Another song, 'Cough Syrup', received airplay on the Los Angeles radio station KROQ. The band's song 'Texas Tea' was played during an episode of MTV's The Real World: Brooklyn, and 'Paid the Piper' was featured on A&E's The Beast. In 2009, the band played four shows at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas. Shortly thereafter, longtime friend and collaborator Payam Doostzadeh (Persian: پیام دزده) joined as bassist. Burger left the band to pursue an education at Manhattan School of Music in New York City, and Comtois took over as the drummer. Band members then individually decided whether or not to put their schooling on hold to focus on music. With two members still in high school and the others each attending different colleges, the Jakes recorded an EP, Shake My Hand, with producer Ian Kirkpatrick. Initial coordination of musical contributions was difficult because the members all attended different schools. After several personnel changes, the group's lineup by 2008 included Gadhia (born July 10, 1989), Tilley, Hashemian, Eric Cannata, Francois Comtois (born May 20, 1988), and Jason Burger. Consisting of Jacob Tilley, Addam Farmer, Kevin Massoudi, Ehson Hashemian, and Sameer Gadhia, the band's name was an acronym of the members' first names.
The Jakes formed in 2004 in Irvine, California.
