Jacob Interview + EP Feature | celltowers
Finding footing, the car as a muse, and makeshift wardrobe vocal takes
Before heading on a short East coast tour Jacob from celltowers joins Tempo to talk about their latest EP hi-speed hi-five. After moving from NZ he found a crew of happy, passionate people to join him who happened to just appear right in front of his eyes.
Hello Jacob, Firstly, congratulations on the latest EP, hi-speed hi-five which sees you sonically entering new terrain with your dynamic and hooky sounds across the four dreamy tracks. How does it feel to have it out?
Thank you! It’s so good to have it out. We’ve been playing these songs live for a while so it’s nice for those who have seen a couple of shows to hear the official high fidelity versions.
I always get this feeling after an EP release of “what’s next” and it’s equal parts exciting and daunting. We have a couple finished songs and a couple in the works so whatever is ‘next’ is well on its way.
hi-speed hi-five sits in the realm of post-punk, shoegaze and indie-rock switching pace between tight upbeat grooves to more spacious and immersive moments which is a nice balance and keeps you guessing. Can you tell us about who your main influences were when you wrote the EP?
I always write with a few influences in mind and it never seems to come out that way.
One influence I always come back to is King Krule. I just adore the atmosphere he builds, whether it be with his voice, synths or chord sequences, just an absolute gun of vibe-setting. I think a lot of mush and transmitter were influenced by them.
lite blu was inspired by in u from our last EP, I really loved that more poppy kind of songwriting.
Sometimes when writing, I fall into a sort of automatic mood where I feel like I need to write deep and dark lyrics and get all angsty because the genre calls for that a lot of the time.
But with lite blu I just wrote what I thought were bullshit lyrics about my car, and it actually ended up pretty cool.
lizard of leisure was inspired by west and Viagra Boys. When I feel like I’ve got something gritty to say, that’s the default sound I go to. I think the more drivey songs with spoken vocals allow for a lot of lyrical freedom.
And as a whole, I think influences can be quite subconscious. Growing up in NZ, I sometimes see a lot of influence in my music after the fact when listening back to kiwi artists. Sometimes I hear bits of Split Enz come through, sometimes a bit of The Clean. It’s really cool! I think there’s a real sound that comes from the underdog aspect of Kiwi made music that ties it all together.
You have only been around for a short time entering the scene here mid last year on the back of your last EP foggy and have created some nice buzz from the live shows. Being from NZ originally how have you found navigating the scene in Melb/Naarm so far?
It is honestly crazy that it’s only been a year. We talked about it as a band the other day, our first performance was June 2025. Time has flown.
The Naarm scene is amazing. I’ve never been in a community that is so welcoming and supportive. I think it’s all thanks to the amount of local passionate people that care about music and arts. All the community radio stations, blogs, concert goers, It’s mind blowing and I often look back at times before coming here and feel very grateful to be accepted into it so warmly.
I remember when I first moved here, discovering Triple R and PBS. It was like this new treasure trove. I’d hear all these bands playing on shows like Homebrew and Local and/or General, and be in awe of it all.
One of the first interviews I heard was with The Belair Lip Bombs, right after they released their first album. I can’t remember who was interviewing them, but I instantly fell in love with their music, and after talking to a friend, finding out that Maisie was once in Clamm and how everything in the scene is so intertwined. And seeing them get big from within the scene was such a big moment. It’s something that always felt so hard in small town NZ, and I think the amount of different angles you can take here is huge, it’s very inspiring.
From what I understand the band came together mostly through finding like-minded musicians at your workplace. Can you tell us more about that?
Yeah, It took me a year or so to find my footing here and feel comfortable with starting to write music again. Once I started looking for a band, It all just appeared right in front of my eyes.
Christian is an Engineer at the company I worked at, and at the time, was already playing bass and drums in two other bands. So I asked if he wanted to jam out a couple of original songs I had made (in u and west). At the time we had another bassist (also from the company) and Bryce who was an electrician was keen to sit in and try to play along on his guitar. Bryce had only played guitar at high school a couple of times. The bassist ended up having to leave, so we asked Bryce to play bass. He had never played bass before, but was keen.
