Hi! I’m Sweet Deat.
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I’m Sweet Deat, musician-turned-moghul with a finger on the pulse of the music industry.
I’m here to turn trade secrets into general knowledge and invite you to push your music career to the next level.
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The Blog
From practical tips to big-picture updates, find what you need.
Q: How did you get into playing music for a living?
Jacob:
Playing music for a living never entered my brain until I observed someone actually doing it. I was deployed in Bosnia from September, 2002 to August, 2003 and I met a pianist, Zlatan, who was performing for all the church services on the NATO base. He flowed through so many styles, and that totally baffled me. I eventually asked him to have lunch with me and through this experience I was able to learn some basic music information from him in exchange for purchasing things like CDs, Coats, Shoes etc for his family. He made a living supporting his family being a musician and I was only buying things for him he didn’t have access to. His lessons influence me to this day when I think about it.
Q: You didn't stop at being a full-time musician. How did you transition into seeing more of the big picture of the event industry?
Jacob:
Since the beginning of chasing music as a lifestyle, I realized that the universe had something a little different for me. Often I would get called to organize the music side of a variety of events, and providing work for my closest friends soon became something that deeply satisfied me. I love to sit and listen to someone’s live entertainment needs and try to provide a solution that works best for them while providing work for the musicians I love. It’s a win-win!
My favorite win-win-win.
The only thing better than getting a gig is creating a gig for someone else. My passion to improve the entertainment industry for everyone led me to found Shindig My Event, an agency that connects local musicians to the events that will let their talents shine.
Interested in creating a win-win-win? Let’s chat.
Q: What genre are you most drawn to?
Jacob:
When I first became a musician I was already fascinated with songwriters. Telling a story with such few words was a mystery to me. I quickly became bored with the same old chords and thought that if I learned a jazz song I could learn something new and interesting to spice up my songwriting. That rabbit hole took me down a decade long obsession of playing jazz and learning how to improvise something I’m still fascinated with and think about daily. As I’ve grown up, the pendulum has swung back to a desire to write pop/rock music with clever lyrical work as well as interesting harmony to wrap around it. For me, that experiment has become Wisetale… my latest creative endeavor.
Q: What is one piece of advice you’d give to someone considering a music career?
Jacob:
I would simply say that this journey is not about fame or fortune or what you think you are owed. This career is about experiencing the joy of a craft that you will always pursue and never master. The journey will provide for you, but unless the opportunity to be an artist is rewarding in its own right, you’ll risk disappointment. It’s one of my favorite topics to speak about on my YouTube channel.
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Q: What do you do in your free time?
Jacob:
When I’m not playing guitar for bands, creating content for the interwebs or empowering people to take the next step in their music business… you can usually find me in a coffee shop sipping an espresso and reading a book quietly in the corner. You might spot me at a baseball game carefully analyzing whether the runner on 1st base is going to run on a 2-1 count, or see me in the gym lifting to push out all the stresses of life.
Say hello!
Are you a musician looking for someone in your corner? Are you interested in leveling up your entertainment offerings? Just want to say hi? I’m here for all of it.