place you’re employed on one thing, share it, after which it solely exists in individuals’s feeds for twenty-four hours earlier than getting swallowed by the algorithm. It may really feel so fleeting. However with platforms like Spotify, it’s completely different. The music will get to stay round. It lives on in a method that’s actually thrilling. Bodily codecs, like vinyl, have that very same high quality. They offer your work a sort of permanence, which I feel is without doubt one of the most rewarding components of the entire course of. And, yeah, music is sort of like a time stamp in that sense. As soon as you place it out, it’s there perpetually – streaming or not.
Had been there any songs that have been notably difficult so that you can write? And do you’ve got any favourites?
Jacob Cummings: The primary track on the album is an instrumental, and I feel I reworked it three or 4 instances. I’m unsure why it was so troublesome – it’s such a easy piece. It’s largely simply two chords, this piano factor I prefer to play, and it all the time felt very nice because it was. But it surely was additionally enjoyable to construct round it, to attempt to create a much bigger feeling. So there was this fixed push and pull between staying true to that simplicity and exploring a bigger sound round it.
Then there’s a track, monitor eight, known as “Large Ol’ Deer.” That one began as this little factor I’d hum on a regular basis, and ultimately a number of phrases emerged from it. It was robust to push previous what was already in my head, although. Some songs allow you to step into them and new concepts simply come, however this one had extra of a harsh cut-off. My favourite monitor might be “Incarnations.” It was the one time I actually had what you’d name a songwriter second. I used to be enjoying guitar, and phrases simply began popping out of my mouth – fully unplanned, however they felt proper. It was this uncommon, natural second the place I wasn’t overthinking something; it was simply pure feeling pouring out. I don’t know if one thing like that may ever occur once more, but it surely was such a cool expertise.
“Incarnations” was undoubtedly my favorite. And “Dropping a Pal.”
Jacob Cummings: Yeah, “Dropping a Pal”! My good friend Chris Meyer has been an enormous affect on me. We have been engaged on one other challenge when he began enjoying a piano half, and immediately, I used to be struck by how lovely it was. I actually cherished it. The challenge he made it for didn’t go anyplace, so he generously gave me the piano half, and I expanded on it. Chris has been an enormous collaborator of mine over time – he’s achieved instrumental music and in addition some actually wonderful Indian-inspired music beneath A Automotive That Swims. I’ve labored on lots of his stuff, and he’s labored on mine too. It meant lots to me to have him so deeply concerned on this challenge, particularly as a result of he moved away a number of months earlier than the album got here out. That’s not the explanation the track’s titled the best way it’s, but it surely’s nonetheless actually particular. We’ve lived a lot life collectively already, and it felt necessary to have him as a part of this challenge. Once I was listening to the track, I instantly thought, “This sounds actually unhappy.”
I used to be speaking to considered one of my mother’s outdated pals – somebody I grew up round – and she or he shared her expertise of dropping my mother. I didn’t count on that dialog to hit so exhausting, but it surely deepened my understanding of the track in a brand new method. Dropping a good friend is completely different from dropping a accomplice or member of the family. You don’t get the identical sort of sympathy or assist, and it will possibly really feel like a extra remoted grief. In that second, I noticed how a lot that kind of loss mirrors the sentiments within the track – there’s this romantic, intimate sense, however there’s additionally a layer of despair and hopelessness. The track took on this new mild for me, one which shed a gorgeous, bittersweet perspective on friendship and the sensation of dropping it.
You talked about this earlier, however we have now to speak in regards to the movie you made as nicely. I cherished it! It’s so lovely. It sort of contextualized the album as a collection of emotions for me.
Jacob Cummings: That’s very candy. Thanks for saying that! That was undoubtedly the aim – to create one thing that blends songs and video in a method that feels just a little extra ambiguous. I don’t assume I completely nailed it with this challenge, but it surely’s one thing I actually wish to preserve engaged on. I wish to make it in order that when individuals expertise it, they’re unsure if it’s a movie with an amazing soundtrack or if it’s an album with a visualizer connected. There’s a movie known as Buffalo ’66 that I watched throughout COVID, and it actually resonated with me. The director and actor, who is certainly a little bit of a weirdo, additionally composed the soundtrack, and that was tremendous inspiring. It’s a path I wish to discover extra – the place the music and visuals really feel fully intertwined. I wish to proceed studying about it and discovering methods to combine the 2.
The plan for this challenge was to complete all of the songs first after which dive into the visuals. I had a marriage to attend in Florida earlier this yr, so I made a decision to remain an additional week or two to shoot as most of the movies as I might. Every track has its personal emotional depth, and I wished to convey that with visuals. I had this imprecise through-line that loosely tracks a life journey from begin to end, which is one thing I actually wish to discover extra in my profession. Boyhood wrecked me after I watched it final yr, and Woman Fowl is one other coming-of-age movie that hit exhausting. There’s one thing about watching life unfold on display that actually speaks to me, and I wish to preserve exploring that arc of progress in my work. The primary three songs have been clear to me when it comes to what I wished to convey, as was the final track, so I knew what I used to be working towards. It was a special course of for every track, although – looking for collaborators who might assist me seize these feelings in probably the most candid method potential. I actually aimed excessive with the visible concepts, and although I didn’t all the time get what I initially envisioned, what got here out of it was usually higher than what I might have deliberate, particularly contemplating the finances constraints. Generally, issues find yourself figuring out in a method that’s much more fulfilling than if I’d had limitless assets.
