Songwriter takes on seriously funny tone Jacobsen to perform at Indigo Coffee House in Aberdeen on Jan. 27 BY TOM CAIAZZA Staff Writer David W. Jacobsen ABERDEEN — During the scope of human existence, one way of thinking has held steadfast: No matter what you do, the world is going to get you in the end. David W. Jacobsen has made a mission of exposing the facets of this belief, and, in all seriousness, make fun of them. His latest record, “Footprints,” is a comical odyssey through life, love, work and obsession executed through bare bones acoustic and lighthearted pop. He melds cynicism and humor, making for the saddest belly laugh possible, all the while trying to make memorable pop music for the loyal coffeehouse crowd. “I try to mix humor and serious stuff,” Jacobsen said, “and write material the people will remember.” Jacobsen said that “Footprints” is “a quest for meaning through knowing that everything you create is bound to be destroyed.” The record, an impressive 23 tracks, is the product of more than two years of inspiration and constant creative escape from Jacobsen’s professional life. Jacobsen writes technical manuals for a software company by day and is a prolific singer/songwriter by night. His last record, “Cubicle Wonderland,” was a “Dilbert-esque” critique of office life that Jacobsen said was “his way of dealing” with the mundane nine to five. The Jersey City resident has released 10 records on his own label, Zbokth Productions (which means dandruff in Albanian), in an effort to release music that he admitted is hard to classify, and often overlooked by record labels. “The quest for an independent person isn’t a record deal,” Jacobsen said. Jacobsen is content with releasing his own records and playing his absurdist brand of pop to anyone, whether it sells or not. “That’s the problem with making music that is hard to categorize,” Jacobsen said. “It’s hard to market.” Jacobsen spent a semester at Berklee College of Music, Boston, one of the most prestigious popular music schools in America, studying bass and learning jazz fusion. “I woke up one morning and realized I didn’t even like jazz,” Jacobsen said. “Then I looked at my roommate and realized I didn’t even like jazz musicians.” While short, his tenure at Berklee taught him the basics of music theory, and gave him the good sense not to use it, he said. After graduating from Rutgers University, Jacobsen took to the corporate world, moonlighting as an independent musician and purveyor of humorist pop. He has spent the better part of a decade playing small coffeehouses and venues in the tristate area and will bring his show to Aberdeen’s Indigo Coffee House on Jan. 27. He said that he focuses on providing a fun live show that is serious, while maintaining its humor. “Footprints” plays like a pessimist trying to be optimistic, an inherent logical malady that human nature makes impossible to ignore. The album cover depicts a young girl building a sand castle. To her left is a petulant boy prepared to stomp on the girl’s creation. To her right, a wave threatens to wash it all away. No matter what you do, the world will get you in the end.