Jake Klar | Songwriting, Self-Criticism, and Intuition

Mentally Flexible

Welcome to a special episode of Mentally Flexible with one of my favorite songwriters, Jake Klar.

Have you ever had a song or album become the soundtrack to an important period of your life? That’s exactly what happened to me with Jake Klar's music. It was 2015 and I had just graduated from college. With no idea of what was to come next in life, I loaded up my bike with some clothes and camping gear and started peddling north from Central CT. 300 miles and several baby wipe showers later, I made it to Burlington, VT. My first stop at then end of the day was usually a local bar with good beer and food which I could consume guiltlessly after burning more calories that day than I did in a typical week of normal life. The place I ended up that night was called Radio Bean, and to my pleasant surprise there was live music. This was different than your average bar performance (I would know because I would consider myself an average bar performer). This guy was something special. The songs instantly connected with me in a deeper place. That musician was Jake Klar, and he is is my guest today. For the remainder of my bike trip up through Canada, Jake’s music became the soundtrack of this transformative life experience. I have since continued to follow Jake’s inspiring development as an artist, and knew that I had to have him on as a guest for the podcast.
In this episode we explore a range of topics include:
- How music can bring you back into emotions and experiences from the past
- Jake’s process of letting go of certain dreams
- The role of self-criticism in the artistic process
- How suffering can be used to fuel songwriting
- The inevitable feeling of Imposter Syndrome that comes as an artist
- And how spirituality is connected to trusting our intuition
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Intro song: Crescent St. Blues by Jake Klar

Outro song: Rosy by Jake Klar

Find all of Jake’s music..

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0rcb7huZfHcu9UTeF1uHD6?si=gFwA-PCGQxqyJ-05v6QxZg

Bandcamp: https://www.jakeklar.com/music

Masquerade EP: https://jakeklar.bandcamp.com/album/masquerade - All proceeds of this EP will be donated to G.L.I.T.S. which is a grassroots organization dedicated to providing care and resources for the LGBTQ+ community on a global scale. The organization is currently using funds to provide housing for Black trans people. Visit their website for more info about what they’ve done and what else they are currently working on.

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