Jake Schultz is releasing his debut solo EP, Time on June 14 at the Underground Music Café. It’s an instrumental collection that is deeper look at coming of age and coming to turns with the things that will change, whether or not you’re ready. It’s thoughtful and moving.
Please tell us about yourself and your music.
My name is Jake Schultz, and I’m based in St. Paul, MN. I’m a guitar and drum teacher at Rock U Music School in Woodbury, and I also play in a few bands. When I’m not focused on music, I like to enjoy the little things; coffee, sunsets, spending time with my friends/family, video games, all that fun stuff. I just enjoy to smile as much as possible and try and bring happiness to those around me.
A Moment to Remember has an engaging start that’s unusual for an instrumental collection. What drew you to start with it?
I’m happy to hear that, thank you! With this EP revolving around the subject of “Time”, I wanted to begin it with a piece that gave the listener a moment to take some deep breaths and simply remember. Think about some times – good and bad – that they’ve had in their life to help shape who they are today. The Alan Watts monologue does an incredible job at implementing the thoughts I want the listener to have as they progress through the EP. What is Time? How important is it to us? How do we cherish it when we are fully conscious we’ll never have enough with the things we love to do, and those we love? It starts off with a melancholic vibe, but when the last chord hits it sort of plunges you into this darker, wistful feeling.
How many instruments do you play and how does that deep knowledge help or hinder when playing with other musicians?
I play 5 instruments, 6 if you count singing (Guitar, Bass, Drums, Piano, Saxophone, Singing). I honestly believe it helps more than anything, especially drums. I feel that it helps me to have a better understanding of how a song should flow and how to match the feeling of the melodies and the chord choices with the rhythm. For this EP I had my good friend Andy Erickson-Peterson track drums. I had written all of the parts beforehand including the drums, but I’m a firm believer that if you have another musician play on material you wrote you need to be willing to let them add their own life to it. And that’s exactly what Andy did and I couldn’t be happier with what he did. I think it’s important to work with musicians who are willing to try the ideas you have in your head, but it’s equally as important to let them do their own thing with it.
I’ll See You in the Forest starts with a dreamy sound and seems to get sharper or closer to focus as the song plays with a nod back to the dreamy about three and a half minutes in. What was the inspiration for the song?
The whole theme of the EP is battling with the idea that you “lose” your inner child as you get older, and the hardships and mental struggles that come with that while figuring out how to navigate that subject. I tried to map out the 4 songs like this; realizing you’ll never get those blissful moments you had as a child back, being overcome with anger and sadness because of that, realizing that instead of being angry/sad you should be happy that it happened, and then realizing the importance and Ebb and Flow of Time. This song sort of wrote itself as I was navigating my way through these thoughts. So for me, I’ll See You In The Forests was my way of navigating those negative emotions and channeling them into positive ones.
Please tell us about the upcoming album and the release show.
“Time” is an EP I’ve been working on for the past year and a half. I actually first wrote the main hook to the title track in 2019 in my Senior year of High School, but it somehow found it’s way back into my life right when I needed it in December of 2021. This sort of birthed the vision and sound I had always had for my first solo EP, and at the time I was really struggling with the idea of not being a little kid anymore. I was just so sad, so confused, so stressed. I was still very much struggling with my childhood dog’s death at the time too, as that was the first death in my life that had really affected me. I just felt so lost. But then I started really dedicating my energy and focus into these 4 songs, and I feel it was a way for me to explain every emotion and feeling I was having without speaking. While there aren’t any lyrics on this EP, I tried my absolute best to tell a story through these songs and to convey one main message; Time is a priceless concept. No matter how much Time you have with something you love, it’s never going to be enough. And if you’re anything like me you’ll find yourself pondering on Time that once was, wishing you could go back. But don’t be sad you can’t go back. Be happy that you experienced it, and be happy that you are experiencing Time everyday. Be conscious to bring joy and love to those around you, be present in the moments you have every single day. Because you never know how much Time you get.
I’ll be celebrating the release of this EP on Friday, June 16th, at Underground Music Cafe in Minneapolis, MN. I’ll be playing alongside my good friends in Evernorth and Virginia’s Basement. This show is all ages, doors are at 6, music starts at 7. Tickets are $8 ahead of time, $10 at the door. I would love to see as many faces as possible, familiar and new, so that we can have a night of smiles and good music.
Mostly Minnesota 