Today we’d like to introduce you to Jake Nice.
Jake, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started playing music as a young kid. I took lessons on piano and guitar and eventually started writing my own songs. In high school and middle school, I got really into theatre and started acting in school plays and musicals. I also performed in multiple school choirs. During our last years of high school, my best friend Trevor and I started writing folk/rock songs together. We recorded our debut EP that fall as Surprising Flavor.
I moved to Dallas in 2011 to study theatre at SMU. Trevor moved to Dallas a few years later, so I solicited some of my friends from the theatre department to come jam with us. Soon, Surprising Flavor started gigging around DFW as a 5-piece indie rock band. We recorded and released our first full-length album, ‘Beach Party,’ in 2016.
I started freelancing after graduating from college and Surprising Flavor went on hiatus. Since then, I’ve worked in a variety of jobs under the umbrella of music and theatre — acting and/or assistant directing with theaters across DFW, composing original music for theatre and film, teaching early childhood music classes, etcetera.
My biggest and most recent success has been directing and producing Young Jean Lee’s mortality musical ‘We’re Gonna Die,’ which toured North Texas from 2017-18. I produced the majority of the tour independently, taking the show from coffee houses and D.I.Y. music venues to local theaters like Second Thought Theatre, Amphibian Stage Productions, and the AT&T Performing Arts Center.
I’m channeling my creative energy into songwriting at the moment. I’m in the process of compiling my first solo album — a collection of my original music spanning the last 10 or so years — entitled ‘Bird, Don’t Fly,’ a concept album about the interweaving of love, identity, and control. If all goes according to schedule, ‘Bird, Don’t Fly’ will be available for purchase later this year.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Most of the demons I’ve faced in life have been my own. I’m definitely a recovering workaholic. I’m not very good at taking time to chill out and reflect. If I’m not working at my day job, I’m preparing for or performing a gig, rehearsing this or that play, scheduling a meeting, etcetera. I’ve had to be very intentional about creating space to breathe and just exist as a person… for my own sanity!
Perfectionism also rears its ugly head from time to time. I can be very meticulous about my artistic projects because I want to show off the best side of me. This too can be exhausting, so I’ve learned. I’m working on allowing imperfection — chaos, even — to enter my creative process.
My family is also really important to me. It’s been hard living even states away from them. Fortunately, my relationship with both brothers and parents has grown stronger despite the distance. I feel closer to them now than ever before.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Jake Nice story. Tell us more about the business.
I primarily advertise myself as a director and composer. I suppose both titles perform similar functions, but with different mediums. When directing, I aim to elicit creative responses from my collaborators and shape them into a cohesive storytelling experience. As a composer, whether writing for myself or for somebody else’s project (a new musical or short film, for example), my job is to identify the tone of the piece and create a purely aural storytelling experience. In both formats, the task at hand is to tell a clear and accessible story.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t really believe in luck. I believe in listening. To the world around you, to where you are, to who you are, to what you want, to what others are saying and what they want from you. My greatest accomplishments have come as a result of waiting, for the right time, the right person or venue… not from forcing my ideas to fruition.
You have to be dedicated and take action to make your dreams become reality, of course. But there’s a tricky balance between being a self-motivator — a “go-getter,” if you will — and having the patience to let things unfold.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jakenice.com
- Email: jacoblnice@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nomoremrniceguy5/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jacoblnice
Image Credit:
Jordan Fraker, Jeremy Pesina, JT Harding, Ian Van Buren, Clayton Browning
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