“It’s all about survival”: Jake Bugg on new album A Modern Day Distraction

On October 4, UK singer songwriter Jake Bugg releases his new album A Modern Day Distraction, a bracing return to his guitar-driven roots that explores how the social and political issues of today are impacting people in their everyday lives. Headliner caught up with the artist for an in-depth look at the inspiration behind the record, as well as a glance back at the highs and lows of a 12-year career that has now spawned six albums and counting…

You can listen to this interview here or read on below.

It seems hard to believe that Jake Bugg has only been making music for the past 12 years. To navigate the release of six albums across a decade-plus in the music industry as it stands today is no mean feat. Indeed, there are many an indie rock act out there who would even consider six albums in double that time par for the course. With so much music recorded and released in that time it simply feels like he’s been around much longer than he has.

When Headliner joins him over Zoom from his living room, he still bears more resemblance to the boyish bright star that emerged back in 2012 as opposed to the world-weary troubadour that his half a dozen albums might suggest. In conversation, however, he has demonstrably learned valuable lessons from all that he has enjoyed and endured to date. From the initial chart-topping success of his self-titled debut album and its well-received follow-up Shangri La to the middling reviews of some of his later work, he has experienced the ups and almost inevitable downs that arrive in tandem with an excessively hyped explosion onto the scene. Today, it seems he's almost managed to tune out any external noise, instead focusing on making the music he wants to make, with little regard for what anyone else may think.

It's an approach that appears to be serving him well, as A Modern Day Distraction is without question the most urgent and energised he’s sounded in a long time. His influences, namely The Jam and The Clash, are worn proudly on his sleeve, as he spins tales of everyday lives and everyday struggles to a driving musical backdrop that recalls the most immediate moments of those first two records.

“With everything going on, they are subjects it’s hard to avoid,” says Bugg of the themes that dominate the record. “The first song we wrote for the album was Zombieland. It starts off with this one character who feels like he’s stuck in this circle in life, and then it developed from there. We thought maybe we had some kind of concept here. It’s something that needed to be addressed. And my last couple of records haven’t really touched on that stuff, they have been a bit more pop. So I felt this was a record where it was better to play to my strengths.”

Having made forays into pop and country with his most recent records, A Modern Day Distraction places the electric guitar front and centre, with the return of Bugg’s live band to the studio – the first time since his debut – adding further to the lively, spontaneous feel of the album.

“I didn’t want to be as shy with the guitar on this album,” he smiles. “It’s probably the most guitars I’ve had on an album. But everything on here serves a purpose - each melody, each line, each guitar part. We really scrutinised everything. And having my live band on the album definitely brought a bit of heart and soul to the record.

“This sound is something I’d always have come back round too,” he continues. “This album feels to me and those who have heard it like a natural progression from the first two albums. In that time there has been a lot of me trying to experiment, trying new things. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t. But I think it’s those roads and adventures that lead you back to where you should be, so it was a conscious decision to play to my strengths and have more of those influences I grew up with in there than more recent ones. I would have always ended up back here, and the next album will probably be quite different to this one, but it’s nice to know I can get back to that place where its best for me.”

This talk of a return to Bugg’s roots prompts a glance back to those first records and the various paths he’s trodden during the intervening years. He has, he explains, always sought to mine different influences and genres in the pursuit of his own musical evolution. Yet, he accepts, his best work tends to reveal itself when following his most instinctive impulses.

“If anything, I’ve got more disciplined when it comes to writing,” he ruminates. “When you’re younger you’re a bit lazier and you think whatever you do is great [laughs]. But as you get a bit older you realise the more you learn the less you know. There have been times like on the last album where I consciously wanted to make a pop record, and there are some good songs on it, but I feel like my best stuff comes from an instinctive point of view.

“It’s usually when you’re just sitting around strumming a guitar and you go, ‘Oh, there might be something there’. Then comes the hard work of it being a puzzle and you have to put a structure in place, make it more interesting. And then you just write from what’s coming within. I definitely work best when I’m not thinking about it so much.”

We broach the subject of how much music he’s made in a relatively short expanse of time. Has he ever considered taking a break? A moment to pause and reflect on all that has come before?

“It’s a very difficult industry to stop in really, because there is so much new music coming out all the time and you are competing with more music than ever,” he says thoughtfully. “People have relatively short memories, so you have to keep going. It’s more about survival at this point, when you’re not the new artist and not everyone wants to interview you every day. When I was making the third album that was a very hard period for me; it’s never just an upward trajectory. You have lows as well. But at the same time, I haven’t really stopped. I stopped touring during Covid so it was nice to have a little break there, but even during that period I was working on the soundtrack for the Ronaldinho documentary (Ronaldinho: The Happiest Man In The World) which was a lot of work, and by the time I’d finished that we were back out on the road promoting the album from 2021 (Saturday Night Sunday Morning).

“Without sounding too spiritual about it, one of the reasons I haven’t taken a break is because music has given me a life that I’m so fortunate to have,” he continues. “It’s a lot of people’s dream to do this for a living and fortunately for me I get to do it, so I feel in that regard like I owe everything back to music. I’d feel guilty if I stopped writing or recording. It’s all I know how to do. I feel quite worthless when I’m not doing something to be honest. I can relax for a couple of days and then I feel like an absolute loser because I haven’t done anything [laughs].”

With A Modern Day Distraction still a matter of weeks away from release at the time of speaking, Bugg is already working on ideas for album number seven. His focus is fixed squarely on making the best music he can without second guessing what fans or critics might expect.

“The funny thing is that when you make an album you always think it’s the best thing you’ve done, until it gets released and then you see the criticism and think, oh yeah, maybe it wasn’t that good,” he laughs. “I know it’s a cliché but I probably am my harshest critic. I look back at my third album and think, I’m better than that; I could have done better than that. But that’s the kind of mindset it’s given me. I won’t just settle for something that I think is ‘cool’. It has to mean something. Those are things that you learn, and I have been lucky to get away with that period. I also realised I should just stick to making the music I want to make.

“I know the fourth album (Hearts That Strain) is not everyone’s favourite, but I really wanted to go to Nashville and make a record with those country and folk musicians. I love that album. And I got to meet some great people along the way. So, it’s about the journey as well. If you can look back at the experience you had making an album and have fond memories then that’s brilliant.

“I’m sure there will be some records I make that are absolutely terrible as well,” he closes with a chuckle. “Some of my favourite artists have made albums where somebody should have probably gone, ‘are you sure you want to release that’?! It happens, but you have to write some bad songs to get to the good ones. It’s just part of the process.”