BIOGRAPHY - Why Steve

Stephen Jacobs (born 3 February 1997 in Pretoria, South Africa) is a multi-instrumentalist, performer, editor, cinematographer, and overall creative jack-of-all-trades who freelances in the film and music industries.

At the age of 11, Jacobs taught himself how to play the drums with help from a few books and YouTube videos. A year later, he realized he wanted to learn more than just drums and began learning to play other instruments such as bass and guitar. When Jacobs wasn't in front of the camera, he was practicing his instruments. By the time Jacobs turned 16, he had written many of his own songs and built a strong foundation in his instruments.

In 2014, Jacobs enrolled at the Campus of Performing Arts (C.O.P.A), majoring in drums and guitar, under the training of Nelis Du Plesis, Riaan Le Roux, Christiaan Rabie, Mitha Lubbe, Chad J. Knight, Francois Hatting, and Wouter Reyneke. During his first year, he started a band called Hidden Within with some of his colleagues, playing their first gig at the Oakfield College: Battle of the Bands, where they came in second. Hidden Within played several gigs before breaking up.

In 2015, Jacobs began offering private guitar, drum, and theory lessons while continuing his studies. He soon started producing his own videos, posting drum and guitar covers to YouTube.

In 2016, while completing his final year of college, Jacobs re-entered the music scene, joining South African punk rock band Friends Like Thieves as a drummer and rock band Dead Girl Friend as a guitarist. He also started his own project called Honest Stables.

In 2017, Jacobs graduated from C.O.P.A with Merit and was employed by Dynamic Music Studio at Midstream College as a guitar coach. He later began doing session work for Ivan Roux and Henry Teaton, sharing the stage with artists such as Jo Black, Bottomless Coffee, Floyd Cele, Jezelle, Touch of Glass, Afrikaans Ruks, Nicolas Louw, Emo Adams, and Snotkop. Jacobs then left Friends Like Thieves and Dead Girl Friend.

In 2018, Jacobs quit his job at Dynamic Music Studio to fully pursue his creative career. He started producing parody music videos and comedy sketches for Honest Stables, adopting a candid, low-budget aesthetic. Soon he became the sole content creator for the band, designing logos, writing songs, filming, directing, and editing videos. Jacobs also temporarily joined blues rock band Black Bone Nation as a stand-in member/roadie until the end of the year.

In 2019, Honest Stables released their debut EP, "Beginner's Luck", on 15 March, which was produced, recorded, and written by Jacobs. Later that year, he released another single titled "Puppy", recorded by Agape Mahomed. Near the end of 2019, Jacobs joined a casting agency to kick-start his film career, landing a role in an Afrikaans reality show, "Sê Vir Mamma", as well as featured extra roles in "Pusha Pressa Phanda" and "Who's My Daddy".

In 2020, Jacobs moved to Cape Town to further his career. Two weeks later, the coronavirus outbreak in China led to an international pandemic, ultimately causing a national lockdown in South Africa. Stuck at home, Jacobs found the "Lockdown Movie Project" initiated by Tim Greene. Jacobs joined the group and became an editor for "The Ground Under" and "Vertrou Niemand", while also juggling his own "SA Lockdown With Steve" vlog and editing videos for South African musical artist Chris J Clarke. By August, "The Ground Under" was complete, and "Vertrou Niemand" followed in October (now available on JA: Jou Afrikaans and free to watch on YouTube). Upon completion, Jacobs made a few episodes of a web series called "Avontuur Met Aidan" as a pastime activity, where he spent the remainder of 2020 going on adventures with his roommate Aidan. The name "Why Steve" became more frequently referred to as an entity rather than a stage name due to the shift from live music to film.

In 2021, "The Ground Under" was released on Showmax, and Jacobs moved back to Pretoria due to the escalating COVID-19 situation in South Africa, especially near the coast in the Western Cape. This did not stop him from staying busy, as he had already lined up several gigs with Chris J Clarke and filmed and edited several videos, including "Ivanna's Song" for KykNET. Jacobs also built computers part-time for TelpaTech as a secondary income. With lockdown restrictions increasing again, Jacobs focused on his YouTube channel and started a new web series titled "No Budget Cinema", where he shared DIY, makeshift, beginner video-making tricks. While working on his own YouTube channel, he also started editing videos for AnniebunZ.

Later that year, as lockdown restrictions began to ease, Jacobs re-entered the industry and featured in the Afrikaans series "De Kleine Griet." With some lockdown restrictions still in place, he started a live streaming service called "Why Stream" to help stream events, especially funerals, to people around the world, providing closure across borders.

In 2022, Jacobs regularly worked with his friend and acquaintance, Leon Barnardt at LB Videography, collaborating on projects or working as a second unit. He shot weddings, adverts, and corporate interviews for private clients, churches, larger companies such as Eurocel, and even Michael Dietz, the CEO of Daimler Trucks & Buses Southern Africa by Mercedes-Benz. While working with LB Videography, Jacobs started freelancing as an editor for music videos of local artists such as Kurt Darren, Dirk Van Der Westhuizen, Arno Jordaan, and Brendan Peyper for ABS Produksies to air on VIA TV.

