An interview with Jacob Souček, a new regular writer for this blog.
Q: Tell us a bit about your background in music.
A: My dad, who was an OCA priest (may his memory be eternal!) among many other things, was a prolific musician and composer. When it was time for me to choose an instrument to play in grade school, without prompting from my father, I chose the violin, not realizing how the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Before entering the priesthood, my dad was a semi-famous violinist in Czechoslovakia and was a big influence on me musically. I progressed quickly with my violin studies through grade school and High School and was soon taking private lessons with a professor at our local college. My dad also worked at home preparing me for entrance into the Juilliard School of Music.
Ah, High-School, that’s when things got interesting. I loved violin, but also loved rock ‘n’ roll! I started listening to all the 80’s hair bands with screaming guitar solos, and thought to myself, that’s what I want to do! I taught myself to play guitar, retiring the violin to pursue my passion. My dad wasn’t on board at first, but soon realized my talent for the guitar and how I was growing as a musician. He was completely supportive of me being a rock musician and playing gigs with local bands. I could play shows on Saturday nights as long as I made it to Liturgy Sunday mornings, as I was the head altar boy.
After high-school I moved to Hollywood, CA and played in a band called Souls on Fire for many years. We recorded several albums in major recording studios, one of which was where Metallica and Aerosmith also recorded. We even worked with Steve Gallagher the engineer for Sugar Ray’s album, “Floored”. We played at world famous venues and had a large, loyal following. Our band didn’t make the big time, but I feel we did make it in some capacity.
Q; How do you bring your love of music to your Orthodox Faith?
A: Music is a gift from God! It is deeply rooted in our everyday lives and church life as well. The Cathedral where my family attends has an outstanding choir and the layer of beauty they add to our worship is something that is other-worldly. It helps us to connect with God and His angels who endlessly praise Him by singing “Holy, Holy, Holy!” Music has been such a blessing in my life as a Christian, a fan, and musician.
Q: What kind of music do you prefer to listen to and why? What inspired you to seek out that type of music?
A: I can listen to pretty much anything that has a good beat and melody, but it also must be intelligent and thoughtful. I prefer listening to artists that tell a story and I can feel the life experience they are expressing through their music which is real and relatable. Rock ‘n’ roll has always been my passion. Recently, I’ve been getting into some heavier rock artists and am intrigued with the complexity of their song writing, musicianship, and lyrical themes. It inspires me to possibly start a new project, we’ll see what happens.
Q: What kinds of music should Orthodox Christians listen to?
A: Well, I guess that’s up to each person to answer for themselves. I for one say, Rock on and listen to whatever you want, whatever uplifts you. Of course, try to avoid music that contradict church teachings.
Q: How can others seek inspiration from music?
A: Music is a personal journey and what might be inspiration to some may not be relatable to others. That being said, I would say try to recognize the diversity of music in different settings. Listen to your choir at church and feel God and His angels surround you. Listen to your favorite song that fills you with hope taking comfort in the fact that the artist is going through the same things you are. This, to me, is the gift of music!
Q: Why is finding inspiration in music such a personal journey?
A: We are all different, thank God! He made us all unique with unique personalities. The kind of music one listens to is unique to themselves. Even though, generally, we can all say that music makes us feel some kind of emotion, individually deep down inside only we know why a certain song, lyric, or riff inspires us.
Q: “Can you give us a sneak peak of what you plan to share in your music blog?”
A: I wanted to start by saying, I’m very excited to be afforded this opportunity to connect with other Orthodox Christians and share my love for music. You can expect many different topics from this blog. Ranging from my thoughts on the music, music industry, and artists of today as well as the past, to what inspires me personally as a musician and Christian. You might even see some album, song, or artist critiques and reviews of bands I went to see live. It’s pretty much wide open, I don’t have a set theme. It’s going to be a diverse music forum. I’m also open to topic suggestions from my readers, or even a reader Q & A. I’m looking forward to taking this journey!