And after our first gig, Joe (who is a casual metal worker), was keen to jam some guitar and synth.
It all kind of just fell together like that. Christian and I were the only players on their main instruments, the other two were just passionate enough to learn and make it work.
Every band I’ve been in, I’ve preferred passionate people over experienced players. I think there’s a real innocence that comes with learning. And that in itself contributes to the sound we make.
I was a fairly new guitarist when I joined my first band, and would always get told “no that’s not right” from trained musicians, when everyone else in the room disagreed. It creates a very bitter, judgemental environment, and songwriting doesn’t exist in a place like that. So having a good crew of happy, passionate people is super important to me.
In terms of the recording of hi-speed hi-five. Can you tell us a bit about the set-up, where you record and if you are the main driving force to get the sound you are making or do you have others involved?
This project was recorded very similarly to how we recorded foggy. We are all full-time working people, who don’t have a big budget to spend on recording studios and gear (as much as we’d love to). So we try to make our budget recording situation a part of our sound.
We start with drums, which Christian records in his friends parents garage out in the western suburbs. Our mate Ben studied music production and helps with that. Then it gets sent back to the drive, and I put it all together for Bryce to record bass. He does bass at his house, DI’d into his focusrite. Then again, back to the drive, where I put it all together. Then I lay out all the guitar and synth parts at home in my apartment. That’s all done very quietly, so usually DI as well.
Lastly, I do vocals in my wardrobe. I don’t have anything to clip the microphone to, so I tape it up around a post and I’ve stitched a sock to a coat hanger, which I use for a pop filter.
We’re currently making plans to record the next project at a proper studio, but for now, we just make it work!
The difference with the EP was getting George Inglis to mix and master. He has honestly done such an amazing job. A lot of the little flairs and fun delays were added by him. He understood the sound so well and the final product was something that we are all super stoked with.
To celebrate the release of your EP you are going on a mini tour starting in Melbourne at The Tote upstairs with Henry Toast, Opera and The Mundaynes, then heading Sydney and Brisbane after that. The focus gig for me is your hometown show at The Tote on Friday June 26th, and I would love to know your connection to the venue and the supports?
So exciting!
When I first moved to Melbourne, our rental was on Stanley St, Collingwood, Just around the corner from The Tote. At the same time, The Last Chance to Save The Tote campaign was going on, so I learnt very quickly about the importance of this venue. I have always wanted to play a show there and since then we’ve played opening slots upstairs and in the front bar. The crowd it attracts is so passionate and friendly, we’ve had lots of good feedback from punters there, and overall, I love what they stand for. Such a special venue.
The supports are bands that I just love the sounds they’re making and the ways they go about it. Opera make some great art-rock, and their music has big highs and melancholic lows. Henry Toast are fairly new, and I found them when I heard them doing a cover of Cobra by Geese, super cool, love Geese.
The Mundaynes are our favourite band in the scene right now. We were lucky enough to open for them at their Nighthawks residency earlier this year. I was super crook and we got hit up the morning of because one of the acts had pulled out (due to also being sick). So I locked in and had lots of codral and lemsips because we all really wanted to play. They’re super cool people and we’re beyond excited to have them on the bill.
Finally, who are your favourite local Melb/Naarm bands right now and who would you like to see interviewed for Tempo?
As I said before, The Mundaynes.
I’m really enjoying Stockings, and their self-titled EP. Some amazing indie rock coming out of those folks.
Also Fairtrade Narcotics new album, It’s great, lots of lovely sonics happening there. I want to see them on one of KEXPs live sets cause I think they’d kill it.
And finally My Dog, Satellite, they just ooze cool, and their music backs it up
CELLTOWERS 2026 WINTER TOUR DATES
Friday June 26th | Melbourne - Tote Upstairs
Supports from: Henry Toast, Girl Kitchen, Fisheye
Friday July 3rd | Sydney - Lazy Thinking
Supports from: Textile Ranch, TRACT, As of Now
Friday July 10th | Brisbane - Season Three
Supports from: Ancient Channels, The Bykes
