Top Ten With Christian Jacobs of The Aquabats

Welcome to Top Ten With…, a fun Q&A session where you’ll get to learn all about the music scene’s hottest artists! Today’s featured artist is Christian Jacobs, also known as The MC Bat Commander of legendary ska-rock band The Aquabats. The band recently took a page out of The Monkees’ playbook with their hit TV program, The Aquabats! Super Show!, which was recently nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children’s Series; parents will also be very familiar with Jacob’s work as creator of Nick Jr.’s Yo Gabba Gabba!. Get to know more about this rock star and children’s TV innovator through our exclusive interview!

Top Ten With Christian Jacobs

I’m inspired by:

A lot of things! Wow… Uh… My kids! They make me want to be a better Dad and a better human.
I’m also inspired by real life heroes who would want to remain anonymous.. I.E do gooders of good deeds etc. People that do rad stuff just to do rad stuff..
not for recognition or accolades or money but because they want to do rad stuff… Ha! ‘RAD!’

I realized I wanted to play music when:

In 9th grade (1986!!) all of my best-est punker skater buddies started a band… and practiced at my house!! I wanted to be the singer SO badly but my buddy Tim had saved up and bought a mic so he was the singer. I was like the roadie/’guy with a garage to practice in’ so I helped and stood behind the drums at house parties and stuff. I wanted to get up there and go nuts SO bad.

Then one weekend we all took the bus from the valley to see Bad Brains in Long Beach and they blew my mind! I saw H.R. going nuts and people going ape.. crackers… Then H.R. does a backflip in the middle of a song and keeps singing!! Bananas! Then they’d hit the breaks and play DUB Reggae and everyone would just instantly get mellow and dance! HA! Skinheads, punks, hardcore dudes, Dreads, gangsters all like united, dancing together awkwardly… to Dub Reggae!! and then… BOOM! Explosion!! Back to 1000 miles an hour hardcore!! It was like … “wowee, I gotta do that somehow!”

Then the PIXIES landed on Earth… and… uh… time stood still.

Four songs you might find on my iPod:

Oh man, I wish I could list my top 4..hundred.. but I guess I’ll have to just shuffle my iPod and see what we get… ok..

‘Only a Fool Would Say That’ by Steely Dan

‘Det Snurrar I Min Skalle’ by Familjen

‘Little Friend’ by Minor Threat

‘Symphony #9, Ode to Joy’ from this dude… Beethoven!!

‘E=Mc2’ from Big Audio Dynamite

‘Do Nothing’ a ‘SPECIALS’ cover by Frank Black and the Catholics!!!

oops.. that was 6!! Sorry that shuffle was so compelling!!

One word I would use to describe myself:

Super-dude-super-champion! HAHA!

( I mean that in the way that I like to champion stuff .. not that I win a lot! )

The best part of being a musician is:

um… well.. I guess the best part is I just never feel like a musician.. I feel like I’m an actor!
Pretending to be a musician!! HA!

Right now, I’m most excited about:

A couple of new projects I’ve been working on with Mr. Gerard Way, Mark Mothersbaugh and our buddy Jason deViliers…
…and uh…. playing soccer! haha! Ok I am SO lame! I haven’t surfed for 3 months cuz I’ve been playing in a co-ed soccer league with my wife.
and its been SUPER FUN!! hah!

Something most people don’t know about me is:

I suck at soccer…
I played golf once and hated it.
I’ve never dunked a basketball.
I met Steven Spielberg on an audition to play the kid in POLTERGEIST. I didn’t get the part.
I used to do ‘360 Boneless Ones’ really high off Jump Ramps.
I once told Neil Blender that when he got to know me better he wouldn’t like me anymore. One day, months later, he reminded me that I’d said that to him and then he said ‘ well… today’s the day… i don’t like you anymore, so don’t come back to my house.’ So I left!! haha! SO RAD!
I’m legally blind in my left eye and farsighted in my ‘good’ eye!
I am left handed but throw a ball with my right hand.
When I was 17, I watched Jason Lee ollie over one of Frank Zappa’s trash cans while Mr. Frank looked on approvingly.
I don’t have a Facebook account!!
I have NEVER TWEETED!! (there….I WIN!!!)

One of my happiest moments was:

When my daughter was 3 (she is 13 now! UGH!), she LOVED horses and ponies (duh). Anyway, this movie ‘SPIRIT:Stallion of the Cimarron” came out and it was like the first movie we took her to.
She didn’t really know what was going on at first but then the ‘Horsie’ movie started and she was SO happy… like pure joy! She kept pointing to the screen, smiling and sighing, laughin’ and grinning. Well.
My wife and I were just watching her be SO happy and we just started crying in the middle of the movie theatre. Other people were ‘shushing’ us.. cuz we were crying, then laughing at ourselves crying and sniffling all loud and whatnot. Anyway it was super tearjerker happiness. Since then, there’s been a TON of mad joy related to my wife and kids. You know. Whenever I still hear any of my children belly laugh .. like really uncontrollable laughing at something… “Americas Funniest Home Videos” (HA!) or whatever… It’s like super happy tear up time for old sappy Dad here.

My music is:

Um.. I want to say my music is ‘r******d’ but everyone hates that word these days. Forgive me world.
Let’s say ‘my’ music is …collaboratively self-aware, sarcastic and poignantly contrary to what is expected or intended.

In ten years, I see myself:

Living in a bunker, with super long hair and a “Duck Dynasty” beard hiding out on a ton of freeze-dried food, fighting off hoards of football pad-wearing, mohawk-sporting nomads over what’s left of my families’ gasoline supply….

OR… sliding down a rainbow on a Day-Glo surfboard into a swimming pool full of Dippin’Dots while listening to ‘Hooked On Dub-step Classics’. One or the other probably.

Bonus eleventh question submitted by a Contest Corner reader & Aquabats super-fan: Why are you so Super Rad, and can I eat pizza with you on Fridays?

Well.. . The term super rad is a very sarcastic term that I actually have no explanation for … If I am any kind of ‘Rad’ it totally has to do with the 80’s.

AND… you can eat pizza with me anytime super dude!! I like Cheese on MY pizza…. HA!

There’s a story behind question number 11. One of my family members is a huge Aquabats fan, so in 2006 we went to one of their concerts in Portland. She was wearing a plastic tiara as part of her concert outfit, and during the show she handed it to MC Bat Commander onstage, who donned the crown while performing and then handed it back to her. We snapped this photo during the concert to commemorate the epic moment – it was a really fun show! So naturally, when I was preparing this interview I had to consult with her to find out what question she’d like to add!

Season two of The Aquabats! Super Show! will premiere on June 1st on the Hub Network. This season will include an episode written & directed by Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance and guest appearances from pro skater Tony Hawk and Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh. You’ll be also able to pick up a copy of season one on DVD next week, and if you want to catch the band in person, they’ll be playing a show at The House of Blues for San Diego Comic-Con on July 18th, so get your tiaras ready! For more info, visit TheAquabats.com.