Backstage Intro: Meet Jake!

[Jeremy]

Hey everyone!

This month I'm happy to introduce Jake - @jrham to the rest of the team ⭐

Thank you for taking the time to share and tell us more about yourself. It's been a pleasure taking part of your answers and I'm super exited to share this with the rest of the team so that they can get to know you better as well so here we go.. 😀

Can you tell us more about yourself

Happily. Hi! My name is Jake, hobby-wise, I'm a music enthusiast, adventurer, activity over-booker, and athlete. I've been a competitive runner my whole life, was a varsity sprinter and hurdler at Michigan State University, and continue training and competing in Ann Arbor, Michigan with some local track clubs. When I'm not running, you can find me rock climbing at my local gym or in Kentucky at the Red River Gorge or West Virginia at the New River Gorge, OR I'll be tinkering on my motorcycle, or tending my garden. Personality wise, I'm an ENFP (The Champion - Qui-Gon Jinn if you follow Myers Briggs and Star wars), which means I'm always doing something, and likely with other people and groups. I was born and raised in Michigan and am very close with my family; my siblings and I have a tradition of getting together and taking portraits of us frowning and it makes me laugh. But what is one thing that ties this all together? Music. Music moves me. It triggers memory and emotion, and it inspires. I love the idea of this thing called "frisson" which is a "sudden strong feeling of excitement or fear; a thrill". It's a physical reaction that sends a rush through your body and can triggered by many things, but music does this to me, and I can associate almost every piece of my life with a certain song, and I think that's amazing.

I'm a landscape architect and love what I do. I create space for people and nature, whether its through hosting community engagement events for local park designs, or converting blighted space to the thriving ecosystems they used to be. Its a wonderful mix art, science, and policy; just imagine any space you've ever stepped foot (outside of the untouched wild), and know that in most every case, it was planned by a landscape architect!

What made you become a Star

Back in 2018 or so, I was concerned about my "Discover Weekly" playlist and how it was composed of mostly "chill-hop" and slow instrumental songs since I listen to background music while I work. It's not a reflection of what I actually like in leisure time so I went to the community boards to find a way to stop tracking those types of songs and quickly found a solution through a moderator. I became active on the message boards after that and soon discovered that I could propose new ideas for the software, help other users with issues I've encountered, and then discovered the star program. I love music so much that I felt that if I was part of the star program, I'd be able to help make a positive change in the way music is presented to us, and to help others have an overall positive experience with Spotify.

What are you looking forward to the most with being a Star?

I'm most excited about getting to know all the like-minded music-fiends from across the globe through the stars program! I love this community already; I love the stories I hear through the Question of the Week thread, the different walks of life, and seeing how music affects all of us in some way. I've also enjoyed helping other users navigate their way through the software and community boards. I have never been connected to anything global before, and this program has given me the opportunity to meet really great people from dozens of countries and its surreal!

Do you have any planned concerts or festivals this year

I do! I recently saw Beach House at the Royal Oak Music Theatre in Michigan; it was the first show I had seen since Foals in Detroit right before the pandemic started. It was a very atmospheric show and I was able to just get into a trance, close my eyes, and just feel the music. I'm looking forward to seeing Big Thief at the same venue this month. I think Adrianne Lenker is an amazing songwriter with such a unique voice so it'll be a treat to see her perform live. Other than that, nothing is set in stone, though I've got my eye on the "Live is Beautiful" festival in Arizona, I'd love to see the Gorillaz for the first time.

What would you say is your favorite genre/genres

This is THE most difficult question for me to answer about music. According to my Spotify Wrapped, my top genre is Folk/singer-songwriter, and Electronic Dance Music, which I think holds water! But wow, I love anything that Danger Mouse touches, classic rock, hair metal, hip-hop/R&B; basically anything with a heartbeat, soo...all genres??

When did you start using Spotify

I think I downloaded Spotify in 2012 when I started graduate school for my degree in Landscape Architecture. I remember the all-nighters at studio that my classmates and I had to pull while hitting deadlines; we would be blasting movie scores by Hans Zimmer or Howard shore during thinking times, and then we would throw on La Roux for a 4-am dance-off...next thing we knew...it was 8am, posters were printed, and we were presenting our materials with coffee-eyes at our critiques.

What's your favorite song at the moment and can you let us know if you have any specific memories to it

This is going to get a little deep, but that's life, right? The song is Blue Lightning by Big Thief, and the memory is of someone that I fell in love with. The wonderful thing about music and  strong lyrics is how they can be interpreted and associated differently by each person. This particular song speaks to the highs of lows of my relationship with this person, and though the moments with her were fleeting, the impacts are immutable. This response can be construed as sadness, but I choose to cherish the moments and the growth that came from the relationship. Like the song itself, there are highs and lows in life, but I wouldn't choose to experience life in any other way; feeling a range of emotions is what life is all about.

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Who is your favorite artist and when did you start listening to that artist and finally why is it your favorite artist?

Daft Punk.
I discovered this Duo when I was in high school; I don't exactly remember where I first heard them, but the song was "Around the World". I have no idea how I became so infatuated when them, but they are simply pioneers of dance music, and they MOVE ME. Rhythm is the most important aspect of music to me, and the robots just layer their sounds over toe tapper beats and I can't help myself but MOVE. It's not uncommon to find me blasting Aerodynamic while seat dancing in my truck with a smirk of content of my face. If I had the opportunity to see ANY group live, alive or dead, its Daft Punk; their tours look so incredibly electric that I can't imagine a more energetic and euphoric experience.

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Who inspires you the most

Is it cheesy to say my parents? They are who I know best, the ones that taught me the morals and values  that I follow. Do I agree with everything the say and do? No way. But they've taught me love, kindness, open-mindedness, and adventure (and countless other things), and that is universal to me. No life is perfect, it shouldn't be; it should be a mystery, a challenge, and full of connection. My parents have experienced quite a lot through life and to see them persevere and enjoy life through thick and thin is truly inspiring and sets an example for how I approach my life. Plus, they accidentally introduced me to amazing music when I stumbled upon their collection a vinyl's when I was a kid, so I got to thank them for that! Curve-ball for who else inspires me: the world. I have been fortunate to meet people from all over the world with different cultures, beliefs, experiences, and views through travel and my studies at university. I think it is SO important to hear everyone's story.

Thank you so much for answering these questions. It's been amazing to get a bigger picture of you 💚