Jack Stauber | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1996-04-06)April 6, 1996 (age 29) |
| Alma mater | University of Pittsburgh |
| Occupations |
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| Musical career | |
| Also known as | Jack Stauber's Micropop |
| Genres | |
| Instruments |
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| Years active | 2007–present |
| Labels | Plopscotch Records |
| Website | jackstauber |
| YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Years active | 2013–2021 |
| Genres | |
| Subscribers | 3.55 million |
| Views | 752.3 million |
| Last updated: 10th January 2026 | |
Musical artist | |
Jack Stauber (born April 6, 1996)[1] is an American musician, animator, filmmaker, andinternet personality[2] based inPittsburgh.[1] He is recognized for hisVHS-aestheticlive action,stop motion, andcomputer animated music videos which have been featured ininternet memes.
He has released the albumsFinite Form (2013),Viator (2015),Pop Food (2017), andHiLo (2018). The first two tracks ofPop Food, "Buttercup" and "Oh Klahoma," went viral onTikTok. In 2025 "Oh Klahoma" became a viral video again in a trend on TikTok. Among his topics, like "Black Pill", in 2020 he won theShorty Award in the Best in Weird category.
Stauber majored in marketing and minored in studio arts[3] at theUniversity of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh.[4] He fronted the band Joose.[2][5] While he was a college senior, he joined Zaki, a band, as its lead singer and they released a self-titled album in 2018.[6]
"Buttercup," was the first song released on his 2017 album "Pop Food." The song, along with remixes and covers of it, became a popular internet meme, especially on TikTok,[7] contributing substantially to its success. The song has 425 millionSpotify streams as of July 2024, with its sound being described as "bubbly, dramatic pop withPanda Bear-esque vocals."[8] "Oh Klahoma," the second track from "Pop Food", became popular as well. The song is used as background music in a TikTok trend called #ghostphotoshoot, where creators dress up as ghosts and take photos of themselves, sometimes wearing sunglasses and other fashion accessories.[7][9]
Additionally, Stauber publishes under the name"Jack Stauber's Micropop," releasing extended versions of short songs found on hisYouTube channel.[10] Under the Micropop name, Stauber has released sixEPs and acompilation album, along with two soundtracks for his works withAdult Swim.[11]
The first short Stauber created for Adult Swim was called "Wishing Apple," a short released on July 3, 2018 on the Adult Swim YouTube channel.[11][12] The next was "Valentine's Day is Not for the Lonely," which premiered onOff The Air's season eight episode "Love", on August 28, 2018.[11] The short was released earlier, onValentine's Day, February 14, 2018.[13] The surrealist musical comedy "SHOP: A Pop Opera" premiered on Adult Swim in March 2019. The series utilizesmixed media, incorporatedclay animation, music, and VHS-like filters.[14] The six-part series aired each episode at midnight from March 4 to March 9.
A short surrealist musical psychological horror film, entitled "Jack Stauber'sOPAL", premiered on October 30, 2020.[14][11] On the same day,OPAL was also released on the Adult Swim YouTube channel.[15] Stauber received help from the producers atWilliams Street inAtlanta for the creation ofOPAL. The film utilizes stop-motion, 3D-animated, and live action segments.[16][17]
On December 30, 2025, Stauber's "Goodbye, Mr. Schizo" short premiered in the first episode ofOff The Air's fifteenth season. (“Growth”)[18]
I get playful with the words but they’re always chosen very carefully. They all make perfect sense. I wouldn’t sing something if it didn’t.
Meg Fair of thePittsburgh City Paper highlighted Stauber's knack of "pulling unrelated sounds and influences into [his] music, throwing them into a bowl and tossing them into a strange salad that challenges your musical taste buds."[19] Jenna Minnig ofPennState CommMedia compared Stauber's voice andhypnagogic pop style toAriel Pink's. However she said it was reductive to compare the two.[4] TheKnoxville News Sentinel's Chuck Campbell said that Stauber's music videos is "nostalgic and childlike, but there’s also something disturbingly adult about them, the kind of thing that might have surfaced onPee-wee's Playhouse back in the day."[10]
Stauber is well known for his hypnagogic pop,[4]avant-pop,[20][1] andsynth-pop[21] music. His unique vocal effects are developed in the shower, and are inspired byDonovan's song "Hurdy Gurdy Man".[1] Stauber collects objects to create sounds to use in songs, and has a drawer filled with "various noise-makers" he has collected.[1]
Indie singer-songwriterSidney Gish[22] and modelParis Jackson are among the artists expressing admiration for Stauber's music.[23][24]
Stauber's videos utilize a mixture of different types of media liketraditional animation, 3D computer animation, claymation,[10] andlive action. Almost all voices in the videos are done by Stauber himself.[1] His videos are usually separated into three styles: "surreal," characters with odd and striking facial expressions and frequently part of his claymations, "colorful," which are usually featured in VHS animations and music videos, and "Stauber faces," light-skinned characters with cartoon noses.[11]
Creating his animations, Stauber usesMicrosoft Paint for the drawings. He then sequences the frames inAdobe Premiere Pro and then runs the finished video through aVHS tape.[1] Teeth are often referenced in Stauber's music and videos, most often being fake teeth made ofresin, although Stauber has used real teeth in his work before.[11]
| Year | Organization | Award | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Shorty Awards | Creative & Media: Best in Weird | Jack Stauber | Won | [21] |
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Finite Form[25] |
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| Viator[5] |
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| Pop Food[25][8] |
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| HiLo[19][2][26] |
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| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Reviator[27][note 1] |
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| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Help You" | 2012 | Non-album singles |
| "Axis of Dam" | ||
| "Lines" | ||
| "Summer Sickness" | ||
| "Left" | ||
| "Times" | ||
| "Juana Maria" | 2013 | |
| "Christ Potion" | 2015 | Viator |
| "Grins Hells" | Non-album singles | |
| "Tenderly" | 2017 | |
| "Oh Klahoma" | Pop Food | |
| "Dead Weight"[note 2] | 2018 | HiLo |
| "Gettin' My Mom On"[note 2] |
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Micropop |
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| Shop: A Pop Opera |
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| Jack Stauber's OPAL (Original Soundtrack) |
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| Title | Details |
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| Inchman / Two Time |
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| Cheeseburger Family / Fighter |
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| The Ballad of Hamantha / Today Today / Al Dente |
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| Baby Hotline / Tea Errors |
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| Deploy / Those Eggs Aren't Dippy / Out the Ox |
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| Dinner Is Not Over / There's Something Happening / Keyman / Cupid |
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| International | |
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| Artists | |
