Today we’d like to introduce you to Jono Jacob.
Jono, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am so honored to be featured in this magazine! I am an independent artist from Dallas, TX. I released my first E.P. on March 1st, 2019, and this process has been one of the most hardest, yet rewarding things I’ve ever done. I started playing music at a really young age. My first instrument was drums, and I started playing when I was 4 years old on the local worship team at my church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I had a natural knack for rhythm and played drums on and off for about eight years after that. I started taking piano lessons when I was five years old and was classically trained for seven years. It wasn’t until middle school that I picked up a guitar and started to sing. The only reason why I did in the first place was that the church I was going to at the time in Dallas, TX needed a little kid to help with their kids service. I found a love for singing and for taking people on a journey that led them to an encounter with a real God. When I entered high school, I started to lead at various churches frequently, and singing started to be at the forefront of my mind almost all the time.
In the first eighteen years of my life, I’ve always struggled to find community. When I came to college (The King’s University), I found some that of the best people in the world that I would later call my best friends were right under my nose. We started to play music and do life together, and after a while we realized that we would love to pursue music together as a band of brothers. Towards the end of my college experience, I realized that I wanted to bring some of my closest friends together and a have a night where we got to sing together and reflect on our college experiences together. It actually was never sought out to turn into what it is today! We got 300 people together, hit record, and saw something beautiful and authentic birth into the room. My first E.P. “Live in DFW” is not supposed to be a super polished, technical record. I hope that when people hear this record, they hear genuine, authentic melodies being sung to a God that is so real and wants to be in community with people. I consider myself to be one of the luckiest men in the world because I have a church that supports me, friends that challenge me, and a God that is for me.
Has it been a smooth road?
Oh man, the road has been TOUGH. It’s been emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically draining. I realized that the road I was on was specific to me, and not a lot of people around me were on the same path. With that being said, there have been a lot of times where I have had to become my biggest encourager, and I had to remind myself why I do what I do. I have a ton of talented friends in my life, and if I wasn’t careful, I would play the game of comparison and tell myself that I wasn’t good enough to do any of these things. It took me nine months from the day we recorded it to the day it came out because of where I was mentally. There would be days where I wanted to call my producer, throw in the towel, and tell my community that the project is over. At the end of the day, if it wasn’t for some of my best friends and my relationship with Jesus, none of this would have happened. The road has been hard, but some of the best things in life are worth waiting for and worth enduring.
What do you do? What do you specialize in?
I’ve always been known as the guy who always did a lot and had a crazy schedule. In this season right, I work for Apple, serve at my church, and operate as a local artist from DFW that wants people to encounter the same God that met him when he was younger. The band and I genuinely believe that people can have a real experience with Jesus, and we want to help create an atmosphere to facilitate such experiences. One thing that I’m really proud of is that I am a self-published, independent artist, and by the grace of God, our highest song “Build My Life” has over 40,000 plays on all music streaming services! Huge shoutout to David Sviontek, Miguel Noyola, Caleb Karlovich, Roger Williamson, Josiah Armstrong, Joshua Pruis, Julia Mathew, and Jessie Cisarik for always encouraging me and telling me that I could do it!
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The music industry is always changing. Twenty years ago, it was hard to really do anything music-related on a public platform without having a record label sponsor you. Now with technology and social media, the ability to get one’s personal expression of music out to the general public is relatively easy. Music is always changing, and the sound of relevance is continuously moving. The question that we have to ask ourselves now is this: how will we choose to genuinely express ourselves in a world where it seems like anyone can do it? I consider myself to be a Christian music artist, and that title in and of itself has certain pre-mature ideas that people love to think they know everything about. I hope I can break certain stereotypes that comes with having that label and that people in general could listen to my music and have a conversation with me. I think one thing that separates us from various bands is everyone’s pure mindset of authenticity. We’re not trying to be like our role models, and we’re also not trying to be so different than what we do is irrelevant. We want to stay true to who we are and let people come and see a glimpse of our lives for themselves. When people come to a show, one of the biggest things I want for them to feel is that they’re in a safe place to express themselves. Music has the power to bring healing, teach beliefs, and ultimately change lives. I hope that what I do and the music I produce has the ability to do all those things and so much more. I will forever be so honored and privileged to have a small part in the music industry and forever be honored that people would take the time to listen and support.
Pricing:
- Live in DFW Shirt – $20
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thebandjono.com
- Email: thebandjono@gmail.com
- Instagram: @thebandjono
Image Credit:
Callie Cherry, @candid.portraits
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
