Jacob Morris Debut EP

About me:

I am a songwriter, singer, self-taught guitarist, and busker from Christchurch. My music is a mixture of blues, roots, folk, and pop/rock. I play a range of music styles, including one man band looping, using a variety of 6 string, 12 string, hybrid, and double neck acoustic guitars.

Although I am only 16, I have learned my craft over a number of years by busking solo on the streets of Christchurch. I’ve also performed in various successful bands where I developed a range of unique original music and my own sound.

My music:

I have been developing my style (using acoustic guitars) and focusing primarily on songwriting and musical production as well as live loop performances and vocals.

Looping has enabled me to perform complex solo acts, and given me the opportunity to play a number of gigs from weddings, cafes, bars, festivals and busking.

I hope to find a combination in sound between good guitar work and radio friendly music that can appeal to a wider audience. I’m currently developing my own original music by focusing on good songwriting and acoustic guitar techniques.

What I’m fundraising for:

I hope to work with a producer and release an EP at the end of this year and learn how to record my own music, which is why I am crowdfunding.

I am super excited to finally share the music that I have worked hard on for the past couple of years with you, but I really need your help to get me through the final stage and record everything I have created.

The music industry is a tough environment for a young musician like me and success relies on belief and endless hard work. To make it in the music industry today, young emerging artists have to compete more than ever to rise above the crowd and get noticed.

To do this they need to develop an audience long before any record label will consider recording and marketing their music. The avenue for emerging artists today is through the internet and sites like Spotify, Soundcloud and YouTube which enable their music to be available to a greater market.

For me to go to the next level, I need to be working with an experienced producer to record a professional EP to release. To engage the services of a producer and use a professional recording studio I will need to raise around $10,000.

Awards and recognition:

In 2013 I picked up Best Original Song and Musicianship Award at the regional finals of Smokefree Rockquest. I then went on to take out the 2013 Rockquest National Musicianship Award – being one of the youngest winners in the 25 year history of Rockquest, which was an honour.

I have been inducted into The Brotherhood of the Guitar (www.brotherhoodoftheguitar.com), and been working with Robert M Knight to develop my performance and songwriting skills.

In March 2014 I spent a week with Robert in Los Angeles and in Boston meeting and playing to a number of people in the US music industry. I also met Tomo Fujita who is the associate professor of guitar at the Berklee College of Music in Boston who has encouraged me to attend Berklee

The future:

I have committed to making music my career. I would love to go to Berklee – it’s expensive, so first I plan to get a degree in computer science at Auckland University, specializing in music production, which will help me get into Berklee. I also want to move to Auckland to enable me to work with people in the NZ music industry and develop my contacts.

I plan to spend more time working with Robert Knight in the US and planning to do some co-writing with some of his contacts after my NCEA exams this year. I’ll be undertaking some Mainz courses next year to develop my skills in music production and performance.

I’d love to work with a label to publish my music as there is only so much you can achieve with no marketing support. Right now I know that the most important thing I have to do is develop and grow my portfolio of original songs.

Final words:

If you like my music, let me know as all support means the world to me. I will continue to put in everything required to have a career in doing what I love and will not disappoint.

I really want to take my supporters on my journey of producing and recording my first EP, so they see the time and effort that goes into my music.

I will provide regular video snippets and blogs of the journey, including how I write material, how I test stuff out on the streets when I go busking and how I make home recordings to try and develop the songs.

I really want my supporters to hear my music early in the process and tell me what they like and what they don’t. I really want your feedback. Come and listen to my live busking performances in Christchurch and Auckland and see how I use a range of guitars and looping to take my songs to the streets.

If I get the funding and the producer I need, I want to share this part of the journey as well - this is when we turn my songs from the street into a high quality studio album that I want to the make available to my supporters on Soundcloud.

I then plan to do a tour this summer and really hope you will come to these gigs knowing that you had a part in getting these songs out there.