Jacob Oswald

Age: 23
Instrument: Guitar
Song or Artist Who Inspired You to Become a Musician: Coldplay, Onerepublic, and John Mayer — I don’t really play his kind of style, but I grew up playing his stuff and love what he does. Learning his songs challenges me.
On Being in a Band With Your Brothers: I’ve played with other people, and I can’t imagine being in a band with somebody other than my brothers. They’ve always got my back, and I’ve always got theirs. 
Favorite Song to Play Live: “Alright” is another new song that’s not really out yet. We have a ton of these gigantic balloons that we throw up and everyone tosses them around.
(Zach: It’s one of those things I implemented from Coldplay.) 
Favorite Performance You’ve Ever Had: We had a show in this big tent somewhere in Ohio. It was super vibey and everyone was into it. We walked out onto this runway that they had to be in the midst of the audience.
(Nich: Every time the CO₂ cannon went off, it would fill the entire tent for 30 seconds at a time. Zach was thanking everyone for coming out and we couldn’t even see our hands in front of our faces.)
Favorite Performance You’ve Ever Seen: Ryan Tedder and Onerepublic are incredible. He puts in such an engaging show. I found myself just watching him because he’s just so cool. It’s like he owns the stage.
Guilty Pleasure: I’m a nerd — I’ll admit it. I love Lord of the Rings and everything Medieval. I’m an archer — I shoot a recurve bow and I got that from LOTR. 

See more intimate photos of your favorite bands by visiting our Portraits page.