6 minute read
Musician, Jack Pavlina
JACK pavlina
At 17, singer-songwriter Jack Pavlina is mining his experiences for earnest tales of complacency and young love—and has no problem sharing these tunes with the world.
Written by Brandon Roos Photography by Daniel Garcia
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“Hometown streetlights, walking down the same road / These views are starting to get a little old / Skateboard riding, cruising ’round town / We know the places where you’re never found”
So goes the breezy hometown track “408,” an admitted tribute to the Campbell skate community. Now a senior at Del Mar High School, he shares that skating has played a key role in his life since his freshman year.
“Skating has always been an escape for me,” he explains. “I get really sick of seeing the same old scenes. When I go out and skate, it just feels new every time.” Those moments to reset and slow down have proven fruitful for the emerging singer-songwriter.
While Pavlina’s been writing and recording his own music for close to two years, he first remembers having a connection with music at the age of five, while enrolled in dance class. That burgeoning connection led to him playing the trumpet, then transitioning to bass. At the age of 13, he picked up guitar and, in more recent years, has tried to build his vocal ability.
While his musical output skews toward rock and alternative, he was exposed to a wide musical palette growing up. Pavlina says his father introduced him to plenty of genres, from jazz and R&B to 90s grunge rock. Seeing that his son was getting serious about creating his own music, Pavlina’s father spent a couple late nights around Christmas a few years back converting a backyard shed into a makeshift studio space. It’s since become the epicenter for Jack’s creativity.
“It’s like my sanctuary in a way,” he shares. “It’s where I go to create and just have ideas. It’s been a journey—a lot of late nights trying to figure out how to work with all the technology, because my roots are just with an instrument and my voice.”
Enter Kody Beats. When Pavlina found out a coworker of his had a friend that made beats, he was eager to make a connection. “Kody came over once, and he hasn’t stopped coming over since,” admits Pavlina. “We work so well together. He’s been my drums. He has an ear for those things and it really helps.” It’s proved a fruitful pairing for both sides: while Kody has helped with production, mixing, and mastering, Pavlina has taught Kody how to play guitar and introduced him to music theory.
–Jack Pavlina
The chemistry shows through on their collaborations, with Kody’s light touch never detracting from Pavlina’s musical core: playful, upbeat music speaking to the simple joys of youth and the urgency of new attraction.
Though Pavlina admits that some of his songs are written from a place of speculation, one song in particular cements a wildly cosmic connection. “Ran into You,” released earlier this year, captures the spirit of Pavlina’s music beautifully. His lyrics capture an internal dialogue from his time on a family vacation in Hawaii. A girl on the beach catches his eye, and when he goes to talk to her, he finds out she lives less than 20 minutes away from him. The tender production from Kody Beats adds dramatic tension to Pavlina’s telling, which vacillates between jubilation and steadied caution, with Pavlina reminding himself to not fall too deep too soon. But he can’t help but be blown away by the coincidence, stating, “I’m away on an island across the world / And right now it feels like you’re the only girl / Why is it here that I ran into you?” Such moments reveal a thoughtful writer unafraid to be vulnerable with his audience.
Pavlina released his debut EP, Shed, on October 2. In addition to summer singles “408” and “Fallin’,” the EP, whose title pays tribute to his backyard sanctuary, features five brand-new songs. While he wanted the entire project to come out fresh, he admits he released the singles to continue providing listeners with a steady stream of new material.
Some teenagers may be terrified to share their creativity with the world. Pavlina isn’t one of them. “Performing live just never really scared me. It feels so natural to just talk and play music for people,” he admits. He says he’s played open mics at Los Gatos Roasting Company, but he also has no issues with taking a short ride over to the Pruneyard, setting down his guitar case, and serenading strangers within earshot, all while his skate buddies ride over and cheer him on.
Perhaps it’s another way, like skateboarding, to chase away the monotony, this time not by getting lost but by being found. C
DOX
BLACK
Wading into the Waters of the Unknown
Written by Brandon Roos Photography by Stan Olszewski
doxblack.com reverbnation.com/DOXBLACK Instagram dxblx Facebook doxblack Even as he embraces his place as a hip-hop veteran, rapper, and producer, Dox Black remains focused on pushing himself to new creative planes in the studio and onstage.
Rapper Dox Black shared about the night his 2020 completely unraveled, when the touring crew sat together in a meeting about what they were going to do moving forward. “Every hour on the hour, we would be getting these notifications,” he recalled. He remembers the slow roll of new capacity restrictions at venues, dropping from 1,000 to 500, then to 250, then to 100, then to 50.
“We were getting calls from the promoters basically canceling different spots along the tour route. It didn’t make sense for us to continue with such gaps. We had to cancel the tour after our first successful date,” he explained. It was a startling low after an incredible high. The first date of the tour, which featured Twista, was a sell out in San Diego. It was a complete 180 from the elation from the night before.
Like many others, 2020 was supposed to be a year of growth and success for Dox. He was going to continue to focus on touring and honing the skills he gained on the Vans Warped Tour while presenting the Bring It Back Tour, a hip-hop component that toured alongside the nationwide festival for several years. Starting in 2016, he earned recognition as an official act at South by Southwest, which places a global spotlight on emerging talent. He had planned for another summer on the road, building fans in new markets. But when COVID restrictions hampered his efforts to perform, he returned to San Jose.
Despite these setbacks, Dox had something working in his favor. As a tireless workhorse with 20 years in the game, he utilized the extra time to focus on his album, Enigma. He managed to deliver the new work to listeners on New Year’s Day—a tradition he’s maintained for eight years running.
“I’ve been producing and rapping about the same amount of time. I think that was a blessing in disguise, because sometimes with artists, you get stuck in one action of your artistry,” he said. “I didn’t have to rely on anybody for my music to be developed,” he explained.
