Creativity is life for Jake Eisenbeis

Jake Eisenbeis is the lead singer and guitarist for the indie band, Filthy Animals. He has his BFA in graphic design and printmaking from Minnesota State University in Mankato. Filthy Animals’ first album, Music House,was recorded in 2014, and their second album will be released in 2016.

I started playing guitar my freshman year of high school. I bought a guitar at a pawn shop and taught myself how to play. I’ve been playing in different bands since then.

Before Filthy Animals, our band name was The Dirty Birds. When we started playing in the Twin Cities, there was a band called Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, so there was some confusion as to who was who. We chose the name ‘Filthy Animals’ instead to clear up the confusion. Plus, ‘Filthy Animals’ is a better name for us anyway. It seems to click with people.

I enjoy naming things. I like finding titles for songs and albums. Our new record is called Tops is Tops, but I haven’t decided if that is one word or multiple words yet. It’s not supposed to exactly make sense.

I fell into singing later on – before that I was mostly a guitarist. I would always find different singers for our bands because I really didn’t think I had much of a voice. It has been so fulfilling to go from thinking that I couldn’t really sing to being a lead singer in a band now. It took someone else telling me that I could sing to get me started.

When I got my graphic design degree, I wanted to make art for bands and put out good work for people. I do plenty of freelance work now, and I am using my major for something that I truly care about. It is gratifying to be able to do that. I consider myself blessed.

I got a lot talent from both of my parents and a lot of support, too. My dad is a fantastic musician, and my mom is a wonderful artist – a painter.

I think I would shrivel up and die if I couldn’t be creative. There is just a particular satisfaction I get from it. Even if I didn’t have people to listen to my music, I would still write songs. It is an outlet that is active for me, and it keeps my creative mind in shape.

One night we packed two full bands on one stage just to sing one song. We ended up with two or three extra people we’d never even met before showing up on stage with us! These were people that we didn’t invite onstage, but they joined us anyway. They were having such a good time, and we were making people happy, so we took it as a good sign, not a bad one.

I prefer clubs - places that are built for shows, places where I know there will be good sound on stage and for the crowd. I don’t want to worry about what it sounds like out there.

Jake will be performing with Filthy Animals at the 2016 Hambone Music Festival on Friday, July 8 at the History Center of Olmsted County and at EcoFest on Saturday, July 9 at Jonny’s Saloon in Elba. Be sure to check out their website for more performance dates and music .