Jake Bugg has just released his new album, A Modern Day Distraction (RCA).
Produced by Metrophonic at Metrophonic Studios in London, the rock-driven record is billed as a return to his roots.
Jake Bugg’s sixth studio album follows four Top 5 albums, including the chart-topping self-titled 2012 debut (868,699 sales to date – Official Charts Company).
The singer-songwriter has lined up a run of dates in the UK and Europe in November, including London Roundhouse (November 19) and Manchester O2 Victoria Warehouse (November 26).
Here, Jake Bugg opens up about the songwriting process, the industry’s evolution and feeling like a rock veteran at the age of 30…
How are you feeling about the new album?
“I feel excited, apprehensive, all of those emotions I usually feel before an album release. I think the feedback has been good from the fans, they seem to be liking the new songs so far and they’ve been going OK live. I’m feeling positive about it.”
Does it get easier, that moment just before you release a new record, or does it feel different every time?
“It’s familiar but it’s always new in some way as well. The industry changes so fast now from album to album and each promotion cycle is slightly different to what you did on the last one, so it’s familiar, but still exciting.”
Your last album was 2021’s Saturday Night Sunday Morning, which went in a poppier direction. How did you feel coming off the back of that record?
“I think that last record was good for me in some ways. It was definitely more of a pop album but the songs All I Need and Lost, even though they’re more poppy, they did quite well for me. Between that, I had the soundtrack as well for the Ronaldinho movie, The Happiest Man In The World, and then, I just got cracking on with this record. It’s been nonstop but I don’t really know what else to do. You just keep going and hope for the best.”
What did you have in your head at the start of this album? Do you usually have a clear idea of what you want to do?
“Sometimes I do. I’ve done more experimental stuff in the past when it comes to albums, and sometimes it’s worked, sometimes it hasn’t. With this record, I thought it was time to kind of go back to my older musical DNA, to the stuff I grew up listening to and love and play more to my strengths. On the last record, I worked with lots of different people, which was great. But this time, I wanted to find one or two people that I really liked and we could do it all internally. And that’s what happened with [producers] Metrophonic. I started working with those guys and we started jamming and it turned out we shared a lot of musical favourites, we liked a lot of the same stuff. We wrote Zombieland, which just came instantly and I had a good feeling about working with those dudes. It was every day in the studio with them and it was all done internally, written and recorded and produced and it was a good experience. It was a lot of work but it was worth doing.”
What was it like tapping back into that sound but doing it with a more experienced head on your shoulders?
“It was great. It felt brilliant to be doing stuff that I feel like is in my best area, experimenting in some ways, but using that experience of the last few records and trying to make the best record I could possibly make. Every lyric, every melody was scrutinised and if something felt like it was OK, it would get changed, because we were trying to do better than just OK. It was definitely a disciplined experience.”
And Zombieland was the track that led the way?
“Yeah, and then the second one was All Kinds Of People, funny enough, in the same order as they’ve been released. It was nice to have guitars and guitar solos and riffs back. That’s something that had not been too present as it could have been in my music.”
The industry changes so fast now from album to album
Jake Bugg
Do you think you had to go away from that sound to come back to it, though?
“I think so. The third record [2016’s On My One] wasn’t my favourite, and I don’t think it was a lot of people’s favourites, and it was a big experiment that didn’t work out great. But at the same time, I learned a lot from that experience that led me to be able to be much better at recording and producing, which led to the Ronaldinho soundtrack – I wouldn’t have had those skills had it not been for the third album. It’s funny, sometimes you do have to take the long way around. I feel like I’ve ended up in the place where I should be, especially with this album. I’m pretty sure there’ll be even more experimental albums that a lot of people won’t enjoy either, but that’s the way it is.”
When you look back over your career, which phase have you learned the most from?
“Maybe in 2020-2021, in Covid, because it did give me time to stop and reflect and think a bit more about where I should have been. The fifth album had already been completed by then, so it really gave me time to sit down and reflect and not try and rush into the next project as I had done in the past. It's very easy if something hasn’t gone as well as you like to get a bit fidgety about it and want to move on to the next thing straight away. But I was like, ‘I’ll take my time with this one and be more disciplined about it and work really hard at it’. It gave me more time for reflection, to really think about it.”
Where were you at lyrically on this record. It seems very much an album with something to say about the way the world is in 2024…
“Music’s always been an escape for me and that’s why sometimes I write for just that reason and try to avoid the realities of life and problems that we have. But this record, all those frustrations, all those problems that people have and all the societal issues that are going on, it just felt like the right time to say something. It was a built-up frustration of everything, of how I’d seen it affect people. I thought it was time to put that out there and get it out.”
You were still in your teens when you broke through. If there was a young singer-songwriter coming through now who was the same age, what advice would you give them?
“I don’t know if it’s good advice or not these days, but I would say there is definitely a lot of tension and hype around social media and having an online presence. I understand that it’s very important these days for self-promotion, but I would say it’s important not to get caught up in it as much as creating the art because those things come and go but the songs last forever. I think just focus on the songs, most importantly. That’s all I’ve ever said and I still think it’s the most important thing.”
Who’s given you the best advice across your career?
“I’d say the one bit of advice that’s stood with me was probably Dean Jackson from BBC Radio Nottingham. He told me as a young guy that for every two steps forward, there will be a step back. Sometimes you feel like you do get that step back, where it feels like you’re not moving forward, making any progress and it can be incredibly frustrating. But if you keep going and believe in it enough, I find that you do take those two steps forwards and you come out the other side. And whether that’s in your guitar playing, your songwriting, or just in your career in general, it’s important not to get too down about it and to keep focused and stay on track.”
You’re only 30. Do you feel like a young veteran?
“I didn’t before a couple of months ago, when I was playing a festival with The Lathums. There were a few other acts playing and there was one young guy who came up to me who was on the bill, and he was like, ‘Oh, I used to listen to you in primary school’. ‘Alright, well now I’m starting to feel like a little bit older!’ I looked at the bill and I realised I was the bloody oldest one on it. I was like, ‘Times have changed, I remember when I was the youngest one on it.’”
What are the main ways the industry has changed since you started out?
“Well, people still bought CDs when I put my first record out, that’s one massive change, and it’s become about social media presence now. I never did any of that when I first started. No one really asked me to, it was a case of turn up, do an interview, do the TV, do a radio show, but none of that self-promotion on TikTok, which I’m incredibly not good at. It’s frustrating because a lot of it is data-driven now, the industry and radio stations and record labels seem to react to data, rather than reacting on their own accord and that can be incredibly frustrating.”
What’s your take on the state of the grassroots scene and venues at the moment as someone who came through that route?
“It’s incredibly difficult. I owe a lot to those venues, growing up and having a place where I could practice and develop my craft as an artist and it was a big thing for me. I’m not the most confident person in the world so to have that opportunity to help that and approach it in a way through playing live was absolutely brilliant. It’s a shame that we’re losing more and more of these venues, it’s incredibly important.
“Again, a lot of people will put a clip on social media and it goes viral and they’ll get signed off the back of that, and sometimes it turns out that when it comes to playing live, some of these people that have made it through such ways, they’re not quite ready for to be playing live sometimes. Maybe that’s because of the lack of venues, I’m not too sure. I really hope that those things start to turn around. It’s also an incredible part of our culture, music, and it's a great export for us as a country as well. I really think there should be some funding or programmes put in place that really help up-and-coming artists. It’s a big part of who we are.”
Interview by Niall Doherty
PHOTO: Kevin Westenberg
