Jake Bugg: For The People

Revered British singer-songwriter, Jake Bugg sits down for an exclusive chat with Headliner about his musical journey so far, and reveals how he's been getting creative with production during lockdown. Here, the bluesy indie folk lad from Nottingham - whose attitude to music suggests he’s way beyond his years - talks BBC Introducing, organic recording and composition, working with Rick Rubin, and teases his fifth studio album.

Jake Bugg has become somewhat of a household name now after bursting onto the scene 10 years ago. Gigging right up until Coronavirus halted live events in the UK, he played a handful of warm-up shows ahead of the release of his new as-of-yet untitled album, including gigs at London’s Roundhouse and Nottingham’s legendary Rock City.

Since then, he’s been cracking on as normal, playing a lot of guitar (and computer games!) and of course releasing records, admitting that it’s been nice to stay in one place for a little while.

These days, Bugg’s unique, edgy vocal can often be seen and heard at some of the biggest festivals, but it was back in 2011 when he first appeared on the BBC Introducing stage at Glastonbury when he was just 16 years old.

“I originally auditioned for Glastonbudget before and I didn't actually get the gig,” he tells Headliner. “But then I got a phone call from the BBC the next day, asking if I wanted to play the real thing!”

For those who are unaware, Glastonbudget is an annual three-day music festival that takes place in Leicestershire, which initially started as a festival for tribute bands and has expanded in recent years to include a showcase for new acts.

Bugg grew up listening to the likes of Neil Young, Paul Simon, and Bob Dylan, who have had “big influences on me,” he says. “I just try to take as much as I can from those great artists, and then try and do something that I enjoy myself, and make what I can of it really.”

After playing that first Glasto as a teenager, Bugg signed to Mercury Records and his musical story truly started to unfold. Rather amusingly, his formative musical moment came when he first heard Don McLean’s Vincent on an episode of The Simpsons:

“I was probably about 11 or 12, and all I was interested in was football. When I heard that song I just started listening to music a bit more, and then when I got my first guitar, all that stuff started coming into the fold.

“I had a crack at studying music tech, but that side of it wasn’t much for me. I did a couple of courses, but for me personally it was all about writing, getting onto the stage and developing my craft out in the city. From when I was about 14 or 15 there were a few local venues that gave me the opportunity to play and get a leg up, which I'm very thankful for.”

Bugg’s eponymous debut album was a massive success - certified double platinum - but it wasn’t until his second album when he started working with legendary American record producer Rick Rubin in L.A:

“When working with Rick, I met a couple of new musicians like Chad Smith from the Chili Peppers who played on the record, and my friends Jason Lader and Matt Sweeney who I also ended up writing a couple of songs with for the record.

“To be honest, I didn't have much knowledge of a lot of the stuff he'd done, being as young as I was, but the experience itself was phenomenal. It's something I look back on now, and I just can’t believe I had that opportunity.”

Subliminal or not, the time spent with Rick Rubin must have had an effect on Bugg, because it was soon after this point that he started doing a lot more self-producing. He acknowledges that keeping himself busy on the production side during lockdown has been one of the things keeping him sane:

“I’d worked with a lot of different writers and producers, so probably from my third record onwards it was a little more experimental. I just wanted to take that time to develop everything I’d learned and get to know my capabilities as a writer - it’s always nice to be working with new people and learning the next set of tools. If I didn’t have music I'm not too sure what I’d do with myself!”

Bugg is known for wearing his heart on his sleeve, yet has there been any change in his style since he found himself in this sort of solitude?

“Not so much in terms of the music that I release, but I like to experiment a lot and mess around with things like samba guitar now, and always try to learn new things.

“In the afternoons I'll usually work on the songs that I think are going to be better for audiences to hear, and if it's late at night then I'll do something a bit more soft and instrumental. And then after I’ve cracked a couple of beers the electric comes out and I’ll just rock out for a bit.”

Bugg tells Headliner that he’s got about two albums worth of songs in the bank, and has probably written more songs for his upcoming record than any other, “but obviously with everything that's going on now it's hard to judge the best time to release,” he says. “Me and my label decided that it was best to keep releasing tracks early, which I've never done before. It's always been the more old fashioned way of putting the record out, then the singles, but I just wanted to keep putting music out there for people to enjoy.”

While Bugg has been touching up on his production, he is recognised for his raw, unpolished vocal and guitar skills that are second to none:

“I think that is something that’s just come along with modern production. I feel like with a lot of the music we have today, the production a lot of the time is the song. Sometimes it's a battle of who wants to be the loudest, but I just care about the song itself, and to be honest, I like recording songs in different styles, and just trying to pick whichever genre is best for the song.

“By the time I left Mercury it wasn’t Mercury anymore - it was Virgin EMI, and a lot of the people I’d started working there with weren’t there anymore,” he recalls. “It can be a difficult decision of which new label to choose, but for me it was relatively easy. A lot of the people at RCA [to which Bugg has been signed since the end of 2018] are the ones that I originally worked with at Mercury, so it's nice to be in with the same people that see your vision and know your worth, and put trust in those who you think are going to do the best for you. I'm just glad for the situation I'm in now really, with hopefully new and better things ahead.”