Check Out Matthew Jacobs’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Jacobs.

Hi Matthew, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I always knew that I wanted to be an electronic music producer. Growing up in New Jersey, there wasn’t a very large electronic music scene and I always felt like an outcast for the music that I was passionate about. When I was 15 years old I got my first digital audio workstation called “Fl Studio”. I dove in, teaching myself as much as I could about the program. I read guides, messed around and watched many many YouTube tutorials. Eventually, I was able to whip up simple hip hop beats in a matter of minutes. Soon after that, I began collaborating with rappers, songwriters and vocalists from my home town “producing” my first records under the alias Skinny Limbs. Although I was having a lot of fun creating those songs, I still felt like something was off and I wasn’t creating what I truly wanted to create. I realized that I was feeling unsatisfied because I never put the time in to learn how to make electronic music. Around this time I was 19 and attending community college. I decided that living at home and going to community collage would give me more time to get good at music and also give me time to figure out where I truly wanted to be. Also, around this time is when I purchased my second digital audio workstation known as “Ableton”. I learned the basics of the new program and wrote a ten songs collaborative album with my wonderful and very talented friend Ed Duarte.

Although I was pouring all of this time into my craft, I still couldn’t figure out how to make decent electronic music. It all changed when I decided to visit Colorado for the first time in October 2017. I visited a childhood friend who was now living in Fort Collins. Although my friend had no interest in musical ventures it seemed as though all of his friends in Fort Collins did. I was instantly introduced to some of the most musically inspiring people I’ve ever met. I met people like Marcus Gamboa who produces under the name “brothel.”, Nicholas Witte who produces under the name “Kin” and Wilson Slaughter who is an incredibly talented Keyboardist/Songwriter for the band “Write Minded”. These were people who were doing exactly what I wanted to do. I returned home feeling inspired and moved to Boulder a year later. When I arrived in Boulder I had no friends and no idea where to start networking and meeting like-minded people. Luckily my new school had a “Rave Club” and this is where I was able to finally find a sense of community. In addition, my neighbor was a DJ and he introduced me to two of my closest friends to date. Through my neighbor, I met Emi Veliz and Justin Douville, two incredibly talented bass music producers who have each taught me invaluable knowledge when it comes to production. Ever since then, we all continued to create and continued to grow. This ultimately led me to play my first show opening for Antennae, Govinda & Atyya at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom in Denver.

In addition to music, I’m also a very passionate visual artist. I began creating 3d renders in a program called Cinema 4d in 2018. Those skills have also grown a ton and I now create visuals for Dj performances, album art, motion graphics and promotional content. I was lucky enough to work with Sharlitz Web, creating her visuals for the Waakan takeover at Cervantes earlier this year. I’m hoping to keep evolving those skills as I’m inspired by artists such as “Beeple”, “Glass Crane” & “Android Jones”.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Of course, it hasn’t been a smooth road, there’s still some bumps and potholes here and there, even now. The struggles ultimately all came from my mindset. A limited mindset yields limited results. I was getting frustrated with myself because I was comparing myself to the people around me. I would look at all of the things that my friends were accomplishing and be down on myself for not accomplishing those same things. Instead of sitting down and forcing myself to do my work I would distract myself and make excuses. It took me a while to realize that my friends were all accomplishing so much because they were grinding, and putting in the work. It took me a while to realize that what you put in is what you get back and for a while, I was slacking off musically as I got more involved with the school. Finishing school became more important to me than making music. I worked on music when I could but school was consuming most of my time and energy. During this time I was able to put out a really nice project called “The Mantipod Ep”. I thought these songs were going to catapult me and my musical career into the next level, whatever that looked like. The ep only got a couple of thousand plays and that’s about it. I felt a bit defeated by this outcome. I was expecting it to get hundreds of thousands of streams. There is a lesson here and it’s just to simply never give up. I thought my music was just going to blow up overnight but realistically it takes years and years to grow your audience to a size of that scale. I still am releasing my own music and I’m thankful for every single stream that I get. I know that if I’m consistent and continue to put the work in, it’ll all pay off very soon.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Recently, I was working for a company as a digital media coordinator but unfortunately, the company was hit hard by covid and the great resignation. The company shut down on May 13th and I am now back to looking for full-time work. I’m not too worried about it because I’m also working for myself as a 3d asset creator. I’ve been making promotional content, visual packs, animations, music videos, and 3d logo renders for a variety of people and artists. You can check out some of my work on Instagram @fmfrombee! I’m insanely proud of the visual pack that I created for Sharlitz Web’s Waakan takeover. She continues to use my custom visuals all over the country at various different venues and music festivals. It’s really cool to think about how the work lives on through these shows and to think about how many people have seen my renders. What set’s me apart is my ability to give my clients visuals that they’re proud of, we work together until we get it right.

In addition to visuals, I started my own bass music record label called “Hemi.Wav”. Hemi, representing both hemispheres of the brain and the wave of higher consciousness that flows in once both sides work together. I wanted to create a platform where all of my incredibly talented friends could come together. I also wanted to create a platform that lets the artists keep their rights to their music, this often isn’t the case when it comes to Labels. Labels can be very limiting and very controlling and I wanted to create one where the artists have the power. We curated and performed our first “Hemi.Wav” takeover at “Your Moms House” in Denver last year and it was an incredible night. BackLeft, Knetica, Manfish, Yoko, Jabbs & Myself all performed and this show solidified the Hemi.Wav gang. Since then we’ve put out two compilations on SoundCloud and I’m sure the second takeover will be happening very soon.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
This is a difficult question but one moment that does come to mind was the vast excitement I felt when I got my first Dj board when I was 13. I remember wanting to be like Avicii, Martin Garrix or Skrillex and being captivated by their music and shows. I was inspired but after a year or so I lost interest. 10 years later, I’m starting to play larger shows and my Dj abilities have grown immensely.

Contact Info:

• Email: skinnylimbsmusic@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skinny_limbs/
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/skinnylimbs
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/fmfrombee/

Image Credits
Brandon Colby