Jack Stauber is certainly not our usual synthwave sound, but when we came across his masterpiece “Pop Food,” we knew immediately we should feauture his art! Born April 6, 1996, Jack Stauber is an American Avant-Pop musician and video artist whose work includes elements of animation, live performance, and the use of obsolete media. His work includes themes of absurdity, bizarre humor, and nostalgia. Stauber has independently released 4 albums: Finite Form (2013), Viator (2015), Pop Food (2017), and HiLo (2018). He remains unsigned. Stauber is currently based in Pittsburgh, PA.

Your vocal style is truly one of a kind – how did you develop it?

I sing in the shower. I try to do effects with my voice a lot, sort of like Donovan does in “Hurdy Gurdy Man.” He goes “hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hurdy gu hu hu hu hu hu hu.” He sounds like he’s singing on a bumpy car ride, but he’s not in a car at all.

Many of your lyrics border on nonsense, but somehow at the same time they can also feel very meaningful – how do you go about writing them?

I get playful with the words but they’re always chosen very carefully. They all make perfect sense. I wouldn’t sing something if it didn’t.

How much Jack Stauber music is the result of playing a traditional instrument – and how much of it is sampling as seen in “Can Music?”

I definitely have a good mix of textbook sound-makers and off-the-book inserts. I’ve crinkled an empty water bottle to create a crash cymbal before. I collect tonal objects that I find to pepper into songs here and there. I wouldn’t say I use these as song foundations usually, though, and if I do, the song’s gonna be an odd one.

Speaking of instruments – various frames in your videos betray a handsome synth collection – what are some of your favorite synths you use to produce your music?

I like small casiotones. MT-240 is my main squeeze right now. The sounds are warm and stupid like a cheddar pretzel.

It also seems like you might use a lot of “found” digital devices as ad-hoc instruments – do you have any particularly odd devices you’ve grown fond of producing with? If so what are they?

There’s this cork slide whistle I bought at the mall for a dollar. I love that slide whistle. It’s in the latest song I extended on my patreon page, “Cheeseburger Family.” Walk around with a slide whistle and your life turns into a cartoon.

The music you create feels like only half of your style – when did you start creating short videos and other media? Do you prefer creating audio or visual?

I’ve been working with both forever, I’ve always loved animation and video. They have different kinds of rewarding elements. I get equally sucked into making them both as well.