Jacob 2-2 is extremely talented. Take even a small glance at his work and you will be struck by the iceberg of rich, colorful sounds and textures that connect both his music and his visuals. Based in Brooklyn, Jacob (not his real name) has done remixes for King Deluxe and Broken Bubble, self-released two EPs on his own imprint Cereal System, released his latest EP with Moodgadget, and has just returned from a brief European tour. His music has been aptly described by Com Truise as “Perfect sound design with hints of vintage computing…visions of a video age slowly melting in the sky.” We will leave you then with this beautiful Astrocast - our 30th thus far - which is dedicated to the late Jerry Nelson, and allow you to come to a similar conclusion.
Interview
1. Where does the name Jacob 2-2 come from? It’s definitely familiar but I can’t quite place it..
It’s a series of children’s books. There is also a cartoon series, but I mainly got it from the 1978 film “Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang”
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076222/
It’s the most beautifully disturbing children’s film of all time. There was also a remake done in the 90′s with Gary Busey, which I haven’t seen.
2. There is a definitively warm aesthetic connecting all of your music, which centers around some amazing synth work. Without giving away too many secrets, what kind of synths are you using? Are you just sitting in a crystal cavern filled with moogs and rolands?
The only hardware synths I have are a Novation K-Station and a Roland Juno 6, which was a gift and has become an integral part of everything I do. Other than that, I use a lot of the Native Instruments and Arturia soft-synths, VHS and vinyl samples and anything else I can get my hands on.
3. This is isn’t something a lot of people know, but you also do some great video work, coupling your music with vintage VHS-style clips, which we got to see in action when you performed at our August FREECANDY show. How big of a connection do you see between your visuals and your music? Any video projects on the horizon?
I work as a motion graphic designer, so I try to integrate video and animation into the live show as much as possible. That way people have something to look at besides a nerd behind a laptop. Whenever I add a new track into the live set I try to have a visual that corresponds with it, and i’m starting to use VDMX more so that they can be triggered and synched with each track. I put together some “blip vert” style clips of my visuals here:
https://vimeo.com/cerealsystem
I’ve also been collaborating with a 3D artist (http://samuelrhodes.com) and planning to do a full-length video next year.
4. You recently toured Europe - how was your experience there? Can we expect a 2013 Jacob 2-2 global takeover?
Hopefully. Going out there was the best decision I’ve made in years and I’m going to try to set up a proper tour for next summer. Amsterdam and The Hague were amazing. Met some really wonderful people. Shout outs to all my Dutch homies. Brighton and Berlin were great too.
5. Who is Jerry Nelson and why is this mix dedicated to him?
The voice of Gobo Fraggle, Robin, The Count, Emmitt Otter and many more. He passed away earlier this year. R.I.P. That’s also his voice on the first Durlin Lurt track. Not sure where exactly the sample is from. I’m guessing either from the Muppet Show or Sesame Street.
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