We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jakob Takos. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jakob below.

Jakob, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is the upcoming album Sweet Brews and Heavy Grooves by my band Jakob Takos & The Connection, which will be released on May 6, 2026.

What makes this project meaningful to me is that it represents the natural continuation of something we’ve been building for years. The Connection has always existed around the idea of bringing people together through music not just as a band playing songs, but as a group of musicians who value groove, storytelling, and shared experience. After releasing Sunshine Soul V2 in 2022, we spent the next few years playing shows, refining the sound of the band, and letting the next body of work reveal itself over time.

This record really captures where we are now as a band. The album is intentionally split into two halves “Sweet Brews” and “Heavy Grooves.” The first side leans into the folk and songwriter side of the band, songs that carry a lot of storytelling and melody. The second half opens up into the groove-driven side of The Connection, where the rhythm section really drives the music forward and the band locks into something bigger than any one person.

For me, this album represents something deeper than just releasing new music. It represents staying committed to the process writing, recording, performing, and documenting the journey along the way. As someone who works in photography and film as well as music, I’ve always been interested in capturing the creative process itself, not just the finished result. This record became an opportunity to do that to show how a group of musicians comes together, develops a sound, and creates something that reflects a real moment in time.

At the end of the day, Sweet Brews and Heavy Grooves feels meaningful because it’s honest to who we are right now as a band. It’s a record built around groove, musicianship, and connection the same things that have always been at the heart of The Connection.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Jakob Takos, a musician, songwriter, and creative based in Jupiter, Florida. I lead a band called Jakob Takos & The Connection, where we make music that sits somewhere in the world of Indie Folk Rock with groove-driven rhythm. The goal has always been pretty simple: create music that brings people together.

I picked up the guitar when I was about 10 years old, and from that point on music became the thing I kept coming back to. Over time I realized that what I loved most about it wasn’t just playing songs, it was the ability music has to create a moment between people. A room can change when a band locks into a groove or when a lyric hits someone in the right way. That feeling of shared experience is really what pulled me deeper into songwriting and performing.

As an artist, my work exists in a few different forms. The main project is Jakob Takos & The Connection, which is a band built around collaboration with other musicians. The sound blends indie folk rock, blues, and groove-based rhythm, influenced by artists like Johnny Cash, John Mayer, Tyler Childers, Houndmouth, The Black Keys, and Pinegrove. We focus heavily on live musicianship, storytelling, and rhythm sections that move, because we believe music should feel alive when people hear it.

Alongside the music, I also work professionally in photography, filmmaking, and creative direction, which means a big part of my work is about storytelling in different forms. I’ve always believed music doesn’t exist in a vacuum the visuals, the environment, and the documentation of the creative process all become part of the story. Because of that, our band’s work often blends music, film, photography, and documentary-style storytelling to give people a deeper look into how the art is actually made.

Right now, a big focus for us is our upcoming album Sweet Brews and Heavy Grooves, releasing May 6, 2026. The record represents the next chapter for the band and captures where we are musically today. It’s split into two halves “Sweet Brews,” which leans more into the folk and songwriting side of the band, and “Heavy Grooves,” which opens up into the rhythmic, jam-driven energy that really defines our live performances. It’s a record that reflects both sides of the band: the storytelling and the groove.

What I’m most proud of isn’t just the music itself, but the community that forms around it. The Connection isn’t just a band name it’s a philosophy. The idea is that creativity works best when people bring their own personality and voice into the process. Every musician who plays in the band contributes something unique, and that collaboration is what gives the music its identity.

If there’s one thing I want people to understand about my work, it’s that everything comes back to the same idea I’ve believed in for a long time:

Create to connect.

Whether it’s through a song, a live show, a film, or a photograph, the goal is always the same to make something honest that allows people to feel a little more connected to each other and to the moment they’re in.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

To be honest, we don’t have a huge social media presence if you’re looking at it purely from the perspective of analytics, follower counts, or the numbers game. There are plenty of artists out there who have mastered the algorithm and built massive platforms that way. Our approach has been a little different.

