Interview: Jakob

Last week, post-rock band Jakob were announced as the 2015 winners of the esteemed Taite Music Prize for their avidly awaited fourth album, Sines. The award, which was established in 2009 and comes with a $10,000 cash prize along with free recording time, aims to acknowledge originality, creativity, and musicianship for a collection of music contained within one album.

Formed in 1998 by Jeff Boyle (guitar), Maurice Beckett (bass) and Jason Johnston (drums), Jakob has carved out a reputation over the years for their driven, intensely emotive, haunting yet loud dreamscapes of shimmering sound. Music an aurora might make, if an aurora could be heard. Following Solace which came out in 2006, Sines was a long time in the making – a gruelling journey of bad timing, bad luck, serious hand injuries, their label shutting up shop, recording delays and equipment failure meant Sines seemed destined to not happen at all. So it is a fitting conclusion that the record has rewarded Jakob’s sheer determination and tenacity to complete it by earning the Taite Prize.

Having just completed a handful of New Zealand shows, the Napier-based group are now heading on their highly-anticipated tour of UK and Europe. But prior to flying out, guitarist Jeff Boyle made the time for a quick chat after their stellar Auckland show to talk about winning prizes, skipping language barriers and coming in from the cold...

Click here to read the interview, and stream Sines in full  below...