Interview: Sonny Jakobs

As a teenager, he sang for his girlfriends. For the past 12 years, Sonny Jakobs has been writing songs about his life experiences and hopes that one day in the future he can perform infront of crowds of appreciative fans, who will sing along. I think he has the talent to make it to the top of the music charts.

His musical style is all his own, and his tunes are reminiscent of jazz singer – Michael Buble, soft rocker – Howie Day and early 90s rocker – Tom Cochrane. His songs, “I Don’t Care” and “Footprints In My Heart,” as heard on his MySpace page are ones that will grab your attention and are fresh music that the radio scene should welcome with open arms.

He’s from Norway and now resides in Chicago, and is working on his debut album. He comes from a small family, and is an only child. Jakobs says, “My father used to play the bass guitar in a band, I guess thats how he met my mother. I was exposed to the wonders of music at an early age. When growing up my home was filled with the sounds of Elvis Presley and The Beatles.”

Jakobs used to play the guitar in a hard rock band when he was seven, which lasted until he was 11 years old. He says, “Ultimately, my band mates kicked me out of the group because they felt I had the wrong image. Despite this setback, I found out quickly that singing had certain advantages over the guitar, especially with the girls.”

While his album is currently underway, he hasn’t decided on what the album will be called. “I have not decided the title of the album yet and I am currently working on my album in the studio.” The songwriter calls his sound, “a melodic blend of pop, rock and acoustic.”

Each song he writes has “a personal meaning” to him. He wrote the song entitled, “Footprints In My Heart” to his father who died a few years ago, of cancer.

“I like to play all the songs live. Sometimes it just depends on what kind of mood I am in, but overall I always enjoy playing the song “I Don’t Care.”

He’s not influenced by a specific genre of music or a particular set of artists. He says, “I have been listening to so much different music from Rhythm and Blues, to Soul, Rock, Classical and Pop. I just picked up my guitar one day, and started to play, and the songs just came out the way they are.”

“Bands like KISS mesmerized me with their showmanship and stage presence. They seemed to possess this larger than life command over their audience – they epitomized the power of music.”

“I loved to listen to the radio as a young kid growing up in Norway. A magical moment for me was when I heard “Sexual Healing” by the legendary Marvin Gaye – what a great song. After that a whole new world opened up for me, I started listening to Reggae king Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Prince and even Madonna continue to influence me. Over the years music has been a source of great comfort and strength for me during trying and difficult times.”

Jakobs likes a wide variety of music and believes “variety” is essential to the music scene today, including his own music. He feels that the best music ever written “…was in the 60,70 and 80s.” I think the new music scene is at it’s best right now. If you think about it – it is very open and all kinds of genres are out there. With today’s music, our ears are being filled with many different styles ranging from acoustic to hip hop. As a lot of you now know, there are a lot of new forms out there. Variety is what we need, variety is good.”

Jakobs has enjoyed playing at London’s Apollo Hall for a live audience of 3,000 and an even larger television audience. In the future he hopes he can do what he loves to do, play music. He says, “Music is like breathing, it’s there.” “Hopefully one day I can sing in front of 10,000 people that sing my song back at me.”

“When I felt like my world was falling apart music made me smile. For me, music has no limits and everyday it proves to be a powerful tool in reaching and connecting with people all over the world – it is the universal language – I knew this was something that I wanted to be a part of.”

Jakobs says his songs are “simple songs which, hopefully, evoke universal emotions in all that enjoy them. The overall message in my music is positive – believe in yourself.” He believes that no matter what obstacles you encounter in life, “don’t give up on your dreams.” He hopes his music is a “vehicle which can bring happiness to others.”

Interview By: Meredith A. Iager

Sonny Jakobs Official Site

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