Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacob Jones.
Hi Jacob, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Well without going too much into detail let’s just say I had a dark childhood, and I needed regular escapes from it all. So naturally as a young rebellious boy I took to any kind f art I could find. Weather it be music (I play guitar, bass, drums). I was also a dj for a while and a tattoo artist at a local shop. paint, cologe, skateboarding etc. pretty much anything edgy I just had to find out. That spawned a lot of creativity but also brought my demons out. “Distraction leads to a very hard road, but it also breads creation” RHCP. I like so many different styles of everything I never seemed to really fit in with any particular crowd. Not to say I didn’t have friends, I was linked in one way or another to all of the cliques. But I spent most of my time alone creating. Creating anything! I would play the guitar until I had to use super glue on my fingertips just so I could continue. Yeah, I had a lot to want to escape from but my mind was the worst place to be for me. Even when I was by alone I would be doing anything I could to distract myself from the horrors of reality. No matter how dark things got I just couldn’t give up, my curiosity wouldn’t allow it. Always too curious about what tomorrow could potentially bring. I’ve been surprised, disappointed, overwhelmed, completely elated and everything between. So I use my art as my safe space. My hiding spot. It’s both good and bad really but I could be and have done way worse things to fill my time than paint skateboards. Even if I do get a bit obsessive it’s better than alternative obsessions. I’d be glad to get more in depth with you if you’d like. Just lmk.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Loaded question. Well my father got sent to prison for shaking my step sister to death while B he was completely inebriated. He did 15 years for it and was taken when I was 4-5 years old. That was a struggle. But he would do cool shit like send me guitars and drum machines from prison. That’s how the music got started. My family has a few High profile criminal cases that kinda shaped how people viewed me as a child, adolescent and adulthood. It’s crazy but none of them really had a clue who I was. Neither did I.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Well my work history is kinda crazy and sporadic. I’ve been a cook, a dj, a tattoo artist, a landscaper, a hardscape, a can run heavy machinery like front loaders and excavators and that’s something I never thought I would do. That’s all kind of a “man’s man” type of job and I was never really a man’s man, if you will. I was sensitive and emotional but also I was absolutely terrifying when I felt scorned. Even I was afraid of me. I spent most of my childhood and adolescents bouncing around from foster home to foster home, boot camp and juvenile residential treatment centers. I was adopted by my middle school sweethearts mother who just could stand watching me waste away in the home life I had. My house was insane. Parties Every night and anybody who was anybody (at least in the rejects from hell) was there. All the kids in town that would get kicked out would eventually live at my family’s house. I would stay up all night because usually around 2-3 am I could finally be at peace alone in my room playing guitar with headphones or swan diving into a sketchbook.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
No, I was never really a self help kind of person. It was mostly self destructive to be honest. Up until a few years ago. I got arrested for an illegally obtained firearm. Besides my juvenile rap sheet my adult profile was filling up rather quickly as well. This was my third felony and I thought I was going away for about 5-7 years. At the time I had a considerably extensive drug addiction. And I wrote the prosecution and two judges letters explaining that I’m a different person when I’m not on drugs and they decided to give me ONE MORE CHANCE! I spent 4 months in jail, 3 moths in rehab, 3 months in a 2/3 step down house and two years on an extremely difficult program that most people don’t complete called drug court. Not only did I stay clean and sober and complete the 2 year program, I did it without one failed drop, without one violation and without missing a class, therapy session or payment. BY THE GRACE OF god/ the universe or whoever. Now newly clean and sober I needed something to fill my time and a way to make money so I tattooed and startedbpaintiong and selling skateboards. After a year and a half and around at least 75 hand painted decks we decided to get our LLC D34D 1N51D3. And that’s what we do now.
Pricing:
- $200-$250 pr custom hand painted decks. We do completely customized decks.
- We also have D34D 1N51D3 sweat suits for $120
- We do wooden signs as well. Prices vary.
Contact Info:
- Email: Deadinsideboards@gmail.com
- Facebook: Jacob jabs and Leanne Slaughter
