By Sammy Ginsberg
Excited to introduce you to the art of Jacob Zuko.
BIO
I starter playing guitar around the age of 13 while living on an alpaca farm in Oregon. After seeing an exhibit on Jimi Hendrix at the Experience Music Project in Seattle, I was blown away by his cover of Star Spangler Banner, and quickly decided that I wanted to be able to make the kinds of sounds he made. I hadn’t realized before then how expressive one could be on a single instrument. Later my family moved to the San Fernando valley and I ended up studying music theory at Pierce College where I joined the jazz band. After dropping out, I spent my early 20s playing in a bunch of bands around LA. I think there is something to be learned from everyone, and music is such a great medium for expressing the internal language we all have inside of us.
Q&A
LP: How would you describe your art?
It’s a collage of things I love. I guess a lot of it is nostalgia; at one point I knew I wanted to be able to write songs that sounded like old jazz standards–simple in form, easy to jam on, but poignant both lyrically and melodically. I think most people write about things that are bothering them, and I think my songs become if not a solution then at least a form of accepting the things I struggle with in life.
LP: When did you start performing?
I started performing at farmer’s markets, I was about 14 or so. Someone had lent me a looper pedal at an open mic, so I started just taking chord progressions I was interested in and jamming on top of those. I think this was pretty integral to my understanding of music theory before I would go on to formally study it.
LP: Who are your influences?
Jimi Hendrix, Crowded House, The Everly Brothers, The Beatles of course, Jackson Browne, Tom Petty. A lot of classic things my parents put me onto, but then some modern artists I love are Soccer Mommy, Mitski, Beach Bunny and St. Vincent.
LP: If you were given $1,000 dollars for an art project, what would you do?
I’d probably just go ahead and buy a really nice classical flute or something, or maybe I’d use it to take up saxophone. I’d love to make a really nice record someday with a lot of other musicians in the vein of Crosby Stills & Nash, but I think I’d need a bit more money for something like that.
LP: What do you think the function of art is in the 21st century?
I don’t think that art has a specific function; I think it’s far broader and more important than any sort of utilitarian excuse like that. Art is inevitable, it’s humanity incarnate, it’s a child playing with crayons and clay and making sounds because just being alive is the most interesting thing any of us will ever do. People put stock into all kinds of economic systems, new technologies and ways they think we’ll end up existing, but I’d bet anything that every single one of those realities will include the creation of art. Any world that doesn’t might as well not have humans in it.
LP: Why did you sign up to perform at PorchFest 2025?
Because I like having alternatives to supporting the big, pay-to-play venues. I think we need more music everywhere all the time; if something like porchfest could somehow be happening every day of the year then I think we’d have something of a utopia.
CHECK OUT THEIR ART
Jacob Zuko will be performing at PorchFest 2025!
COME BY and SAY HI!!
Shoot me a DM on instagram at @jacobzuko or email me at jacobzuko@gmail.com
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