Double Portion Interview: SXSW 2010

With soulful voices and a passion for their ministry, 24-year-old twins John Troy Jacobs and James Roy Jacobs are the duo to watch in the contemporary Gospel music industry. As the Austin-based sibs prepare to perform for SXSW crowds in their hometown, they talked to Spinner about their beginnings and what we can expect from them in the future.

Describe your sound.

Contemporary gospel music (with) urban beats and sound.

How did the two of you become a singing duo?

We grew up together and we started singing at 4. At the age of 17, we started recording professionally.

How did you come up with the name Double Portion?

It kind of started with my father being a pastor. We were first called the Sons of Jacob. Double Portion came from the scripture 2 Kings 2:9, about receiving a double portion ... receiving a double (portion) of God's spirit and love, and that's how our name formed (from) that scripture.

What are your musical guilty pleasures?

We like to search YouTube and look for other artists.

What are your must-haves while touring?

Gummi bears! I'm a Mac geek, so I always gotta have my iPhone and MacBook. Always have Arizona Ice Tea, and we've got to have jokes, and we've got to have food.

Describe your writing process.

We believe our writing is very divine. We'll get a piece of song and (work with it) awhile, and the rest of it will come later. We sing what is in us. We take our time, we let it flow, we write it down, but we like to keep it in our memory. So it really gets deep down in our spirit, (and) when we sing it, it connects to the people we are singing to.

What do you like better: touring or recording?

Touring. Recording is long, and it's nothing like touring. When you get to play live music, that's when you can really understand your craft and other people can understand and respect you and your craft. Touring is the best way to go.

What do you do before taking the stage?

Of course, first thing is we pray. I like to jump around and do exercises to loosen up a little bit. Most of our songs require a lot of movement, so if we're not pumped up, then (the crowd is) not.

Any upcoming music releases?

No new album yet, but we have an entertainment group that is solely ours, and we're about to release a DVD entitled 'How to Create an Unstoppable Youth Conference.' It's an instructional DVD, a step-by-step process on how to create a spiritual and effective youth conference. We're actually trying to get it out around April 1, and it'll be available on our website.



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