Parker Jacobs

Parker Jacobs
Background information
Also known as	The Professor, Parka AKA
Born	(1975-07-17) July 17, 1975 Ogden, Utah, United States
Instruments	Vocals, ukulele
Years active	1982–present
Associated acts	GOGO13, The Aquabats

Parker LeGrand Jacobs (born July 17, 1975) is an American artist, musician and former child actor. He is known for his work as an art director on the children's television series Yo Gabba Gabba!, for which he has been nominated for four Daytime Emmy Awards, as well as for his involvement with the Californian bands GOGO13 and The Aquabats.^[1][2]

Biography

Parker LeGrand Jacobs was born in Ogden, Utah in 1975, the third child born into a Mormon family. His middle name is in honor of his great-grandfather, prominent Latter-day Saint leader LeGrand Richards.^[3] Following his family's relocation to California in 1976, Jacobs - like his older siblings Christian and Rachel and younger brother Tyler - worked as a child actor, appearing in numerous commercials and television shows in his preadolescence.^[1][4] His most notable acting work included a starring role on the sitcom The Cavanaughs, in which he appeared in every episode during the series' run from 1986-1989, and as the recurring character "Purdle the Turtle" on The Wonder Years.^[5] Jacobs retired from show business in 1991, and shortly thereafter moved from California to St. George, Utah with family members.^[6]

In 1994, Jacobs left St. George in order to serve his mission for the LDS Church, spending two years in West Virginia.^[3] Upon his return, he moved to California and became involved with his brother Christian's then-up-and-coming band The Aquabats, providing artwork for their logos, albums and merchandise, as well as contributing lyrics, various creative ideas and running their fan club.^[5][7][8] Most visibly, however, Jacobs played the role of "The Professor" in The Aquabats' music videos and stage shows, taking part in the band's onstage skits and occasionally supplying backing vocals.^[7] He was also the lead vocalist for The Sandfleas, The Aquabats' costumed surf-punk side project, and recorded an EP with them in 1999. Jacobs retired from The Aquabats in the early 2000s, though sporadically continues to design posters and merchandise for the band.

Jacobs joined Paul Frank Industries as an artist and graphic designer in 2000, eventually earning the title of Senior Design Director.^[9] In addition to designing the company's products, Jacobs was notable for writing and illustrating the company's very first children's book, Only In Dreams: A Bedtime Story, featuring the Paul Frank mascot Julius the Monkey.^[9][10] In 2005, he briefly worked with Josh Agel, the artist better known as Shag, to help develop a clothing line which never came to fruition.^[1]

That same year, Jacobs helped contribute art design for an independently-filmed pilot called Yo Gabba Gabba!, a children's television series being developed by his brother Christian and his creative partner Scott Schultz. In 2007, the series was picked up by Viacom's Nick Jr. channel, prompting Jacobs to leave his job at Paul Frank to work full-time on the show.^[11] His various titles on Yo Gabba Gabba! have included character design, animation direction, set design, color styling, writing, composing, voiceovers, art direction and costume design, the latter two of which earned him three nominations for a Daytime Emmy Award. In the September 22, 2008 episode "Birthdays", Jacobs made an on-camera appearance in the "Cool Tricks" segment, showcasing his affinity for baking birthday cakes.^[12]

Jacobs serves as a "creative consultant" on The Aquabats' television series The Aquabats! Super Show!, contributing ideas and bits of writing to each episode between his work as art director on Yo Gabba Gabba!.^[1] In 2012, Jacobs, alongside Christian Jacobs and Jon Berrett, created The Goon Holler Guidebook, a children's book about a Bigfoot and a wizard. Jacobs has expressed plans to pitch Goon Holler as a television series.^[1][5]

Jacobs lives in Huntington Beach, California, and has two daughters and four stepsons. Since 2008, Jacobs has posted a drawing every day on his website in a feature he calls "Daily Doodles".^[1][5]

GOGO13

GOGO13
GOGO13 in San Francisco in 2011.
Background information
Origin	St. George, Utah Huntington Beach, California
Genres	Ska
Years active	1993-1994, 2001-present
Labels	Horchata, Free Agent
Associated acts	The Aquabats, The Soulutions, Attaboy Skip
Website	www.gogo13.com

