We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jacob Stieneker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jacob, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
Music found me early. At six years old, I was picking out Mozart melodies on my grandmother’s weathered upright piano. In middle school, I joined the percussion section and fell in love with rhythm. Next to the metronome, the drum set became my favorite part of music, the one that felt most like home. I stayed with the band through my freshman year, but reading sheet music never came easily to me. I was always drawn to sound over structure, to what felt right over what was written.
After high school, I began exploring stringed instruments like guitar, mandolin, and banjo. I bought my first guitar at twenty-one and played it for hours every day. That daily practice sparked something deeper. I started writing songs, often with my brothers, and together we began performing live across the tri-state. This gave voice to stories we couldn’t express with words alone.
Soon after, I invested in a MacBook and began producing my own music. I taught myself the art of recording, mixing, and mastering. What started as personal projects grew into collaborations with local talent, including film score for Query Productions and original music by Hometown Gold, Sara Stafford and more. Each project challenged me to grow and brought new depth to my sound. Listening back to my earliest work is bittersweet. Each track a reminder of how far I’ve come and how far I still want to go.
Today, I write and produce under my label, Iron Cross Records, which has its own studio space. I still perform with my brothers in our band, The Peaky Shiners, and also as a solo artist under the name Howlermouth. I wasn’t born with perfect pitch or natural skill, I owe all of what I have to hard work, dedication and my faith. Every day is another step in the journey, another chance to sharpen my craft and tell my story through sound.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
From humble beginnings to a record label, Iron Cross Records has been a lifelong journey. I didn’t realize it at the time, but every step was building toward this. From playing Mozart on my grandmother’s old piano, to singing in the church choir, to drumming in the school band, and eventually learning how to write, record, mix, and master my own music, it all pointed me here.
Iron Cross is more than a studio. It’s a place where stories are told through sound. I’m not just in the business of mixing and mastering. I want to know your story and help you tell it with depth and creativity. Experience is what gives art its power, and I want to use your experiences to create something truly personal and meaningful.
Iron Cross Records offers a full range of services:
• Recording
• Mixing and mastering
• Songwriting
• Music production
• Film scoring
• Live sound engineering
Iron Cross is not just a stop along the way to releasing a song. I take time to understand your ideas, your goals, and your voice, Then together, we bring it all to life through music.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Producing the soundtrack for our film Cold Cross with Query Productions was one of the most demanding and rewarding projects I’ve taken on. Spanning over two years during the height of COVID-19, the process required relentless dedication. I was still composing music up until the final stages of production.
This project stretched me creatively and technically. I had been used to writing my own songs with lyrics and familiar structures, but scoring a film demanded a completely different mindset. Writing instrumental pieces that supported the emotion and pacing of each scene was a new challenge. It taught me how to create music with a precise, visual purpose.
One highlight was writing the original song “God and a Gun” specifically for the film. By that point, I knew the story inside and out, which made it feel deeply personal. The lyrics came naturally and reflected not just the film’s themes but aspects of my own life as well.
Looking back, the experience shaped me as both a musician and a producer. It pushed me to grow quickly and taught me how to serve a story through sound. While it was difficult at times, it remains one of the most meaningful creative journeys I’ve been a part of.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Funding is one of the biggest challenges we face as creatives, especially here in Indiana. Up to now, we’ve managed to get by with limited resources, but working with minimal funding significantly limits both potential and creative freedom. Too often, we’re forced to shape our ideas around what we can personally afford, rather than what could be possible with proper support through grants or creator funds.
This kind of financial constraint stifles innovation across the board. With more funding, we could develop professional, dedicated creative spaces that elevate both quality and output. At the end of the day, you have to spend money to make money, and investing in the creative community is a smart, long-term investment with meaningful returns.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://howlermouth.wixsite.com/howlermouth
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/howlermouth_official/?next=%2F
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jacob.stieneker.2025
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-stieneker-112972156/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Howlermouth
Image Credits
– Dylan Query
– JG Photography