During this time, Jacobs continued posting to his YouTube channel and participated in several international challenges, such as the MSI Creator Awards 2022 and the Storyblocks Challenge, where his edit received an Honourable Mention by Daniel Schiffer. He even created his first short film, "Isolation", for the Musicbed Challenge 2022 with no crew other than himself and his mother. Unfortunately, Jacobs was scheduled to go on tour with ABS Produksies to film a few episodes of the series "Sing In Harmonie", so he could only spend a short amount of time on "Isolation", making the principal photography only two days long with a few days to rush his edit.

In July, Jacobs went on tour with Dirk Van Der Westhuizen as a second unit for LB Videography to film Dirk's music video "Oe La La". Later, they filmed the music video "Marcel Dalmayda – Kom Kry Van Myne", with Jacobs working as a gaffer and second camera unit.

Jacobs was then asked to accompany LB Videography and Team South Africa to the World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) in Los Angeles as press. Since he didn't have a US VISA yet, Jacobs traveled to Botswana, where he filmed adverts for Mokolodi Backpackers and Mokolodi Bush Kitchen under Why Steve. During his stay, he visited the US Consulate in Gaborone, Botswana, to apply for his US VISA, which was approved, enabling Jacobs to travel abroad in the future. Meanwhile, LB Videography was already involved in the South African Championships of Performing Arts (SACOPA), where Jacobs contributed by filming and editing the auditions and final showcase for SACOPA 2022.

Jacobs also worked on sound and assisted Leon Barnardt with camera work on "Uitblinkers", an ABS Produksies talent show airing on VIA TV, for one season before cutting ties with ABS due to ethical reasons.

Near the end of 2022, Jacobs assisted LB Videography with multiple music video shoots such as "Rudi Claase ft. Rea Le Roux - Stout Wees" and "Riaan Grobler - En Dan Dans Ons". He also filmed the opening of the new building and showroom for Novomatic South Africa under Why Steve.

At the start of 2023, Why Steve actively collaborated with LB Videography on productions for music videos like Angel De Lange's "Ek Sal My Vingers Af Baklei", Rea Le Roux's "Twee Boyfriends" and "Dans Soos 'n Dinosourus", and the popular South African group ADAM on their new release "Groot 5". They also created a short film for Izak Davel, "Vivi Eterna - Leef vir Altyd", to submit to film festivals.

Although Jacobs works mainly in film, he was approached to photograph the album cover and promotional content for Dirk van der Westhuizen and Loufi's single, "Dit Breek My Brein".

Later that year, Leon Barnardt was awarded "Best Music Video Producer" at the Afri-Indie Awards for his influence as a music producer creating and filming Afrikaans music videos. Jacobs was proud to have supported and assisted his friend in some of those productions. Thereafter, Jacobs assisted LB Videography as a camera operator for "Staan Sterk in Afrikaans", an independent Afrikaans music concert, as well as numerous corporate videos with LB Videography and Why Steve for Hatch, Fruit SA, Zavana Trading, Amberfield College, and other private event coverage.

Every year, Jacobs submits short films to the Musicbed Challenge, MSI Creator Awards, and Asus Pro Artist Awards. His short film "Imagination" (available on YouTube) was nominated in both the MSI and Asus Awards and made it to the TOP 10 films for 2023.

By the end of the year, it was time for SACOPA, where Jacobs helped manage a crew to film the entire week's events. He ended the year with a final music video to air on KykNET titled "BLOM" by Zondagskraal.

Filming during the December holiday with his nephew, Dillon, 2024 started with the release of a short film "The Academy", a story about a young athlete dreaming of becoming a professional rugby player, in the style of a training montage. On the side, Jacobs was temporarily editing for WMJ Creative, creating short reels for M5 Auto, M5 Commercial, Omoda/Jaecoo, and Lifestyle Centre Boksburg.

Another Leon & Steve ensemble formed for "Rea le Roux - Kaalvoet in die reën dans", aired on KykNET, with music produced by Leon Barnardt (Live Bedroom Studios) and video by LB Videography. Jacobs further assisted Barnardt in filming the Mzansi Young Farmers Indaba (by Food For Mzansi).

In March 2024, Dewan Venables reached out to Jacobs to join his C-Chip crew and film the music festival "Pretoria Fees". Impressed with the event footage, the KykNET festival TV show "Fiësta" asked to use some of Jacobs's footage for an episode. Venables later booked Jacobs to film a social media reel for Jesse Clegg as well as a music video for Hans Drommedaris.

By the middle of the year, LB Videography received many music video projects and contracted Jacobs as a gaffer and second shooter to help create an EPK and music videos for up-and-coming South African artist Ayrton. Jacobs also worked on "Slagveld" by Ronald Hart, performing as the guitarist in the music video, and "Esmari" by Muller Brandt, in which Jacobs gaffed and cameoed as the guitarist in one scene. Now that Jacobs was always sneaking in a cameo, he naturally had a scene at the end of Rudi Claase's "comeback" music video; "Storm", aside from his camera and lighting duties. Jacobs took on some of the workload himself, editing videos and filming scenes for The Morning After band's upcoming music video, as well as a performance video for frontman Dirk Roeper's song "Kaalvoet Vrou".

Additionally he assisted with drone shots for the music video "My Sarie Wil Lê" by PROP, and created a music video for "The Smoochies – Maybe More". Soon after, DEHANCER approached him to create a review on his YouTube channel—a milestone achievement that marked growing recognition of his online presence.