Intern Feature: Jacob Megaw
Today we feature Jacob Megaw, one of our Brass Mash interns! Jacob often helps us during First Friday events, assisting with various tasks as he’ll mention. He also runs the Instagram account, @brassmashinterns. Enjoy getting to know Jacob a little better!
Intern Jacob Megaw
Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m from Hermosa Beach, California, and a third year at Cal Poly now. I’m a music major - I’ve been playing the piano for 16 years and guitar for 5. I can’t get away from both - they never seem to escape me! I love all types of music. I’m probably the Beatles’ biggest fan ever - I’ve loved them ever since I was a little kid. I like to play volleyball for fun and I like to go to the beach a lot.
What do you do as an intern for Brass Mash?
I started off as being the door man for Brass Mash. It was me and my other classmate, Frank. We did the simple job of door duty. For our second show, we went to the merch booth, so we learned a little about that. We also help to set up and take down equipment - Colin taught us about the wiring and the cables, how the sound works and where everything goes. It’s good knowledge in general for other events. I also run a social media account for fun, and for the band. I’m able to post anything I want for that, and I enjoy it.
What got you interested in working with Brass Mash?
I am a music major at Cal Poly, and I wanted to put my foot in the music industry in some way. I asked my college advisor if there were any internships available, and she happened to know Colin.
What are your future plans? How does this help you get there?
I might stay in the summer. Getting more experience, I feel like I would learn so much having more time to focus on being an intern rather than just school. Just to gain some hand-on skills if I want to get into the music business and industry. You can only learn so much in the classroom, so it’s good to learn by doing things.
What have you learned so far in the process of working with Brass Mash?
Learning to work under pressure - that line gets so damn long outside! That’s just an everyday skill which I already knew, but I know how to manage that better. The hardware side of the equipment and setup. A little bit of marketing - Colin just gave me the opportunity to run this account, so I’ve learned how to edit videos and run a business account. I’ve never done that before, and it’s useful, especially in this time when everyone’s on their phones and on the Internet, on Instagram.
I want to get more personal with the relationship between our fans and us in the band. On our main Instagram, it’s a lot of announcing when dates are and stuff, but they don’t really know us. I want to, through Instagram and posting things, make it funny, casual and personal, so our fans and customers can relate to us. Specifically, with my next video - I recorded you guys saying “Brass Mash” five times in a row - It’s pretty funny. Just small things like that, trying to make it friendly and casual. It already is live, but there’s a lot more where that came from.
Do you have any other projects or works in progress to share?
I have a recital May 21st, which I’m excited for. Also, I’m in a music technology class and we’re all working towards this big performance at the end of the quarter. It’ll be in the PAC. Each of us have to make a 5-10 minute piece using technology or instruments. The theme is “memory.” I’m making a song about all of my memories. I’m looking forward to it - we have to curate the stage, the lighting, there are going to be dancers that choreograph around the music we make. That’s May 31st, and I’m really excited for it.
