Jackson, aka Denim Mob, is a New Jersey-based musician whose love for The 1975 had helped him develop the “sick nasty” 80s-esque sound we’ve come to love. I had the chance to talk to the artist about his musical growth, his debut EP, and how he got the name Denim Mob.
What influenced you to start your music career?
Originally, I did band in middle school and high school and a little bit in elementary school. It wasn’t until high school when I started doing contemporary music and not just doing school band. I played in a couple different bands in high school and then when I got to college I was already writing a bit on my own on my laptop instead of in a group. Time went by and I had all the songs that I wanted to work with. When it got down to it, it got to a point where I wanted to put it out there. I started playing and didn’t have a name, then I got a name and Denim Mob became a real thing in thing two years ago.
How has it been navigating through the music industry in the past two years?
It’s been interesting. I go to school as a music industry major so I’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of tools at my disposal and I’ve gotten to learn in a structured setting rather than working on my own. There’s a lot of things that I’ve been able to tackle knowing how to tackle it. For me, it’s always a matter of getting the motivation and willpower to actually do it, which is always the biggest thing that sets me back. I go to school at Rowan and there’s a lot of cool musicians and organizations that have started on campus. We’ve been in this bubble the past couple years at school and that bubble’s been good to us.
Is that how you met Anthony and John, your live band members?
I met John my freshman year through a class or two. We knew each other and we were friendly. Between then and when Denim Mob started, I had friends helping me out but I didn’t have anyone to do a long-term set up with. Then John and I talked for a while and got that set up. Then I met Anthony through John because they had a band together.
What has been your favorite experience as an artist so far?
I think my favorite experience is when people, I mean, obviously I appreciate it from everyone, when anyone compliments and says anything positive or gives constructive criticisms I enjoy all the same. When people I don’t know whether it’s from a show or walking to class or something would come up and ask, “Are you Denim Mob?” There’s some people out there that really vibe to the music that I don’t know. So far that’s my favorite thing.
How did you come up with the name Denim Mob?
I helped start two different organizations on our campus that do live shows and at each one I noticed that the vast majority of people were wearing denim of some sort whether that be a jean jacket or just jeans. So it’s an homage to the mass amount of denim in that setting.
In creating your solo project did you want initially to have it be a different entity that’s why you named it Denim Mob or was there a reason why you didn’t use your real name for it?
My real name is a bit long. I didn’t really feel like… I think it was a combination of what you said I didn’t want to create a stage name for myself. I didn’t vibe for some reason. I kind like what Tame Impala has, where it’s just Kevin Parker, he just works with other people on it but it’s kind of a separate entity. I don’t like drawing attention to myself. I like drawing attention to myself in a project but I feel weird and I never felt like using my own name was the move, but it kind of took a while to enjoy it. Even then like using the word mob kind of a question that for a while because it is kind of a combination of a mainly solo project and also a couple people helping me. So calling it a mob was iffy for me, I didn’t want to confuse people but I don’t think people really care.
You describe your sound as a “synth driven 80s-esque dirty nasty new-wave funk from outer space” which I love. And when I first heard it there was a major 80s synth influencing your music. What drew you into creating music in that genre rather than say, lofi or vaporwave or something like that?
When I hit the end of high school I was in one band where all the stuff I was writing… There was a year and a half period when I was only listening to the 1975. It was like 6 months where I was listening to the self-titled album on repeat, and then i like it when you sleep came out and then it was just that and the self titled album on repeat. Finally, once I got to college I started mixing up my tastes. Back then when I was writing a lot of stuff, I was taking a lot of influence from them and also emo stuff so it was an interesting combination. I was relying too much on The 1975’s sound so I kind of wanted to add my own thing. They were what got me into 80s music. Once I started getting into new stuff, I started getting into the actual stuff from the 80s. I really loved just how massive the sound is. I like vaporwave, but I’ve always loved the band arrangement. Vaporwave is exclusively electronic and I wanted something where I could be versatile. I’ve seen so many bands take that sound and apply it to so many different genres, I always found that to be a long-term thing if you can take your sound and apply it to multiple places. It’s more interesting, it doesn’t repeat itself. I found that the music I like and what I can apply it to, I found that the 80s sound was what I was drawn to.
Congrats on releasing your debut EP! How did you feel when you finally released the project?
The project was mainly released when it was and how it was because of my senior Capstone project. I wanted to release another single sooner and just kept releasing singles but because of the project I kind of had to put out a body of work. so it was this whole year of getting motivation and having so much time to do it and say “I can put it off.” We recorded all of it in October and November and a little bit of December I’m pretty sure. I mixed it up until January or February. Once I’m done with that part usually this huge weight is lifted off my back, but I still had so much to do with creating the visual identity in all that stuff. Then, unfortunately, when I was getting to the point where I was willing to do all this footage and ready to make all this content for it, the pandemic hit. So I wasn’t able to create with other people because we were social distancing. So we lost a lot of my momentum. It feels good to have it out there for sure the kind of have it done but there’s still so much I want to do for it: I want to do a music video for each of the songs over the next year or two and a half maybe It still feels good to have it done, but I’m not satisfied yet. I still have a good amount of work I want to do and get it to where it needs to be as a whole piece and not just the music.
What was your favorite song off of you EP, “If Not Now, When”?
I’d have to say “Psylocin”. I think one of the best, if not the best, I’ve written so far. I think followed by “Say You Want”. “In Your Eyes” was written with the band. I love that song to death, and I feel it’s just as much up there but it wasn’t as much of a “wow I did that” since I had other people help me.
With “In Your Eyes”, what was the writing process like in comparison to your own solo writing experiences?
When we all got together, we’ve been figuring out how we work everything and how we split up things. Usually I’ll start with some kind of chord progression.Then I’d create a loop and add instruments to it till I liked where it was at. This process translated when working with them. John wrote that big synth part in the beginning. Then we laid out a drum beat.I added in a synth part that later became a guitar part, and Anthony added a guitar part as well. This kind of helped it become a Denim Mob sound. The songwriting process was really similar, we just translated it to a group setting.
I’ve read that the songs on your EP were based off your college experience. What’s your favorite memory from your time at Rowan?
This probably would have been my favorite memory. We won Battle of the Bands last year. Because of that, we were given the opportunity to play at the school’s big festival in the spring. We were supposed to open up for Kyle, the guy who does I Spy. Then we got rained out and booted off the bill, so that didn’t happen. Battle of the Bands was the biggest thing I’ve done on my own. We’ve had so many shows on and off campus where we built a community. We’ve had so many that it’s hard to chose, but I’d say those were definitely the best.
Denim Mob
