 The
music of Just Jack- or Jack Allsop as he was born- is hard to categorize.From
the funky disco beats of his forthcoming single Starz In Their Eyes to the
electro ‘80s pop of I Talk To Much, there is something for anyone searching for
music that is a little bit experimental and different. But the Londoner, whose lyrical style is
compared to that of Mike Skinner of The Streets, is determined not to be boxed in by
the confines of genre.
“I think when something has to be pushed into
a little space. It’s a bit painful really. I think it can make people be less
experimental as well because they don’t want to step outside their genre or
whatever, but I also said to myself that I would make music that would be
virtually impossible to put into a little box,” he states. “It lets people know what the music’s like
without hearing it. That’s the
difficultly. When people say to me can you describe your music? Well not
really. I can’t sort of say it’s a bit of this and a bit of that, although it
is a bit of this and a bit of that. It’s difficult in that way, but a lot of
people I think don’t need to know what something is”.
Just
Jack released his debut album in 2003. Outer Marker was released on RG Records,
which was managed by Carl Smith of Madness.
“He just really liked my music and
he had an office in Camden
which is near my house, and I went down there and spoke to him and he signed
me. It was really quite a strange thing to happen,” he recalls. “I wasn’t a massive fan but I did like them
and when I realised who he was in a video I was like sh*t man!”
Unfortunately
the label went bust, but now signed to a major record label Jack is finally
able release album number two, Overtones, which will hit the stores late
January. “I’ve learnt a lot more about how to make music because I was only
really learning at the time, I’ve learnt about doing live stuff much more and I’ve
learnt how to deal with the industry a bit better,” he says.
At
the age of eight Jack had originally wanted to be a break dancer. He realised that he wasn’t actually that
good at it, but it was what got him interested in electronic music and hip hop.
As he puts it: “I suppose you were either
that or a New Romantic or whatever. I’m
not ‘new’ or ‘romantic”’. Then when
he was fifteen he tried his hand at deejaying.
“My best mate got some decks and we started
mixing. So we were mixing and putting
on parties and that sort of thing, but for a long time, I didn’t really have
the self promotional skills to be a DJ which you need to have,” he explains.
“I knew a lot of people who were very
chatty, like going out and kind of wouldn’t take no for an answer. They were
getting work, I wasn’t because I couldn’t be bother”.
A
career in music still seemed a long way off as he studied for a degree in
furniture design, but his interest in making music continued. “When finished university I did a course,
learnt how to use a sampler and just started making instrumental tunes, beats
in my bedroom,” he remembers. “It was
very ramshackle, not sophisticated whatsoever.
I just did that for years until slowly it got better and better”.
British
hip hop has yet to make the impact in the mainstream that the likes of Kano and Sway had promised while US stars Eminem, 50 Cent dominate
the charts. But hip hop head Jack doesn’t think that these acts necessarily
need to break into the mainstream.
“To be honest if those people can make a
living and can continue making music then that’s job done at the end of the day,”
he reckons. “I think that maybe a lot of the US stuff that comes over is dumbed
down kind of pop hip hop. Of course if hip hop’s made to be pop then the
mainstream’s going to pick up on it, whereas if hip hop’s made to be hip hop
then people aren’t going to. I just
think it’s sometimes a bit too intelligent for the mainstream”.
Although
he may not be a huge fan of over pampered hip hop stars, Jack does have a few
kind words for indie band, the Kooks: “I
went to see them the other day in Paris and although it’s not my kind of music,
I thought for what they do it was f*cking wicked”.
So
what does the future hold for the artist known as Just Jack? Does Jack have a
game plan?
“A game plan? No way!” he laughs.
The
single Starz In Their Eyes is out on 15th January followed by Overtones on
29th January.
For
more info: www.justjack.co.uk
Words:
Helen Duong
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