Dubstep legend Jakwob to support Wretch 32 @ 53 Degrees
Jakwob is talking about super-gnarly, super-heavy dubstep....
�I can make that music, I enjoy that stuff,� he says, a slim, stubbled young man with dark eyes and a flesh plug in his left ear, �but I don�t want to replicate it, I don�t like making music that�s too difficult to get into so I end up adding things, different unexpected elements��
This approach has made 22 year old James Edward Jacob a hot property. Take the recent track �Let it Fall� � it has soaring vocals courtesy of writing-collaborator Rocky, pulsing dubstep rhythms and electronic elements all combined effortlessly. Jakwob has no snobbery or boundaries, he can play nine different instruments, he�s a musical magpie and always has been�
James was raised in Lincoln by Scottish-Indian parents and, aged ten, was given a full set of DJ equipment by an Uncle. He didn�t enjoy traditional music lessons but he loved playing instruments, more than nine in total but particularly piano and drums. As a teenager he hung out at Lincoln venue The Bivouac and caught punk and thrash acts - such as Bring Me The Horizion - who inspired him to form his own metal band. Meanwhile his sister�s boyfriend introduced him to glitchy electronica and computer music programming. His musical palette was expanding at a wild rate.
He found university in Leicester a disappointment. At first it was a laugh. He put on a night called Wob � a name inspired by bass sounds on an early Jack Beats tune - and had his mind blown by seeing Rusko play on a giant sound system, his first exposure to dubstep. �It got to the point where I wasn�t even going out,� he says, �Everyone else would but I�d stay at home making music and sending it to blogs.�
What changed the game was Jakwob�s take on Ellie Goulding�s �Starry Eyed� which combined ethereal vocal sweetness with monster bass attack. It received 17 million views on YouTube and made him very big news, supported by the likes of Zane Lowe and Annie Mac. His DJ booking calendar was jammed, weekend after weekend, and he hit the 2010 festival circuit, filling tents to mass applause.
�I�d only ever been to Download and Leeds but now I got to all the festivals,� he remembers, �Glastonbury was completely mind-blowing. I played in a giant pineapple in the Dance Village with a Funktion One sound system, surrounded by 2000 people going nuts. It blew me away. I intended to pop in and out but we parked the car next to the John Peel Stage and it stayed there until Tuesday morning.�
Jakwob will be supporting Wretch 32 @ 53 Degrees, Tuesday 15th May.
TO READ MORE ABOUT JAKWOB: CLICK HERE!
TO READ MORE ABOUT WRETCH 32: CLICK HERE!
TO BUY TICKETS: CLICK HERE!
