Rising Stars: Meet Jas & Jame Stout

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jas & Jame Stout.

Hi Jas & Jame, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
We are Jas and Jame (also known as Jarrod and Jamie). We are Caribbean-American brothers born in Pensacola, Florida and we grew up for the most part in Auburn, WA. We were introduced to music at an early age as my brother was in band and I had taken part in Sunday School choir as a child. In high school, Jame played clarinet in band and was also in choir, ended up joining a barbershop quartet. I pursued music a bit later by picking up guitar in 2012.

That year I started school at University of Washington and would often play my guitar in the dorms for friends and write songs as well. Later I co-founded a neo-soul rnb band, Abstract Melody, that did several shows in Seattle from Tacoma to Kirkland. I would also do open mics all throughout Seattle including hosting a Mo Jam Monday’s at Nectar Lounge, I also performed multiple solo shows abroad both in Rome and Venice, during a study abroad trip in 2018. Then I returned to graduate that year with departmental honors and eventually move back home.

During the same time period, Jame learned how to record, produce, and engineer music. Jame produced, mixed, and mastered several singles including his first album, Dat Kid Cold Summer. Jame also did his own solo shows while attending Green River College, eventually graduating with a network security degree.

Before graduation, we had to put our music on pause as we heard the sickening news that our Dad had been in an accident while on a trip with his now wife (Juliet) to LA and was paralyzed from the neck down. I didn’t know that when I had seen him at my show at the Columbia City Theater that it would be my last time seeing him standing at full strength. We rallied and adjusted our schedules to care for him with the hospitals, caretakers, and Juliet’s family. He has since gained more movement back in his body than they predicted and still has his bright personality and full mental function! We continue to support him every day and he is probably our biggest fan to this day!

When I moved back home, we put our talents together and recorded our first album, Quad Feed, as the duo PRNCPL. We started performing shows together, going to music camps, and improving our craft. We eventually changed our name to ABSTRCTN as there was already a publicly named “PRNCPL” and we wanted to be original. We started recording more music to having now over 40 songs in our unreleased catalog. We have released 11 projects and performed almost 100 shows in the past six years.

On the business side, we co-founded Oni Corps LLC as a business so we could host music camps of our own to provide a platform for artists. The company then shifted to gaming, event hosting, to now serving as a content creation company for businesses and influencers as well as a publishing label.

We performed at the DJ Power Summit during the Coalition DJ’s 15th anniversary weekend at Stankonia Studios in Atlanta. We recently finished two tours. One international tour spanning the pacific northwest up to Vancouver with David July. We also went on a 7 day tour in the midwest and are heading to do another tour in Florida at the end of this month. in 2022 we participated in the Coast 2 Coast artist showcase and made it to the World Championship in Miami. We also participated in an LA Mega Camp songwriting and producer camp where we were awarded second place out of 25 writers.

While we were advancing our music career, our mother had to fly down to Florida to take care of her parents. Our grandmother became very ill and unfortunately passed away in 2021. Shortly after that our uncle, our mother’s brother, passed away as well. To this day, our mother is still in Florida taking care of our grandfather. I am currently the only one working over 40 hrs a week to support our family and fund for our career. We believe in those who support us and are grateful to all their efforts and pour our all into our passions so we can build a life for ourselves, our family, those in our circle, and those to come.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Struggles, including but not limited to:

– Parents divorce
– Lack of money
– Car accidents
– Had a rental car towed
– Deaths in the family
– Racist city shows
– Trapped in a snowstorm in Minnesota mid-tour
– Driving to a competition during a hurricane
– Having to work a full-day job and tour
– Best Buy wiped out Jame’s entire computer before the quad feed album

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Jas – Employed at Highspot as a sales enablement specialist, where I sell a sales enablement software. Last fiscal year, I averaged 119% quota attainment, awarded Rookie of the Month and MVP of the Month and currently sit at three months in a row of quota attainment.

Jame- I most recently worked at The Men’s Wearhouse ending that year with over $400,000 in sales.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
One memory that we will never forget isn’t necessarily one point in time, more so of a series of events. For bonding, we would often play video games with our dad. Call of Duty, Rockband, Rainbow 6, you name it! We even named our shared gamertag together, Shadowchaotic. After our dad’s paralysis, my brother and I split the name as I became Shadow as he was Chaotic.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/abstrctn
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_abstrctn_/?hl=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@_ABSTRCTN_
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/abstrctnofficial
• Other: https://www.bonfire.com/store/abstrctn/

Image Credits
ShotbyWriggs Bigben iegan.media fatman, concertphotos g.beatl