Berklee today

JUN 2017

Berklee today is the official alumni publication of Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. It is a forum for contemporary music and musicians.

Issue link: http://berkleetoday.epubxp.com/i/827757

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14 Berklee today Jacobson is mentioned in the same breath as Jimmy Iovine, Patrick Whitesell (a CEO of media and entertain- ment agency William Morris Endeavor), John Janick (cur- rent chairman and chief operating officer of Interscope Geffen A&M; Records), Martin Kierzenbaum (former president of A&R;, pop/rock at Interscope, and head of International for Interscope Geffen A&M;). Some—like Kierzenbaum—were disciplinarians "who didn't put up with any of my ADHD bull," says Jacobson. But his father took a different tack, always believing in his son. "My dad was an accountant and he and my mother commuted to work from Old Westbury on Long Island into Manhattan every day," Jacobson says. "They'd come home after a long day and a grueling commute and have to listen to me pounding the drums. But they were totally fine with it, very supportive." Dreaming Big The ambition to become a record label executive began when Jacobson was 15 and working at a country club. "My first job was as a caddy at Deepdale Golf Club," he says. "I was working one day when a blue Bentley convertible pulled up and this older guy—who looked like a vision— got out wearing a Frank Sinatra hat and smoking a cigar. My friend told me he was Charles Koppelman, a record la- bel executive. He worked in music, hung out with cool people, had a great house, and was a big tipper. I came home that day and told my father that I wanted to be a record executive. I remember clear as day thinking that's what I want to be." In high school, Jacobson had two friends who gradu- ated before him and went on to study at Berklee. "I went up and visited them once," he says. "When I came back, I told my dad I wanted to go there. I figured it would give me a step ahead to go to the best music school rather than to an average college where I'd just be another guy. He said he'd pay for it if I could get in. He always told me that you should do what you love in life, find your pas- sion." Jacobson began practicing the drums for hours a day to prepare. His grades in high school weren't stellar but he had done well on his SATs. On his first application to Berklee he wasn't accepted. Undeterred, he decided to go to Berklee's Five-Week-Summer Performance Program. That went well and after reapplying, he was accepted. Jacobson feels that some of the core Berklee courses he took have had lasting value for him. "I consider ear training to be among the most important basic tools I learned at Berklee," he says. "To this day it's something I use to test whether or not a melody is working." As a nascent A&R; man, his first extracurricular pur- suit at Berklee was to find the hottest student band on campus at the time (circa 1995). A friend told him about a funk band called Fatbag (later renamed Lettuce). "Another drummer Anthony Burulcich ['98], who went on to play with the Bravery, told me I had to go hear Fatbag's drummer Adam Deitch ['98]. Anthony told me he was amazing and had the best pocket. After the show, my mind was blown and I found my way to meet Adam and hang out with the band." Also in the group were Adam Smirnoff '99, Erick Coomes '99, and Eric Krasno. Jeff Bhasker '99 was also there on that night when some great and lasting friendships began. Bhasker has gone on to do spectacular work as a producer. Jacobson managed Bhasker when his career was lifting off after his tenure with Kanye West. "In the summers I went home and worked as a caddy," Jacobson recalls. "I saw a friend from high school, Danny Berzak, who had become a stockbroker and he told me, 'You need to learn how to sell if you want to make money.' I watched the movie Boiler Room with Ben Affleck and Giovanni Ribisi about a guy who becomes a stockbroker, and was very taken by it. That movie got me focused on business and I decided to start a record label called Tonic Productions with my friend Marshall Reese." Jacobson returned to Berklee with seed money pro- vided by his father, determined to make a live recording of his musician friends that were playing at Wally's Café Jazz Club regularly. Jacobson hired engineers to record re- motely from a rented van outfitted with studio gear and captured hours of funk and jazz. "I tried to get the rights to put out a live album," Jacobson recalls. "But the process of getting everybody to sign over the rights was something I didn't under- stand back then. We tried for a year to get things going, but I ran out of money and the project never went any- where. Knowing what I know now, I could get this done very easily." This became Jacobson's introduction to both the ex- citement of being a part of a vibrant music scene and the sobering realities of the business aspects of music. His first taste of the business was disappointing, but it didn't derail his aspirations. A Splash of Ice Water Needing a job, Jacobson approached the management of the Badminton & Tennis Club on Hemenway Street near his Berklee dorm. "I went in and sold them on my ser- vices," he says, "They offered me a job as a janitor three nights a week and gave me the keys to the place. It would take me about two hours to do general clean up and rake the clay tennis courts. Afterward, I would have all my Berklee friends come over and we'd have bands play- ing, recording sessions, parties, and play tennis until four in the morning." Jacobson somehow always got the place back in order before the day shift arrived. Soon, his extracurricular activities started detracting from his coursework. "Unfortunately, I wasn't going to "A blue Bentley convertible pulled up and this older guy— who looked like a vision—got out wearing a Frank Sinatra hat and smok- ing a cigar. My friend told me he was Charles Koppelman, a record label ex- ecutive." Neil Jacobson ranks his father Frank Jacobson (left) as the first of several important mentors in his life.

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