For me, social media has always felt more like a bridge than the main destination. The real work is still happening in the physical world writing songs, rehearsing, recording, playing live shows, and meeting people face to face. What I try to do online is simply share what’s actually happening, rather than creating something separate just for the sake of content.

If we’re working on a record, we show pieces of that. If we’re playing shows, we share those moments. If we’re in the studio or documenting the creative process, that becomes part of the story too. I’ve always believed that if you stay authentic to what you’re already doing creatively, social media becomes a way to connect the core of your work to the broader public, whether that’s through a song, a video, a photo, or a conversation.

At the same time, I think it’s really important not to rely on social media alone. Some of the most meaningful growth happens when you’re out in the real world playing live, collaborating with other artists, showing up at events, doing interviews, and just being part of a creative community. When people see that engagement happening both online and offline, it naturally starts to build something deeper than just followers.

What you end up cultivating isn’t just an audience it’s a community, and that’s really what our band name represents. Jakob Takos & The Connection has always been about the idea that music brings people together, both on and off the stage.

Right now we’re excited to keep building that community as we get ready to release our new album Sweet Brews and Heavy Grooves on May 6, 2026. Like everything else we’ve done, the goal isn’t just to post about it online it’s to share the process, play the songs live, and invite people into the experience.

Have you ever had to pivot?

One pivot that really stands out in my career happened over the last few years while working on our upcoming record Sweet Brews and Heavy Grooves with my band Jakob Takos & The Connection.

For a long time we were doing what most independent bands do playing shows, writing songs, recording here and there, and putting music out when it felt ready. But after our last release, Sunshine Soul V2 in 2022, I realized we were at a point where we needed to make a decision. We could keep moving quickly and releasing songs as they came, or we could slow down and really focus on creating a record that had depth, intention, and a clear story behind it.

That meant shifting priorities. Instead of saying yes to every show or every opportunity, we had to carve out real time to sit with the music, refine it, and understand what this next record was actually about. The pivot wasn’t about changing direction it was about going deeper.

When I look at the evolution of the band’s music, it really reflects different phases of life. The first Sunshine Soul EP was very much about internal emotions personal thoughts, uncertainty, and trying to understand myself through songwriting. The second project explored more of the external world, how relationships and the environment around you shape who you are.

With Sweet Brews and Heavy Grooves, this new record feels like the result of a few more years of maturity and perspective. It’s less about reacting to emotions and more about understanding where you are and embracing it. The band’s sound also really came into focus during this process. We leaned into what makes The Connection special groove, live musicianship, and songs that feel alive when the band locks in together.

A huge part of that came from the core group that shaped this record: Ricky Bolufe, Marco Olortegui, and Royal Hayes, along with the many talented musicians who contributed their voices and energy to the project. We were also fortunate to collaborate with artists like Joey Calderaio, Zanne Hanna, and Mike Guido, who all brought something unique to the sound of the album.

Looking back, the pivot was realizing that sometimes the most important thing you can do creatively is slow down long enough to make something meaningful. Instead of rushing to release music, we chose to build a body of work that reflects a real period of time in our lives as musicians and as people.

That’s what Sweet Brews and Heavy Grooves, releasing May 6, 2026, represents for us not just a collection of songs, but a record that captures the growth of the band and the relationships that make The Connection what it is.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://instagram.com/jakobtakosandtheconnection
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/jakobtakosandtheconnection
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JakobTakosandTheConnection/
• Linkedin: https://www.facebook.com/JakobTakosandTheConnection/
• Twitter: instagram.com/jakobtakosandtheconnection
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wP_rfCa7lg
• Yelp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuU5Xac37Fo
• Soundcloud: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4xuVEGpNBty6JKNmP2aHWY

Image Credits

@ geomediaco
@ jaycreatedthis
@ lithium