In the spotlight: a musical double life
Brooke Jackson needs a personal assistant as much as anyone ever has. On what is supposed to be a quiet summer morning, she rushes to her interview straight from another meeting, bringing with her the undeniable energy that usually accompanies her presence, and Marcel, the miniature Chihuahua who usually does not.
Today is not exactly a normal day for Jackson. Marcel has just been to the vet, and therefore gets to spend the day with his owner. Jackson is leaving the next day for a vacation in New York, and she has a new graduate student assistant to train, putting a few extra tasks on her plate for the day. Even so, it’s hard to believe this day will be any busier than her normal schedule.
Next year the Wisconsin Union will host 310 concerts between Memorial Union and Union South. The only thing they all have in common? Brooke Jackson. As the Union’s music program advisor, she’s in charge of every single one of them, from Open Mic nights on the Terrace and Rhythm and Booms night to big headliners like Of Montreal and Janelle Monae.
And that’s just her day job. Outside the Union, Jackson is herself an accomplished vocal musician, performing with various jazz groups, her band Hot Money, and Chicago’s Grant Park Symphony Orchestra. And by the way, she also plays the piano, violin, guitar and trumpet.
Not many people have the talent or passion to live and breathe music day in and day out, much less create two successful (and simultaneous) careers around it. But Jackson’s destiny may have been set before she was even born.
“My mom is a really great singer, so I’ve been singing pretty much my whole life,” Jackson said. “She directed church choirs that I was in and she was big into theater too, so I’ve been singing as long as I can remember. Music was just always a huge part of my life.”
Anyone who’s dreamed of making music for a living will tell you there’s a lot of negativity to manage. Well-meaning adults love to tell budding musicians how tough it is to “make it” in the music business. Jackson was no exception. Though she majored in vocal performance and minored in piano at Simpson College, she found herself working in the real estate industry, partially because of those cautionary tales. But it wasn’t long before the music in her blood pulled her back to school, this time to earn her master’s degree in arts administration at UW Madison.
During her time as a graduate student, Jackson served as production assistant for Chicago’s Pitchfork Music Festival, one of the country’s biggest independent music celebrations, where she earned the hands-on experience she relies on daily at the Union.
“I had a really great position because I got to run around and talk to everybody,” said Jackson of her job at Pitchfork. Her job and experience as a performer at Lollapalooza afforded her the chance to meet many musicians, from all over the industry. “I remember having this thought like ‘I’m not the coolest person I know,’” she said of meeting so many talented artists.
Anyone who’s ever planned an event will tell you: most people don’t realize how much work goes into putting on a single show. For every band that takes the stage, Brooke and the rest of the Union music staff have trudged through several months of detail-work and logistics. There are contracts to sign, venues to prepare, schedules to coordinate and duct tape to be kept on hand.
But there’s a fun part, too. “I dedicate time everyday to reading [music blogs and news sites] to see who’s coming out with albums. Because we’re limited in budget, we have to get bands as they’re rising, just before they break. And then of course, I get to listen to music and just be in the music world.”
It’s a complicated job, but she somehow manages to pull it off. Susan Dibbell, an assistant director at the Wisconsin Union, says Jackson’s contributions to the Union are invaluable. “She brings tremendous knowledge and experience to her position. The students are lucky to be able to work and learn with her—she understands all aspects of the music industry.”
Jackson, who says her own musical influences include REM, Radiohead, and a variety of jazz artists, is finding out there is at least one downside to balancing her double career: you can’t be everywhere at once.
“I’ve had careers before while I’m performing, but the hardest part now is that everything’s happening at the same hours of the day because it’s all entertainment,” Jackson said. “It’s a little disappointing to do all the work and all the promotion, and then if I have a performance that same night I don’t get to see the artist, which is really the reward.”
She may wish she could add more hours to the day, but her ability to make the best with what she has is still a marvel to others.
“I’m always amazed how much Brooke can squeeze into a single day. It’s not uncommon to find her working through lunch so she can get to her choir practice and work out at the SERF so she can be at her best for a gig the next night,” says Brigid Hogan, last year’s WUD Music committee director.
“She has so much energy. After two trips to South by Southwest Music Festival with her and watching her bike from venue to venue from morning to night, I can safely say that she has more energy than any college student I know and an endless capacity to enjoy music in any setting.”
Energy is right. As she sits in her office chair, surrounded by pink walls and pop art posters, her speech runs quickly and bounces from one subject to another, accompanied by the hand motions to match.
She says she could have used some coffee this morning, but it looks like she’s doing just fine on her own.
Check out Brooke Jackson’s band Hot Money playing at the Badger Bowl on June 6th.
By Lydia Statz
