Steven Brokaw Jackson

This interview was conducted with Steven Jackson on October 9, 2022 in Hillsdale, NY. Steven is a sound designer and audio producer. He begins by describing having been homeschooled and attending a camp called Peace Village for children with anger issues. He speaks about beginning to prioritize balance after being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and having an influx of symptoms at the beginning of the pandemic. Having a moment at age 32 when his friends are starting families and trying to articulate what he wants, such as deep friendships. He talks about not being a natural leader but starting a live storytelling event in Portland and feeling proud. Steven speaks about the importance of music from an early age after starting group piano lessons at the after school program started by his mother, and playing music with his two brothers and sister. He gradually moved towards bass because of it’s social nature and collaborative composition. Steven sings and tries to describe the kind of music he was making and the sounds of rain and piano that proliferated his childhood. He names a long list of bands he listened to throughout this time. Running cross country and having it lead to an antagonistic relationship with his body and trying to understand when it went from empowering to damaging. He ends by describing the sounds of band practice, slamming lockers, the ocean, and the sound design term ‘walla.’This interview would be of interest to someone interested in men’s experience of their bodies, homeschooling, shifts post pandemic, growing up and music culture in the early 2000s.