Jacoby can tell you the day he last had a drink: February 12, 2012. He’s often been remarkably open about this, as well as his mental health. His grandfather, he reveals, took his own life. In 2012, he himself had his own moment of coming close. He shares all this in the hope that his thoughts and experiences reach the ear of someone who desperately needs it.
“Dude, I've met thousands upon thousands of people in the 25 years we've been on the world stage that have told us that our music has saved their life,” he says. “In the beginning, I was like, ‘I don't know how to really take that.’ I was like, ‘That's cool, fucking right on.’ And then I understood it when I had my own brush with the darkness. And then I was like, ‘I see how music really can be healing.’”
Most recently, the band have donated all their royalties from their collaboration with Carrie Underwood, Leave A Light On, to the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention. This, he says, is one of the ways that Papa Roach haven’t really changed much at all.
“Mental health has been part of our story since the beginning,” he says. “Think about Last Resort, our first single, it's like a cry for help. Leave A Light On is the response. It's like, ‘I'm here for you. I got you no matter what.’ That's exactly what the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention provides.
“I've had my fucking battles, man. I've had my brushes with darkness. I think that's why I have a heart for it. I've been to the depths and come back, you know? And thank God, because I have friends that have succumbed to that darkness, and I see what's left behind, and it's trauma and it's pain and it's wreckage, and there, there is no healing.
“There's too much of that, man. Suicide is a leading cause of death in America. What the fuck? Come on, man, people are hurting. That's a real thing. So we want to bring a message of hope, and when I'm asked about my hope, I'm willing to share about it.”
Do you feel that as a sense of responsibility when you write music? That some people are looking to you as a strong bigger brother who understands these things? He nods.
“Yeah. This is purpose-driven music. It's not just, ‘Let's get on a mic and just make noise.’ I understand music can move culture, can inspire and shift momentum in society, and can lift people up from a dark place.”