After having the pleasure of watching Jacob Banks live, we finally got to sit down and talk with him about life, music and his EP which drops today.
Interscope artist Jacob Banks is the passionate, outspoken, yet introverted artist with a vocal range unlike any other. It’s amazing how someone, with a voice asΒ powerful and melodic asΒ Jacob’s, had little to no interest in pursuing music until only a few years ago. Jacob describes how music has been a medium forΒ expressing his thoughts and how discovering music was essentially him finding a new way to express himself, which he’s always been quite comfortable doing. We also learned about his writing process and how much he hates listening to his own released projects. Check out our interview to find out what Jacob had to say about his latest EPΒ The Boy Who Cried Freedom,Β which you can listen to below.
I caught your last performance in New York at the Bowery Ballroom it was amazing! Youβre one of the few artists that probably sounds better live. Which one of your songs is your favorite song to perform live and why?
I enjoy performing βMercyβ live I would say. When I do songs on records I always save a little, not for any reason, but I feel like on records you want to leave room for people to feel like they can sing along and youβre not trying to like over-sing because sometimes at a show you can appreciate that itβs good, but you might not be able to keep up with an artist. βMercyβ I feel like the version on the track is good, but I know I can show off more on stage so itβs fun to take it there.
Which one of your songs is your favorite in general?
This song called βSilver Liningβ off my last EP. I think it;s my favorite because it saved me. I was going through a lot when I wrote that song and it helped me get through it and it holds a special place in my heart.
Were you musical as a child? Did you always know you wanted to be a singer?
No, not at all. I was studying to be a civil engineer when I found music. I was never really musical. I was always expressive and music was just a form of expression could change in 5 years. I like to be able to express myself and music is just that form that does it. Iβve always been expressive in what I do, but I was never musical. Iβve always loved music and listened to music, but I never wanted to be an artist.
When did you start pursuing music as a career?
About 4 years during my last stage of university I kind of fell in love with it.
Were you immersed in the music scene at your university? How exactly did you get involved and get to the moment where you realize this is what I want to be doing with my life?
No, actually I just bought a guitar and started to play out of boredom and I learned to play off Youtube and taught myself and I used to sing along to my favorite songs and learned to play songs that I like. Iβd write songs with the same chords and it just kind of happened. My friends would hear me ask to have some of the songs on CDs so I would go to the studios to record these songs for my friends to play in their car and it kind of all spiraled out of control.
Did you ever think it would come this far?
Not at all, not at all. I always knew I would continue. Iβve never made music for accolades I think I make it say my my two cents. Iβm going to say it regardless so you might as well let me say it. I knew I was always going to be speaking my mind to whatever capacity.
Can you talk about your songwriting process? I know youβve said it has to feel organic, can you elaborate on that a little bit?
I think songwriting is a very organic process, so – I donβt think much of myself, not in a sad depressing way, I think Iβm a G, but in the sense that Iβve never had any lessons or anything geared towards music so thereβs no real reason why I should be able to write songs and sing and do all these things. Iβve never had any sort of musical influences in my family. I know a lot of people have had a whole string of events thatβs led them to where they are so I think songwriting is just being open and allowing yourself to be a vessel so theses songs can write themselves almost. I think thatβs the process really. I just sort of listen up to the chords snd let the music do what it wants to do, I just donβt get in the way of it.
I know Amy Winehouse has had a huge influence on you, can you talk about her and other musical influences youβve had as well as how you Nigerian/British background has influenced the versatility of your genre-bending sound?
Yeah there’s a couple people I like listening to, and a couple people Iβve found a little later than Iβd like. John Mayer is a massive one to me, Bob Marley, DβAngelo, Miles Davis and African artist called Fela Kuti. When I found music I didnβt know shit about genres or whatever, it was all just music. It all sounded like different people saying the same things in different ways so I think I take from all my experiences and memories and just try to put them together without trying to limit myself to a particular sound.
Can you talk about your EP βThe Boy Who Cried Freedomβ and what we can expect?
This EP talks about struggles a lot, lifeβs struggles, not in a dark way, it just comments on things Iβve seen growing up and things weβre going through now and going through struggles and having to negate through so many things at the same time. It talks about struggles and how Iβve dealt with them and how the world is, social commentary.
What distinguishes this from The Monologue or the Paradox?
I think the soundscape and subject matter are very different. This one is a lot more forward-thinking in the sense of digital introduction. Iβve used more organic and live instruments and this introduces a lot of digital instruments a lot of synth is used and a lot more trap based than the last ones.
When working on new material do you like to go back and look at previous work and each project influence the next or do you like to keep them completely independent of each other?
Once a project goes out I donβt think I ever listen to it ever again. I listen to them a lot before they go out. The week before they go out I listen to them everyday just because Iβm like wow people are going to hear all my problems. Once it goes out itβs no longer mine, it belongs to the people now. I try to never make the same project twice and they always move in a different direction and talk about new things. Theyβre all like different entities.
So how do you feel when you’re with friends or at an event and you hear your music playing? Is that strange for you?
I hate when people do that. People do it all the time. Like when Iβm around like – I donβt always want to be Jacob Banks, music for me is just an expression. I donβt always want to wear my musician hat, sometimes I just want to chill and talk s*** about the world. I donβt like when people draw attention to the fact that Iβm a musician or when people play my music out loud.
What are you currently listening to?
Right now Iβm listening to a lot of Afro Beats, thereβs a guy called Maleek Berry that I really love. Thereβs another guy called Moelogo. I listen to a lot of R&B, old 80s stuff trying to find gems and old cult records. The Drake album βMore Life.β
Whenβs your next upcoming performance?
Iβm doing a couple headline shows Iβm doing one in London on the 24th of April, which should be fun I havenβt done a show in London in years, then New York on May 4th and then May 11th in L.A. and then festivals.