How did you decide the areas to shoot?
Jacob Cummings: So, I used to be primarily in Jacksonville, which is within the northern a part of Florida, and that performed an enormous position in how the video shoots got here collectively. instance of that is the primary track, which I envisioned as a birthing scene. If I had an infinite finances, I’d’ve been capable of fastidiously plan all the pieces – particular areas, lighting, casting – however as an alternative, I needed to method it in my typical DIY method. I reached out to a good friend who’s a doula and requested her to attach me with somebody she knew who may be giving delivery across the time I used to be on the town. I didn’t even know what they seemed like, however I used to be on standby every single day, ready for the decision. Then, after I arrived, I discovered this household with a daughter who, to me, grew to become the emotional coronary heart of the entire expertise. It was one thing I might by no means have deliberate, and it ended up being a way more intimate and transferring scene than I might’ve imagined. Then there’s a track known as ‘Survivor’, the place I wished to seize this preacher, somebody who might actually pour his coronary heart out to the gang, but in addition have these moments the place he breaks down. I attempted reaching out to some pastors, but it surely’s not simple to get somebody to answer that sort of request.
Ultimately, I met this man, Tony, whereas I used to be having breakfast one morning. He was cleansing home windows close by, and we began speaking. He informed me he used to bop and act, and I believed, Okay, this may very well be good. I informed him in regards to the challenge, and though it was a bit out of his consolation zone, he agreed to assist. We met at a random church one night, and I had all these concepts for him, but it surely’s all the time difficult directing somebody who’s by no means achieved something like this earlier than. The cool half is, after I present individuals the video now, Survivor is commonly the one which resonates most. We simply filmed him speaking, and his ardour and power have been so uncooked and motivational that it got here throughout completely on digital camera. He additionally did a dance for it, and one way or the other all of it simply fell into place. It was humorous as a result of, in distinction to my normal themes – issues tied to my previous or my upbringing – this was simply fully random. It’s a kind of moments the place issues come collectively naturally, and I suppose that’s a part of what makes music so particular. You’ll be able to plan all you need, however typically the perfect issues simply occur.
Wow that’s so attention-grabbing as a result of to me the entire film feels prefer it’s captured these moments you don’t realise are something within the second, however find yourself turning into one thing vital in a while. So it’s cool that the video shoot sort of went that method as nicely.
Jacob Cummings: That’s a superb level! That’s true.
So it looks like you’ve got lots of influences past simply sound, how do you translate these issues into music?
Jacob Cummings: I feel a part of what helps is that I don’t essentially take into account myself a “songwriter” within the conventional sense. I actually admire artists like Bob Dylan, who’re capable of craft whole worlds with their phrases. Dylan, specifically, has this unimaginable capability to create vivid tales and concepts that resonate deeply by means of his lyrics. However for me, that’s not the place my energy lies. The fantastic thing about being human is that all of us have completely different strengths, and for me, it’s all the time been about enjoying devices. It began with that – determining methods to creatively play and specific myself with devices. Once I was in highschool and school, it was all about technical capability, about pushing myself to play as exactly and technically as I might. However since graduating, I’ve been on this strategy of unlearning that mindset. I’ve come to understand that music, like all types of artwork, is only a method of expressing myself and my feelings.
I’m actually grateful for the disciplined musical basis I had rising up as a result of it allowed me to let go of the necessity to impress or observe guidelines. Now, I don’t fear a lot about idea or how technically spectacular one thing is. For me, it’s about sharing what feels proper, sharing one thing that’s distinctive to me. A whole lot of my songs are simply two chords, going backwards and forwards, however that works for me. I feel it’s extra in regards to the feeling and the connection than the rest.
Completely, it’s nearly like being musically skilled provides you the software set to have the ability to specific your self the way you wish to.
Jacob Cummings: Yeah, precisely. It’s actually cool to be round people who find themselves so extremely gifted, particularly if you’re in rooms with of us from locations like USC or UCLA. You already know, these youngsters can play circles round you, and it’s exhausting to not really feel intimidated typically. I personally love that sort of music too, the technical stuff, the complexity – it’s wonderful. However on the identical time, it will possibly undoubtedly get in your head. You see somebody enjoying sixteenth notes for hours or shredding bebop licks, and you can begin pondering, “I can’t try this, so possibly I’m not ok.” However I feel that’s the place the fantastic thing about music is available in – it’s not about being probably the most technically good participant. It’s in regards to the feeling, the expression, and what you’re bringing to the desk. What actually issues is the connection to the music, and that doesn’t require you to have the ability to play all the pieces completely. That’s the liberty of it, proper? It’s not about evaluating your self to others – it’s about discovering your individual voice. So, yeah, even for those who can’t play these complicated licks or good each approach, that doesn’t take away from the ability of what you’re creating. It’s all about the way it feels and what you wish to say by means of it.
