We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jake Dixon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jake below.
Jake, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I recently had the opportunity to travel abroad for an extended period of time and lived for 4 months in Copenhagen, Denmark. While there, I had the unique privilege of being able to study classical double bass at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and perform with their symphony orchestra. For me, there was no greater way to find a new purpose in life than by experiencing an entirely new way to live life. I found that the musicians I surrounded myself with in Denmark were not chasing ambitious projects, fame, or fortune. Instead, they were happy to just simply let themselves be. I found purpose in seeking out that contentment for my own life. Sometimes chasing the ultimate and ideal dream won’t compare to the beauty of finding joy in simple and mundane things. My purpose in life is to tap into that contentment and make beautiful art that acknowledges and revels in joy from simple moments.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
As a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer, I have the unique opportunity to approach musical projects from many different angles. I play in musical theatre pits, on orchestra stages, with jazz bands, I write instrumental music for the concert hall, I arrange charts for churches, and I record bass in studios on various projects.
Since my last Voyage Dallas interview, my band Maybe No Moons has been on a break from playing due to all of us being in different cities. However, we continue to collaborate! In 2021, I helped co-produce and mix our pianist Huailing’s debut solo project entitled Where You’ve Never Lived. Partially recorded in an empty garage during the pandemic, the EP is a lo-fi love letter to our hometown of Plano, TX and captures the nostalgic essence of growing up and remembering your roots.
In addition to collaborations, I have come into my own as an instrumental music composer in my studies at Southern Methodist University. As a composer I have written for chamber groups, for solo double bass, and I’ve collaborated with other students to write and record songs for SMU’s Theater department and for SMU student film projects. Among my instrumental work is a string quartet and a piece for un-pitched percussion premiering on November 18th at SMU’s Emerging Sounds Composer concert.
As a songwriter, I recently released an EP entitled When I Fall Apart in 2022. The self-recorded and produced indie-folk project features collaborations with a multitude of my friends and is inspired by genres spanning from surf rock to country. The project is all about resilience; when you are beaten down and you fall apart, what gives you the energy to keep going? When your biggest source of joy is gone, where are the new places you have to look? When I Fall Apart explores these ideas of loss and acceptance over the course of 7 tracks and has received airplay on 91.7 KXT and 91.7 KVRX (in Austin).
Most recently, my new song Metaphorical Death of the Block Dog (MDOTBD) releases on November 17th. The first demo of the song was written, recorded, and uploaded online in under 24 hours one night in 2021. After two years, I finally got to sit down with my friend David Hokanson in the recording studio and fully produce the song. MDOTBD is all at once a self-aware, humorous, and moving alt-rock song about acceptance, moving on and into a chapter of your life, and the ensuing excitement of something new! It evokes the sounds of 90s rock but with my own unique spin. I’m very proud of the track and am excited for this new direction for my music.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The three qualities or skills that I find most helpful in my journey are friendliness, learning through trial and error, and take breaks.
I can guarantee that I would not have stuck with my decision to get an undergraduate degree in music if it wasn’t for the friends I have met while making music. Making friends who share my passion for what I do is what helps carry me through life. When I was in Denmark, the friends I developed the closest relationships to were the talented and caring musicians I met. Working on songwriting projects or instrumental compositions, it’s my musician friends who keep me motivated and give me the inspiration and encouragement I need to continue.
Trial and error is an essential part of learning no matter what field you are in. As a composer, I have to write numerous bad pieces and bad ideas in order to get to the great ones. Great ideas sometimes come to you on a whim, but more often than not they are a result of weeding out the bad ideas. I have never let a bad song get me down; instead, I’ve learned to embrace the creative process and I can look back on my bad ideas as stepping stones to the great ones.
Finally, in any field, it’s essential to take breaks when the creative output isn’t what you want it to be. I have often taken breaks from my songs and came back to them later in order to focus on something else in my life and also to give space between myself and the music I am working on. Sometimes you just need to listen to something with fresh set of ears!
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I got into musical composition with the ultimate goal of writing a musical. I’ve found myself surrounded by theatre and musical theatre my entire life, and more recently I’ve had the pleasure of getting to play in a lot of pit orchestras. I think I’m ready to take the next step and do a deep dive into writing my first musical. The beginning steps of this process are not easy, but I’m slowly starting to get the ball rolling. For now, I’m interested in working with any person in DFW who is interested in commissioning music, whether it be a song with lyrics or an instrumental piece for any ensemble. If this happens to overlap with theatre and/or musical theatre, I would consider myself very lucky and very honored! I helped record guitar and bass parts for a rock song for SMU’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream a few years ago. Seeing actors on stage singing along to my guitar playing was a special moment, and I would love to get the chance to do this kind of thing again.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jakedixonmusic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jakedixonmusic/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-dixon-34482321a/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1lgT2qBGJ2MBK0TqVUTLPQ/videos
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/reso-silverleaf
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/67SVekWblZaVjoLIkanEXf Bandcamp: https://jakedixon.bandcamp.com/ Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/jake-dixon/1583826633
Image Credits
Ash Thye, Haley Kruse, Nancy Lozano, Rebecca Dixon
