At just 30 years old, Nottingham singer-songwriter Jake Bugg has released his sixth studio album, A Modern Day Distraction. We caught up with the singer-songwriter to reflect on his eventful career, how he thinks Ireland is a 'country full of music lovers' and why he wonders if he would get a record deal in the current climate.
A Modern Day Distraction, Jake Bugg's sixth studio album, finds the Nottingham singer-songwriter on rare form. Fired up, lively and with an undeniable immediacy, the record takes aim at societal inequality, shining a light on injustices he's seen all around him.
He described the process of making the album, which was produced by Metrophonic at Metrophonic Studios in London, as "really great".
"We all share a similar music taste, which always makes things a bit easier as well and they just totally got me and the kind of stuff that I enjoy doing. We put a lot of a lot of time and work into it, but I'm very happy with the result," he shared.
The record release was proceeded by the catchy and lyrically punchy singles Zombieland and All Kinds of People. Expanding on the album's theme, Bugg said: "I suppose in some ways it's kind of a concept [album], highlighting a lot of the social injustices of what's happening at the moment and the tough times people are going through.
"People might think it's easy for me to say, but it affects a lot of people that I know and it makes me quite frustrated and angry about it. And I felt it was important to highlight some of those things in this record."
Although he's clearly proud of his new release, which he revealed can't be said for all of his albums, he still feels a sense of apprehension that becomes "a bit overwhelming at times".
"It's funny, there's one or two records that I'm not particularly fond of from my own catalogue", he said candidly. "But at the time you always think that it's the best thing ever and then it gets released and the reviews come out!"
"But you know, it's fine," he added. "[I'm] nervous but excited."
This isn't his first rodeo. Bugg has been in the music industry since he was just 17 after being selected to perform on the BBC Introducing stage at Glastonbury in 2011. He went on to be signed by Mercury Records, although it was his mum who actually put pen to paper.
"My mum had to sign the [record] deal because I wasn't 18 years old. She started getting upset. I was like 'Don't get upset now, put that pen on that paper!'", he laughed.
When asked if his mum is proud of his achievements, Bugg said with a smile: "Yeah. She always insists on buying the record. She never lets me just give her one!"
His acclaimed self-titled debut album followed in October 2012 and went to No 1 in the UK charts and No 3 in the Irish charts. He's been busy making music and touring ever since.
The past 12 years have been "amazing", despite some ups and downs in the industry.
"It can be hard work, but you have to remind yourself of what else you could be doing. Once you remind yourself to have some perspective, then it's fine. But yeah, it's been crazy," he said.
"I've been very fortunate to work with some amazing people and tour with some of my favorite artists growing up. It's not all been great. There's still been some down points as well, but that's part of the journey and that's what makes the highs even more memorable."
The music industry is a very different place to when he started out.
"To be honest, I wonder if, in the current climate, I'd even get a record deal in the first place", he remarked.
"People still bought CDs when I put my first record out! It's just changed so much. You know it's funny - there's more music than ever, but the market being so saturated - it's quite hard for a lot of artists to get the opportunities these days."
The famously low-key but frank musician didn't bite his tongue when it came to his opinion on social media, which plays such a huge part in an artist's promotion these days.
"I dread it, to be honest. Management have tried to find workarounds, trying to get people following us around, but it's not for me.
"You always feel like you're constantly having to not do anything stupid pretty much," he laughed.
"All of my favorite artists I loved growing up - there was none of that sort of stuff. It's a funny thing because, you know, I don't like the attention.
"You go on stage and sing in front of people, but I do it because I love music. That's enough attention for me without the social media part of it."
He tellingly said later in the interview: "My dream would be everybody to know the songs and not know me."
Despite his mild allergy to social media promotion, he loves meetings his fans in real life.
"I find that inspiring itself, meeting the fans after [gigs]. When anyone tells you how you've affected their life... I sometimes can't believe that my lyrics would even have an impact on people. It always blows my mind, it never gets old," he said.
Touring is another aspect of the job that hasn't soured for him.
"Because I grew up on a council estate, and I didn't leave England till I was 17 and that was just to go to Scotland and that was exciting for me!
"To get to see the world doing the thing you love - I love every minute of it."
He is extra grateful to be on the road again after the confinement of the pandemic years.
"I think with COVID, having that two years off, it actually made us realise how much we miss it and how much we were excited to get back out on the road again," he said. "We've been loving every minute of the last few tours."
The singer is fond of performing in front of his Irish fans having played a string of dates here over the summer. He is due to return for a gig in The National Stadium in November.
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"The crowds have been absolutely brilliant. You can tell it's a country full of music lovers," he enthused. "There's so much great music everywhere. They go to the local pub there could be a great band playing in there.
"The crowds have just been excellent on this one, so respectful, but very lively."
Irish artists have been an inspiration to him since he was little.
"There was a lot of Fureys and Dubliners played in our household so I was always a big fan. I was on the same Jules Holland show as The Dubliners as well so that was absolutely brilliant to see those guys," he said.
And having broken into the industry as a slightly foolhardy youngster who infamously had a public spat with One Direction, is there anything he would like to tell his younger self?
"I think I probably shouldn't have said so much, like what I did about certain pop bands or something. But, it's funny, I think people sometimes forgot that I was a 17-year-old lad off a council estate," he said.
"They're gonna ask me what I think about pop music... But yeah, I mean probably should have kept my mouth closed. A little bit."
A Modern Day Distraction is out now and Jake Bugg is set to play The National Stadium in Dublin on 21 November.
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