Are you able to stroll me by means of the picture you selected for the album cowl as nicely?
Jacob Cummings: My good friend Garrett and I have been filming at this gorgeous dingy water park known as Journey Touchdown. Traditional state of affairs: I’ve a bag filled with digital camera gear, and there’s a highschool child checking us in, who’s simply attempting to flirt with the individual subsequent to him. We go to the entrance gate, and nobody’s even there. We simply stroll proper by means of – weekday, so there’s no line – and I’ve my cameras going by means of the tubes and stuff. I used to be snapping a bunch of photographs whereas we have been there, and this one actually resonated with me.
It’s sort of an homage to the photographer Martin Parr. I haven’t actually considered the way it ties into the idea of the album an excessive amount of, however one thing that stands out to me now’s that, within the photograph, there’s this mother within the foreground who’s identical to this complete “mom lion” defending her youngsters. She has that ‘2000s’ vibe to her – like a traditional mother look. I don’t assume it’s a Vera Bradley bathing go well with, but it surely has that sort of sample to it. Taking a look at it now, I feel it connects to the album title, Southern & Enlightened, in a broad sense. The photograph is of those households having enjoyable, simply being there with their youngsters, and I feel that’s an enormous a part of what the album’s about. The simplicity of a way of life like that – how lots of different issues can get in the best way of that easy pleasure and connection.
What does this report symbolize to you within the trajectory of your profession?
Jacob Cummings: That’s a superb query. I hope it’s kind of like this, as a result of like I mentioned, I produce music and actually take pleasure in doing that. I’ve this studio now, which is the place I’m at proper now – it’s a bit messy with all my vinyls. However yeah, I hope that I can proceed having a profession in producing music with different individuals. A whole lot of artists I love have made an album for themselves that serves nearly as a portfolio, and I’d like this album to be that for me in some methods. I hope individuals will get a greater understanding of the place I’m coming from and wish to collaborate or meet within the center on their initiatives.
On the identical time, on this new headspace of being a musician – as a result of I’ve all the time simply seen myself as an artist – it felt necessary for me to essentially embrace that position. An enormous a part of that’s performing dwell, which I by no means supposed to do after I made this album. I by no means thought I’d sing, however over time, I noticed that if I’m actually going to pursue this world of music, I shouldn’t accept any a part of what it means to be a musician. And an enormous a part of that’s dwell efficiency. So, I feel placing out this album has actually pushed me to pursue that side of getting a profession as a musician. However I additionally wish to, not directly, skew the standard thought of what that profession appears to be like like and method it in a extra inventive, inventive method.
How did this challenge provide help to to develop as a musician?
Jacob Cummings: I feel the overarching theme is simply confidence. Like we’ve been speaking about, it’s actually intimidating to decide to a challenge of any caliber – particularly for me, singing for the primary time. You’re met with a whole bunch of questions, and also you’re continuously having to make selections that problem your sense of self. At a sure level, you simply should let go and cease overthinking it. You’ll be able to’t let your self really feel like, “I’m going to surrender,” or “This doesn’t deserve this a lot consideration.” I take into consideration the primary two issues that come to thoughts: making the album and getting the vinyls pressed. That was an enormous dedication when it comes to time, power, and cash. When you’ve dedicated to one thing like that, there’s no room to lose your confidence. You simply should belief that what you’re doing is value it.
Yeah, I completely get why music can really feel fairly self-indulgent at instances, but it surely’s completely not.
Jacob Cummings: Precisely, yeah. It’s freaky, and I actually really feel such as you simply should not overthink it as a lot. And for those who do, you must understand it’s larger than simply you. I’ve been a part of initiatives, or I’ve had pals who’ve made issues, and it’s actually necessary to me. Even when I’m not intently connected to it, it brings extra happiness and goal to my life. I feel that’s a superb reminder for me – that it’s not nearly me. It’s not as self-indulgent as it could appear. I don’t assume it all the time must be perceived that method.
What do you hope audiences will take away from Southern & Enlightened?
Jacob Cummings: That’s a superb query. instance could be a message I obtained final night time – somebody mentioned, “Hey, I’m in Japan, simply cruising round on a bike, and I’ve been enjoying your music nonstop. It’s the proper soundtrack for the expertise.” It’s moments like that, when music turns into a part of somebody’s life, their private soundtrack, that makes on a regular basis duties really feel extra significant and comfortable. That’s what my favourite albums do for me, and I hope my music can do the identical for others.
I hope individuals get excited to leap of their automobile to go to the grocery retailer as a result of they get to hearken to a few of these songs. I need them to really feel related, even within the small, on a regular basis moments. These songs imply lots to me personally, as they contact on a number of the extra troubling components of life – processing relationships, like with my dad or pals, and grappling with larger, scarier concepts like demise and eternity. However in addition they discover lovely moments, like giving delivery. Finally, I hope my music might help others course of those self same feelings and discover some closure in a gorgeous method.
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© courtesy of the artist
Southern & Enlightened
an album by Jacob Cummings