Chattanooga Times Free Press - ChattanoogaNow
Jakubi at Nightfall: Five friends making music
Jakubi brings the party to Miller Plaza on Friday night, June 2, when the Melbourne, Australia, quintet headlines Nightfall.
Jakubi is composed of two brothers, two cousins and a friend whose love for producing music brought them together. Brothers Jerome (vocals, keys, talkbox) and Jacob Farah (bass), cousins Jesse Rehaut ( drums, guitar) and Adam Kane ( guitar, keys) and longtime friend Rob Amoruso ( guitar, keys, drums) immediately attracted a growing audience with their swinging, slick, sizzling combination of pop, R&B, hip-hop rock and soul after emerging in 2012.
The guys believe their chemistry stems directly from the family bond.
“It’s such a big part of who we are,” says Kane. “That connection helped smooth the process of touring and making a record halfway around the world from our homes. Being a family keeps us real.”
It all started as a good time when Jacob Farah began hanging out at the Melbourne house that Rehaut and Kane shared. Soon, he invited brother Jerome, while Kane reached out to Amoruso. They would rock all night in an upstairs room, inviting patrons of the bar below to experience their burgeoning magic.
In 2013, they uploaded “Can’t Afford It All” to SoundCloud, and it swept the internet with 500,000plus plays in a month.
A remix of the single by Norwegian musician/DJ/ songwriter Kygo pushed it across the 5-million mark, and Jakubi received an invite to tour with Fish-- Jakubi bone in the United States during early 2014.
As demand for headline shows grew, t he friends returned to North America, where they lit up a New York gig attended by Epic Records chairman L.A. Reid. They left the states signed to the label in 2015.
“I believe our l i ve shows are our strongest point,” says Jerome Farah. “That’s where we’re really at home.”
“Because we started playing house- party style, we feel super comfortable performing,” agrees Amoruso. “For us, it’s about playing in front of people. We’re just five friends making music together. Onstage is where we all come together and the music comes to life.”