Name: Robyn Jacob
Nationality: Canadian
Occupation: Pianist, singer, composer, educator
Current release: Robyn Jacob's new album New Forevers is out via Redshift.
Hometown Recommendations: Spend some time in the forest and at the edge of the tide! (Vancouver BC) 

If you enjoyed this Robyn Jacob interview and would like to know more about her music, visit her official homepage. She is also on Instagram, and Facebook. 



Are there examples of minimalism in music – and outside of music - that impressed you early on?

Early on in my musical studies I was introduced to American Minimalism and was immediately in love.

I found that it was able to straddle between the concert music realm and the pop realm so well, which really drew me in.

Were you ever interested in minimalism as a style – from the Philip-Glass-variety to solo instrumental work to minimal techno? If so, tell me a bit about your interest in this.

Yes, as above. Also, my friends and I, close to the end of high school and a few years after that, played in a little “jam band” that was all improvised music, and very minimal, a touch of prog. 

Nothing that I would make anyone else listen to though! :)

Do you tend to find that, as many claim, “less is more?” Are the notes you don’t play really as important as the ones you do play? 

In many cases I think this can be true, however it depends on the goals of the piece. Sometimes more is more! 

That said, though not directly related to minimalism as such, I do appreciate a good “weeding” or editing process in the composition process. 

Less can be more. I’d say “just enough” is often the “morest.”

Do you feel as that making music is a process of adding elements until it is done – or one where you chisel away pieces from something that is already there?

Process is generally very important to me. 

I try to weave the process up with the thematic explorations of the music itself. Sometimes this may involve carving something out of something else, or it may involve balancing one thing on top of another etc. 

I don’t want to say “it depends” for all these questions, but often, that’s where I’m headed.

Many artists are becoming more minimalist in their music as the years go on, focusing on the “essence.” How is that for yourself and how would you describe your development in this regard?

I think often this can become a crutch. 

Perhaps if someone doesn’t have more to say, they can just hang on to repeating what they’ve already started saying. I find this a bit lazy. Though of course not all “minimal” music is doing this. 

I think if there is a reason to stay grounded in something for a while, get lost in its repetition, and you can rationalize it, that’s the direction to go. But if there just isn’t enough to say, then it may be more of a trend than anything.

What were some of the starting points for your most recent release?

Third Coast Percussion’s Currents Creative Partnership definitely started my writing concert music for percussion, which opened up a vast world. 

I became a bit obsessed!

[Read our Third Coast Percussion interview]

How did a minimalist mindset possibly inform the creative process? Do you like to set yourself limitations? If so, which were some of those limitations for the new pieces?

I love working within limits. (For example, my solo project Immix is songwriting using a vocoder only.) 



Sometimes I think about limitations for pieces as being tools in the composition process, whether that is a limitation in terms of timbre, instrumentation, texture, etc. 

It helps frame what I am working within, so that things don’t end up getting too nebulous.

With so much incredible music instantly available, are you finding that you want to take it all in – or that you need to be more selective? How do you pick the music you really want to invest in?

I think often I pick the music I want to invest in first by experiencing it live. 

At least this is the case in terms of music that I listen to that is made by folks in and around Vancouver and the creative music community here. It’s really very healthy and vibrant. 

I go to a ton of shows, and I probably listen to live music more than canned!

Would you say that minimalism extends into other parts of your life as well?

I have two kids. I wish! 

How do kids have so many toys these days???