Bong Mansion – Episode 02: Who Is Jake Reimer?

An ongoing oral history of the saga of Bong Mansion by Into the Weeds’ Ben Rispin and Puff Digital Editor-In-Chief, Connor Lovat-Fraser. This week, the two attempt to conquer the Herculean task of answering the question: “Who is Jake Reimer?”

Ben Rispin – I met Jake Reimer maybe 5 years ago. He was a younger buck onto the southern Ontario music scene playing for a promising metal band called Voltang. Over the years not only did his metal band grow, but so did his talent as a frontman. I followed Jake on social media and thought he was hilarious. He didn’t have much of an audience, but he was hilarious. We then became casual buddies by hanging around the same spots. I worked a lot on projects with his drummer Paul Maxwell and I’d pop over to the Voltang Punk house and always appreciated what they were doing. They live it…and that’s cool as fuck. Outside of shows, I’d see them selling hotdogs and merch out of their van trying to make their passion work. 

When we decided to add a Twitch channel to Higher Mentality’s repertoire I needed someone cool, and I thought of Jake. I called him and asked if he had any interest in making something like that with us. As it turned out, him and his buddies Logan and Ben64 were way ahead of me. They had been building their own mini studio for twitch streaming. We teamed up, and Press X To Get High was born. 

Fast forward to a year later and we’re all working out of Bong Mansion. Jake has become one of our lead content creators and all of his properties are starting to gain traction. 

Gaming, directing, shooting, hosting, comedy, music, Jake does it all and we are so fortunate to have him on our side…rather than an instrument of evil. 

Connor Lovat-Fraser – What do you say about a guy like Jake? I have been #blessed with the privilege of surrounding myself with a number of unique and interesting people – thanks in part to my myriad years spent in the music and arts community – but to pigeonhole Jake into categories such as merely “unique” or “interesting” is to do a disservice to the  breadth of adjectives available in the English language…and a disservice to Jake.

Instead, I won’t describe…I’ll explain.

I know Mr. Jacob “Snake The Jake” Reimer primarily from our interactions within the Burlington, Ontario music scene. My band Pale Drone has played with Jake’s band Voltang a few times. I’m a fairly introverted and guarded person, and I’m sure that our past exchanges were based primarily around the platitudes and niceties generally associated with “musician types” who share the stage.

“Great show, man! You guys sounded great!”

“So stoked we could play together again!”

The statements aren’t untrue or forced, but they are also not particularly engaging.

Sorry, Jake.

It’s not you…it’s me.

Anyway…we had met.

In a professional, Puff Digital setting, my first introduction to Jake was on a conference call with him, Ben Rispin, and Mark Petch when we were discussing how to best integrate Jake’s remarkable and ridiculous (not necessarily in that order) Twitch feed “Press ‘X’ To Get High” into the Higher Mentality ecosystem. 

I was probably curmudgeonly and distant on the call, focussing primarily on what the integration would mean for my workload. I didn’t, at the time, even realize that the “Jake” on the call was the same “Jake” from the cool band which I had previously played with.

Goddamn, I’m a dick sometimes.

Sorry, Jake.

Some time passed, we acquired Bong Mansion, and I was informed that the “Press ‘X’ To Get High” dudes were going to be moving in to set up their studio. I was excited to finally “meet” the gang and get to know them.

Lo and behold, there was the same skinny, long-haired, bearded gentleman whom I had met in dark, sweaty bars whilst our rock and/or roll bands did what rock and/or roll bands do. We recognized one another immediately and hugged it out. 

So tender…so real.

We were mansionmates now, and would be spending a lot of time together, so I dropped my barriers and zeroed in on the rare pleasure of making a new friend.

Jake…is..rad!

I said it!

What?

He’s rad!

The guy spends a ton of his time at the mansion. Outside of producing content for the “Press ‘X’ To Get High” Twitch feed, he’s around…writing music, producing music videos, behind-the-scenes content, capturing candid moments, dreaming up amazing ideas, welcoming people, and just bringing an incredible positive vibe to the entire place.

Jake is a workhorse, and one of the most intelligent, driven, introspective and amazing people I’ve ever met.

I haven’t come across anyone who has encountered Jake at Bong Mansion who hasn’t been immediately taken with his charisma and likability. 

His presence on the premises has made every one of my days that much more enjoyable – and that’s saying a lot, because having been afforded the opportunity to work and experience Bong Mansion has been a marked highlight of both my professional and personal life.

I’m a big fan of Jake Reimer, and I count myself fortunate to have opened myself up to him. 

So…yeah…fuck it…Jake is definitely a unique and interesting human. The man is a Goose Skull…a Bong Mansion Original. I love the guy and am incredibly stoked to spend more days with him here at Bong Mansion. 

And for that, Jake, I’m not sorry.

Not in the slightest.

Previous episode: Bong Mansion – Episode 01: What is Bong Mansion?