Jacob Slichter (born Jacob Huber Slichter, April 5, 1961) is an American musician. He is best known for being the drummer for the rock band

Semisonic Semisonic is an American rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1995, consisting of Dan Wilson (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), John Munson (bass, keyboards, backing vocals, guitar), and Jacob Slichter (drums, percussion, keyboards, ba ...

Early life

Slichter, the son of physicist Charles Slichter, was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

with a degree in African American studies and history. He is the drummer for the

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

based rock band,

Career

Slichter, in 2004, wrote ''So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star'' (), a book that details his experiences as a member of Semisonic and their journey through the

recording industry A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

. ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' wrote that "few first-person memoirs of the rock biz are as smart, honest, and entertaining as this tart, incisive work." In 2006 Slichter said that

payola Payola, in the music industry, is the illegal practice of paying a commercial radio station to play a song without the station disclosing the payment. Under US law, a radio station must disclose songs they were paid to play on the air as spons ...

was how his band Semisonic turned their song " Closing Time" into a hit. Slichter stated: "It cost something close to $700,000 to $800,000 to get 'Closing Time' on the air."

References

External links

Jacob by Jacob homepageNPR: Drummer's Book Takes Shine off Rock-Star LifeFinding His Way: Jacob Slichter of Semisonic (Part I)
An Interview by Richard Fulco, ''Construction Magazine'', June 7, 2012
Finding His Way: Jacob Slichter of Semisonic (Part II)
An Interview by Richard Fulco, ''Construction Magazine'', June 14, 2012

1961 births Living people American rock drummers Harvard University alumni Musicians from Minneapolis Writers from Minnesota Writers from Minneapolis American male writers Semisonic members 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American male musicians {{US-rock-drummer-stub