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Has falling down the rabbit hole of the Internet — distraction — ever really worked for you? Well, it did for this gentleman.

Jason Blake, best self-described as “6’4” with room to explore,” is a sixth generation Californian who discovered us online during what seems to be a ritualistic Instagram crusade. I’ll never forget. Blake’s opening message was simple. “Me next” was all he typed under a photo of Polish model Dominik Zajaczkowski, who happens to be our first Grunge Boy for a print editorial set to release next year.

Extraordinarily new to the scene, Blake started modeling just 6 months ago and impressingly, his portfolio eclipses his competitors. He’s working smart and hard. If you’re wondering about his savoir faire or secret, look no more, here’s how he commenced:

I had a relationship with the guys at Primitive, he said. I contacted Jubal to see if [they] needed anything [and] they asked me to shoot samples for Fall 2013. I did my first photo shoot.

For Blake, it was that easy. Sometimes, asking is all it takes. Luckily, he’s a go-getter. He didn’t stop there. Next, he reached out to a guy named Kingston, the house photographer at Us Versus Them, and they worked on promotional material for brands called Lemon High and Creep Street. And because one thing usually leads to another, Blake was asked to model for Us Versus Them’s Spring 2014 catalog. Since, his career began to grow and take off.

Before modeling, Blake was a musician. He created music under the name “Skateboard Squeez” and had what he calls “a friends and family record deal with MySpace Records.” He released an EP titled “Slumber Party” which can best be described as “a hybrid Katy Perry sounding mix between LMFAO and Black Eyed Peas with a production company called Midi Mafia.”

Eventually, my music career dissolved. I liked it, it just wasn’t what I wanted to do, he said.

What’s your family lineage?

Someone in my family is German, somewhere. I’m 6th generation Californian, born and raised. I was born and raised in Santa Rosa, California and lived there most of my life but I currently reside in Hollywood.

How many tattoos do you have to date? Are you looking to get new work? If so, where? Are most of your tattoos designed by one person?

I’ve never counted how many tattoos I have. I just remember getting my first one. Felix the Cat wearing red Adidas smoking a joint, I was fifteen. My mom was pissed. I’ve been getting new work done on my back, a jackalope wearing a severed wolf head in the Bay Area at a shop called Aces Over Eights by the owner Cody Holyoak. Most of my tattoos are designed by the tattoo artist, they just use my ideas.

How did you come across GrungeCake? What did you think of the name when you first heard or read it?

I was scanning Instagram and came across the GrungeCake profile. My first impression was, this is rad. I scanned through the website and immediately felt like this was something I wanted to be a part of.

When asked what made him want to be a Grunge Boy, he replied,

When I look at the world of the typical male model, I swear I just see underwear ads and Abercrombie and Fitch, which is cool and all, but that ain’t me. I represent an alternative lifestyle where you don’t have to be a cookie cutter typical pretty boy model. I could just be myself, wear my sneakers, flaunt my tattoos, and go to a photo shoot in yesterday’s outfit and knock it out of the park. Grunge Boy sounds like my lifestyle, not just another label.

https://vimeo.com/82600780

Jason Blake is 30, and he currently resides in Hollywood, California. For more Jason Blake, just click here.

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Ural Garrett (Photographer and Camera Operator)
Alana Dee Haynes (Illustrator)
George Lee (Video Editor)
Ny Wesson (Producer and Interviewer)

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