Meet Jake Cassman

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jake Cassman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jake, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

Man, I’ve struggled with both of these — it’s a lot of what my new album is about. It took years of therapy for me to work through my hang-ups from childhood bullying and disordered eating. That, and the realization that most people don’t even notice the stuff that keeps me up at night — playing a wrong note, saying the wrong thing at a party, etc.

I’ve made a lot of progress — that’s why I’m releasing this new record under my own name for the first time.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m a musician, songwriter, and artist — I’ve taken to calling my music “heartland bubblegrunge.” I put out five records under the name Drunken Logic, but my first under my own name is called Idling High, and I’m going to start rolling it out this summer. The first single is called “Anna, I’m Not Interesting” and drops in August.

By day, I teach music at the Geffen Academy @ UCLA. I’ve also worked in sketch/improv comedy, dueling pianos, podcast production, musical theater, and a variety of other jobs. I still save time for pickup basketball on the weekends, and I plan on knocking on doors ahead of the upcoming election as well.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Take an improv class! I very much needed to learn to let go of my perfectionism, to trust that my creativity isn’t finite and I can share my ideas, and how to maintain composure and confidence when I don’t know what’s happening next.

Look around you as much as you look up. The artists and public figures we all admire had unique paths to get where they ended up, but the way they got there is already obsolete. The more interesting, relevant developments are happening around you, and your colleagues and friends are the ones making it happen.

Show up genuinely for people. I’m more competitive and even jealous at times than I’d like to admit — it can be hard for me to listen to my friends’ music. But if you do, and you go to their shows, and you look out for them and think about them, that karma will come back around. Not as quickly as you’d like, but it will.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

My parents were OK with me leaving an Ivy League school to pursue music full-time — in fact, they encouraged it. Not a lot of parents would do that. But my Dad had a job he really loved, and my Mom never really found that — so I think they both understood the importance of a calling in their own way. I’m forever grateful they let me transfer to music school.

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