Interview: Jester Jacobs | Moose Solutions
Tongue in cheek lyricist / stand-up comedian Jester Jacobs has been rhyming for over a decade, releasing a string of mixtapes before taking music more seriously with the release of his Grimefulness project in 2021, alongside renowned Shadow Player producer Formz. Receiving national acclaim from this project, Jester built on the hype and commenced the creation of his most recent album, Moose Solutions during the lockdown of 2021. Released in September 2022, Moose Solutions is still making waves to this day with the release of multiple music videos used to promote standout singles such as Lounging, Interest & Dawn French over 2023. In this interview Jester reveals exclusive insights concerning his latest project, details concerning what else he has in store and more.
“Just to give you a bit of background on how this came to pass,” began Jester, providing context for the creation of his most recent album, Moose Solutions. “It was the lockdown, I am a stand-up comedian. I lost all my live work - no work, no job, no money.” During this time, Jester recalled how people around himself, primarily those surviving off a typical 9-5 shift, appeared quite anxious in the unprecedented lockdown situation. But despite being a comedian that performs around the country most nights (and internationally on occasion), for the first time in a long while Jester felt abnormally calm. He was able to reassess the position he was in and the direction he wished to take, “So it was actually a very useful period of time,” summarized Jester. During the lockdown Jester recorded Moose Solutions, an 11 track album which fell together effortlessly, with a renowned Leeds based producer called Jack Danz “I was speaking to Jack and he just kept sending me music and I was just in the zone writing,” continued Jester. “It was almost like a re-introduction of what I want to do - no bullshit, just bangers and good lyrics, to just have a laugh with no message.”
As a career comedian, this influence is infused within Jester’s lyricism and it is apparent that many of his bars are to be taken with a pinch of salt, yet are not meant to be taken lightly as a joke either. “Because of Jack's production I didn't really have to worry about the music being dark,” said Jester. “I just focused on the bars.” The artwork reflects a comedic image with dark undertones, quite similar to how Jester pens his own rhymes. Created by political cartoonist Rebecca Hendin, the underlying message is that everybody involved in showbiz, whether they wish to admit it or not, are trying to get the world’s attention. “So what would happen if you take it to the nth degree?” asked Jester, who is represented similarly to a North Korean dictator on the cover of Moose Solutions. “I didn't really anticipate that fucking Russia would be at war when the album came out, so it is kind of fitting with the war imagery.“ Tied to the apocalyptic theme which reigns over the project’s entirety, Jester encapsulates his own mindstate whilst writing it as, “What would I say if this was the last thing that I am ever going to do?”
“All of this shit was written very quickly over a couple of months,” continued Jester, providing deeper insight into the writing process. “Prior to that, I made Grimefulness with Formz, which took like two years - that was a real labour of love - but this one was just fun, fooling around, powered by edibles and red wine.” Throughout Moose Solutions, Jester essentially plays the part of an aged, failing dictator who throws the dice by attempting a rap career. In the pretense of his dictator character, he also feels that this project is also a kind of reintroduction, ‘in spite of overwhelming rejection,’ laughed Jester. When it comes to his lyricism, the Marshall Mathers LP is cited as a big influence, with particular emphasis on how Eminem would rhyme relatively unhinged whilst still holding up as being funny in a comedic sense. “There are no features on the album, that's intentional as well,” added Jester. “ I realised when you've got features and other people in the mix, then suddenly the song isn't yours and the direction it takes does change so with this, I really wanted to be hands on and just make it my thing from start to finish, Jack produces, I rap and that is it.”
Following a scene-setting introduction into the Moose Solutions project, the album kick starts with a single called Dawn French. After initially hearing the beat, Jester wrote the following song within a couple of hours. It essentially acts as a representation for the time period it was written in: Covid lockdowns, worldwide paranoia and “still wanting to make bangers despite an absolute dystopian shitshow,” laughed Jester. “I hope to perform it for Dawn French, one day.” Another standout single from Moose Solutions is Interest, which was bolstered by an intriguing music video filmed whilst Jester was performing out in Saudi Arabia. Originally booked for a comedy show, Jester decided to capitalize on the opportunity by creating a music video using footage taken off his iPhone. “The show was a lot of fun and the people were welcoming and a pleasure to hang out with,” recalled Jester. “I was even offered some booze by a friendly local at one point, but I didn't want to risk execution for enjoying a gin and tonic.” The third single from Moose Solutions which was given a visual is called Lounging, which dropped via the Revorg Records YouTube channel. “Revorg put out Grimefulness and since this album started happening pretty quickly afterwards, it made total sense to put it out with them,” explained Jester. “Strange Neighbour is an absolute don and he made this whole project seamless from start to finish - go buy everything Revorg.”
Aside from rapping, Jester has recently been receiving more gig opportunities for his stand-up performances as well, which he is grateful for. “Everyone's a little more broke and broken than before, but it's still the best job in the world,” stated Jester. “I'm planning 6 dates at The Edinburgh Fringe this August with a new show and a few festivals before then - all my gigs are on joejacobs.website.” Asked whether he was working on any new solo or collaborative music, Jester smiled and revealed, “There's a new Moose Funk Squad project basically complete and on the way.” He also has a couple more solo bits in the pipeline, however he was in no hurry to disclose details concerning these. Our final question for Jester was if he could collaborate with any UK producer, or beatmaker that he had not worked with before, who would it be? “It was have to be the Purist,” replied Jester. “He’s a top UK don. I’m also interested in making a Country album one day, so any rednecks reading - please do get in touch.”
Jester Jacobs, thank you for your time.
Words by Evo
Photography by Steve Best
