A. J. Jackson


A/J Jackson is an American filmmaker and musician from Los Angeles, California. He produces commercials and music videos, as well as writing songs, and is lead singer for the band Saint Motel. He is known for his enthusiastic stage performances.

Early life

Jackson was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He first started playing piano and writing his own music at about age seven. Jackson attended film school at Chapman University.

Music career

Jackson along with college friend Aaron Sharp formed a band called Saint Motel in 2007 while in film school. Saint Motel released its debut E.P. ForPlay in 2009 with Jackson as the lead singer. Jackson's songwriting for the EP received praise from The Washington Post.
Saint Motel's subsequent full-length album Voyeur whose tracks reached the top of the Hype Machine Charts in 2012 and an EP, My Type, includes two international alternative top 40 singles, "Cold Cold Man" and the platinum-selling single, "My Type".
In 2015, Jackson led Saint Motel and dancers at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, as one of the stops on the band's US tour.

Film career

After graduation Jackson became a freelance filmmaker directing and editing commercials for companies like Scion, Hyundai, and Elle Magazine, as well as music videos for bands like Royal Teeth and Futurecop, including his own band Saint Motel. When the band's debut album ForPlay was released they had created a music video to accompany each song of the album. Jackson's film clients include Barry Manilow, Band of Skulls, and Jason Mraz. In 2008, Jackson and his comedy partners in sketch comedy group, Craptastic were nominated for a MTV Movie Award for a "Cloverfield" parody called "Broverfield"
Jackson was instrumental in the creation of the first ever virtual reality album saintmotelevision and the accompanying VR app, saintmotelevisionVR, in 2017.