We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jacob Kleiman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jacob below.
Jacob, 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?
I developed my confidence after a long internal struggle within myself. Once upon a time, I used to be a people pleaser, and a nice guy. I think I developed a strong sense of confidence, apathy, and self-esteem after taking people’s BS for too long. Everyone has a breaking point, and I believe I reached mine, and then some, to make me who I am today.
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 am a bass player. The best part of my work is learning new music, and meeting new and interesting artists, and making people dance with my music. I believe my brand is the anti-brand. I loathe influencers and corporations, and I believe my brand has always been sex, drugs, and rock and roll. I also have a special passion for Latin dance music. Every month I play in a salsa band of about 5-6 players. We play at various salsa social clubs around Los Angeles.
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?
For folks early on in their journey, one of the most important things I would say is to Have Fun. Make sure you have passion for your craft, and sometimes that may mean taking time away from it. When I am not playing bass, I spend my time dancing, traveling, exploring new bars, restaurants, Jumbos Clown Room, meeting new people, etc. Another important quality is patience and practice. Your craft, whether it be an instrument, the voice, songwriting, is a life-long journey. It’s important to put the time in and do the reps on your craft. That can look like two hours of practice a day, maybe sometimes more, or less, but it’s always important to maintain your strength. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Another key quality is confidence. How to attain confidence is difficult, this is somewhat of a life-long journey for me as well. My confidence has skyrocketed this year. I believe I can attribute this to learning how to dance salsa. Learning how to dance has taught me to maintain eye contact, a good posture, and to be a strong and dominant presence. There are many, many ways to build confidence, but I believe the easiest way to start is by loving yourself.
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
The most helpful person who has helped me on a music level is the late maestro, Dean Brown. I had the pleasure of studying under Dean for a whole year. Attending his class at Musician’s Institute in Hollywood was almost like enrolling in a military bootcamp. He was sometimes harsh, but a very fair teacher and commander. He taught me how to be so strong, like a godamn soldier. During my time studying and playing with him, I learned how to be powerful in my music. Loud. Confident. Unfortunately he developed some form of aggressive cancer, and he died earlier this year. He was one of my most impactful musical heroes.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j_funk69/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobakleiman/
Image Credits
Scarlett Kapella