1993-1994: original incarnation

While living in St. George, Jacobs and his brother Tyler formed the ska band GOGO13, in which Parker acted as co-vocalist, songwriter and occasional ukulele player.^[6][8] Started in late 1993, GOGO13 were billed as Southern Utah's first ska band, helping build a flourishing ska scene in Utah during the first half of the 1990s alongside such bands as Swim Herschel Swim, Stretch Armstrong and Model Citizen.^[13] Musically, GOGO13 were heavily influenced by 2 Tone and Mod bands like Madness and Bad Manners, incorporating similarly irreverent humor; deriving their name from the Japanese spy comic Golgo 13, the band adopted a spy-themed aesthetic which manifested itself in such stage theatrics as cap gun fights.

The first incarnation of GOGO13 lasted for less than a year, up until several factors - including Tyler Jacobs' relocation to Northern Utah and the impending missions of Parker Jacobs and co-vocalist Dustin "Skip" Blad - prompted an early disbandment. The band played their final shows in September 1994 with Reel Big Fish and Mealticket, concluding with a performance on a tennis court which ended with Parker Jacobs humorously firing each of the band members.^[14] Prior to their break-up, GOGO13 recorded a seven-track EP, Toy Guns & Pixy Stix, which was ultimately never released due to the band's dissatisfaction with the production, though two of its tracks, "Idiot Box" and "Espionage", would later be released on The Aquabats' Horchata Records sampler compilation Rice Capades in 2000.

2001-present: second incarnation

In 2001, a Jacobs-fronted version of GOGO13 reunited for a one-off show in Orange County promoting the release of Rice Capades. The following year, the band decided to officially reunite, spending several years playing sporadic shows throughout Southern California and recording numerous demos despite a frequently rotating line-up. While the band primarily play smaller ska shows, GOGO13 have performed to wider audiences as a regular opening act for The Aquabats and such 1990s ska bands as Five Iron Frenzy and My Superhero, as part of the 2010 and 2012 Warped Tour and at the 2013 Orange County Music Awards.^[8][15] Parker Jacobs was also interviewed for the 2008 film The Up Beat, a documentary chronicling the Utah ska scene of the 1990s.

GOGO13 may be currently best known for their musical contributions to Yo Gabba Gabba!, namely the original song "Pick It Up", featuring Alex Désert of Hepcat, which was featured in an animated short designed by Jacobs. The short won the award for "Excellence in Humor" at the 2008 ASIFA-East Animation Festival, while the song remains a staple of GOGO13's live shows, eventually appearing several years later on the Gabba CD Music Is...Awesome!, Vol. 3 soundtrack ("at last", an enthusiastic review on AllMusic wrote).^[16] On April 13, 2012, nearly 20 years after their original formation, GOGO13 independently produced and released their debut studio LP, I Like It!, featuring both new and old songs spanning the band's career. I Like It! was released to positive critical reviews, with the OC Weekly calling GOGO13 "OC's most underrated ska band".^[8]

Line-up

Discography

As musician

As artist

Parker Jacobs has provided cover artwork and/or illustrations for the following albums, not including the albums listed above:^[17][18]

• Mealticket - Misconceptions (1996)
• The Insyderz - Skalleluia! (1998)
• The Insyderz - Skalleluia Too! (1999)
• Digital Unicorn - Theirs Travel Began and Loaded the Dream (2001)
• The Insyderz - The Greatest and Rarest (2001)
• Lederhosen Lucil - Tales from the Pantry (2003)
• The Vandals - Internet Dating Superstuds (2003)
• Josh Wink - When a Banana Was Just a Banana (2009) + Remixed and Repeeled (2010)
• Yo Gabba Gabba! - Music Is...Awesome!, Vol. 3 (2011)
• Yo Gabba Gabba! - Music Is...Awesome!, Vol. 4 (2012)

Filmography

Acting

Production

Accolades

References

External links

• The Parker Jacobs Blog
• Parker Jacobs at the Internet Movie Database
• The Goon Holler Book