Now, if you live in the Toledo, Ohio area and haven't heard of the band, Light Horizon, I don't know where you've been. But, I guess that's why you clicked on this article.

Light Horizon is a Rock and Roll band made up of four amazing guys: Ryan Marko (Guitar/Vocals), Zack Jacobs (Guitar), Ian Reiter (Bass), and Zac Cornelius (Drums).

I was able to interview Zack about his band after getting to know him through my time working with him at Innovation Concerts. Click the play button and get a taste of what Light Horizon has to offer!

Q: Who are some artists or bands that inspire you?

Zack:

Circa Survive, He Is Legend, Manchester Orchestra, and The Beatles.

Q: What made you decide to start a career in music?

Zack:

Going to my first concert (Taste of Chaos tour at the Toledo Sports Arena in 2004) and seeing some of my favorite bands on stage absolutely killing it to a packed and crazy crowd.

I wanted to be that dude. Music had always been something I loved, but seeing that really cemented the dream for me.

Q: What brought you together as a band?

Zack:

Ryan (vocals/guitar) and I had learned to play guitar together and were in bands together all throughout high school.

A few years after our previous band stopped being active, we were hanging out one day and decided it was time to pick it back up, but head in a new direction with our sound and based off influences we had picked up in the years since we stopped playing together before.

Q: What is the basic timeline of your band?

Zack:

It all started around the winter of 2014, with Ryan and I writing our first few songs in his apartment in Bowling Green on a couple old acoustic guitars we scrounged up.

Those songs would go on to become “Haven,” “Audio Afterglow,” “This Isn't the Fuckin' '80s,” and a few others from our first record. It sounded very different at the start with it just being an acoustic duo.

Q: What genre is your music and why did you choose to make this type of music?

Zack:

I guess you could say we are Rock and Roll. We kind of touch on a lot of genres because we are all into such different sounds both personally and compared to each other.

We chose to make the style we do because it seemed like the most natural sound for us and was something we could continue to grow/build/expand on over time.

Q: What is your favorite song to perform?

Zack:

My personal favorite to perform is “This Isn't the Fuckin' '80s.” It's such a jammer and a crowd favorite. It's one of our oldest songs, but it's just super fun to play, sing, and go crazy to, and it is usually the most energetic portion of our set.

Q: What is the most influential lyric for you?

Zack:

This is a bit of a spoiler off of the yet-to-be-released new record, but there is a song ("The Deep End") that has the lyrics, "The ghosts that roamed these halls of the place I used to call home have all gone off to hell."

Ryan wrote these lyrics about some personal struggles that he was going through at the time and it's something that really resonated with me since I first heard it when we were putting the song together.

It was one of those moments where we sort of looked at each other and knew we were onto something with that song.

Q: Is there a venue that you would like to play?

Zack:

I would love to play Red Rocks Amphitheater (in Colorado). I've never been, but have seen pictures and videos and heard stories. It just looks like such a beautiful, almost surreal place to play.

Q: What is your craziest memory together?

Zack:

Opening for Kesha would probably have to top that list of the craziest memory I have.

I just remember looking out at a crowd of over 1,000 people, them looking at me/us, me looking over at my guys (all of whom are just small town dudes like me who graduated with maybe like 100 other people and had never played in front of a crowd of that size), and just being in complete awe of what I was seeing, hearing and feeling.

It's something that is going to stick with me for the rest of my life for sure.

Q: What makes you passionate about making music?

Zack:

Playing music is something that literally feels like nothing else in this world I have ever experienced. It's such a high on stage and really incredible to look out into a crowd and see words and songs you wrote really connecting with people in the audience.

To give people that same feeling from our songs that all of my favorite bands and artists have given me with theirs is something I really cherish. To get together with your best friends and create something that makes you get chills or super excited is a really special thing.

Q: What does the writing process look like for you?

Zack:

Typically, it starts with a riff. Either Ryan or I will come to practice with an idea for a song and show the other guys.

If it's something we're all into and something we can all contribute to, it becomes a song and we continue to mold it until we feel it's the best it could be. We are 99% a music-first type of band.

Q: Where do you get your inspiration for your music/lyrics?

Zack:

I can't say it comes from any exact place for me. It's sort of different every time, but it ultimately comes back to what I am feeling at the time, what our lives are like, and what we are trying to work through.

There really is no greater therapy or outlet for us than turning those tumultuous times in life into music that can hopefully connect with people and maybe even show yourself a different perspective than what you saw before.

Q: What is your main goal with music?

Zack:

I am definitely in it for the long haul. I want music to be my life, and in many ways, it already is, but I want to go further. To be on the road, making enough off music to continue doing it would be the dream.

I'm not looking to get rich doing this. I just want to write great songs and hopefully, someday, someone comes up to me and says, "Hey, you're that guy from that band. Good job! Keep doing that. It made me feel (XYZ). Thank you!" I would be stoked.

Q: Do you have anything in store for the future?

Zack:

The future plans at this point are to release the new record and start pushing it out further and further across the country.

Q: Do you have any tips for aspiring musicians?

Zack:

Write. Good. Songs! I know it seems cliché, but it's true.

There are A LOT of really talented people doing what you're doing now and it's easy to feel lost in the static, like a drop in the ocean, but I truly believe if you write great songs that are meaningful and connect with people, nothing else will matter.

Where you're from, what you've done, where you've been -- great songwriting transcends all of that and that's really the incredible thing about all of this. It all comes back to the songs. Just don't give up until you get there.

*Responses have been edited.

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