Indie Artist Spotlight: Jacob Whitesides
Jacob Whitesides “Lovesick” Double U Records/JMW/BMG Rights Management “Landing in Europe for the first time was one of the coolest moments of my life,” says 18-year-old singer-songwriter Jacob Whitesides. “Coming into Copenhagen airport, I was surrounded by all these fans who had been supporting me for so long. There were girls passing out. It was insane!”
Jacob’s first overseas trip was a world away from what you’d expect from a common teenage rite-of-passage. But then Jacob is hardly your typical teenager. For this is a young artist with a social media following of over 5 million people, and who went straight to #1 on the iTunes singer/songwriter chart with the release of his debut EP ‘A Piece Of Me’. Already in scintillating form, he then topped the charts in the UK, Canada, Portugal, Australia, Brazil and France.
What’s more, he’s done it all on his own terms. Sure, he could’ve taken the major route and been molded into the next pop puppet, but this fiercely independent spirit instead opted to become the CEO of his own touring, merchandising and record label Double U Records which recently partnered with BMG. Empowerment is extremely important to Jacob and he’s proving how musicians can establish a credible career for themselves by using the available democratic and free media platforms to support their music. Jacob hopes his fans are inspired by this pursuit, and know that they too can have control over their destiny. No wonder Wired Magazine recognised his pioneering spirit and invited him to speak at their flagship London conference, Wired 2015.
And despite all of that, he’s still a teenager at heart. He picked up the guitar after being inspired by bluegrass kings The SteelDrivers, yet was too self-conscious to actually sing too. The turning point came when his then-girlfriend was struck with Bieber fever. “It bothered me a little, but it really bothered me when she got a life-size cardboard cut-out of him for her birthday,” he laughs. “That’s when I drew the line and realised that I had to something!”
Jacob shot his interpretation of Bieber’s ‘One Time’ on his laptop’s webcam and uploaded it that same day. “I didn’t get a ton of views or anything, but I got some good feedback,” he recalls. “Besides, I wasn’t trying to get into the YouTube scene at that point. I was just trying to win my girl back!”
Jacob Whitesides
“One Time” (Justin Bieber Cover)
“One of my fans had tweeted me: ‘Liam from One Direction has tweeted your version of ‘One Thing’. And I thought it was a joke. So I looked at my socials and they were flooded. I was freaking out and calling all of my friends, which was like two people because I didn’t have many at the time. From there on I had a lot of drive to post more videos, improve as an artist and really dive into the social media world. Reading all the positive feedback from the One Direction fans was a real motivator, and a sign that I could do something.”
Jacob Whitesides
“One Thing” (One Direction)
Freshly enthused, Jacob took a multi-faceted approach to his career. The uploads continued and he played select shows, but the primary focus was on developing his songwriting (his first original, ‘You Are Mine’, demonstrated that there was an audience for his originals) and finding a team that could help him progress while also allowing him to maintain creative and commercial independence. Teaming up with producer/songwriter David Spencer and Manncom management company provided the foundations from which his talents could flourish.
Jacob Whitesides
“You Are Mine” (First Original 2013)
Jacob Whitesides
“You’re Perfect” (First Official Single/Music Video Release W/Teen Vogue)
Jacob Whitesides
“Ohio” (Explicit)
From A Piece Of Me EP
Double U Records/BMG Rights Management
Jacob Whitesides
“Let’s Be Birds”
From A Piece Of Me EP
Double U Records/BMG Rights Management
Next on the agenda after his even bigger European tour (including a 3-shows-in-one-day in Paris) is the new EP Faces On Film. Many of the songs on the new EP are clearly inspired by Jacob’s coming of age and understanding materialism (having come from a modest background and now running a successful enterprise.) The EP also features a slide guitar guest appearance from Grammy winning blues legend, Keb’Mo, on the EP’s title track.
Jacob Whitesides
Faces On Film EP Track By Track
Double U/BMG Rights Management
Jacob Whitesides
“Faces On Film”
From Faces On Film EP
Double U/BMG Rights Management
Jacob Whitesides
“Secrets”
From Faces On Film EP
Double U/BMG Rights Management
Jacob Whitesides
“Rules Of Beautiful”
From Faces On Film EP
Double U/BMG Rights Management
Such a stance suggests that those wild scenes in Copenhagen will soon be replicated all over the globe.
Jacob Whitesides
“Lovesick” (April 2016 Single)
Double U/JMW/BMG Rights Management
