The times, they are a-changing for Jack
It’s more than a decade since a Bob Dylan gig inspired Jack Savoretti to embark on the road to music stardom. But he tells MARION McMULLEN becoming a father has helped change his focus
SEEING Bob Dylan on stage was a life-changing moment for Jack Savoretti. He was just 16 at the time and had gone with a girlfriend to see the American star perform in Zurich.
“It was my first concert and I saw him on stage and realised people can do this,” laughs Jack. “I didn’t really know it was a job you could actually do. I had listened to Dylan’s records and here was this guy in front of the hall, playing.”
Jack, born in the UK to Italian parents, started writing his own songs as a teenager.
He released his first single way back in in 2006 but, ironically, it was when the Italian-Anglo singer-songwriter decided to quit the music business that he started to find success.
“You’ve got to make mistakes to realise what you really want to do,” he says philosophically of the decision to regain his own creative control.
His ceaseless touring has brought on board countless new fans and seen him sell an impressive 50,000 tickets this year alone.
Jack is also on the bill at the Virgin V Festival this summer, and will be joining John Legend on his European and UK tour in September and October.
The 33-year-old says he looks forward to the challenge of making fans of new audiences. “The fans are great, but playing for people who have never heard your music and winning them over is special,” he explains.
His actress wife Jemma Powell is hoping to join him for the festival dates, although Jack says their
two young children – Connie and Winter – are a little too young at five and two to join them just yet. “When it comes to work it is better for us as a family if we do not plan too far ahead,” he points out. “You just get stressed. Normally I know what we are doing a couple of months ahead. I know what I am doing now up until the end of September, but I never take the children with me really. They are too young for the road, but they see me on TV and they like the music.
“Just being on the road, on the motorway, it’s a tough one. There are difficult sacrifices to make. I have to keep the ship afloat and everything is always very much for my family.
“I think it makes you less selfish. I value the big things in life – being a husband and father. I think as you get older you care about different things.”
Jack’s own paternal grandfather was a partisan who helped liberate Genoa from the fascists during the Second World War. His mother’s father was a refugee who made his way through war-torn Europe to raise a family in the UK.
Jack’s 2015 album Written In Scars – which he has described as a love letter to his wife – was a turning point and became a top 10 hit, while his latest offering, Sleep No More, has established him as one of the UK’s biggest male artists. His music has also been heard on American TV dramas such as Grey’s Anatomy and One Tree Hill.
“Music is a job, it’s my job,” he says simply. “I’m always thinking about the next album. I never really switch off. The songs are always just bubbling under. I’ve been touring the recent album and I choose not to write while on the road, but sometimes they creep up on you and bully their way into your consciousness. They can be overwhelming.”
However, Jack admits he still feels awkward in front of the camera, although he enjoyed working with actor and friend Rafe Spall on the music video for the single The Other Side of Love.
“We’ve been friends for a long time and I think he is one of the greatest actors in the UK right now,” he smiles. “I met him through my wife. They were at the National Youth Theatre together.
“I feel strange doing music videos, I’m not going to lie. It’s not a natural side to me, but I loved doing that one and getting the chance to see Rafe at work. It was a joy.”
JACK Savoretti is appearing at the Virgin V Festival over the weekend of August 19. Go to vfestival.com or jacksavoretti for details. Festival headliners are Jay Z and P!nk and the line-up includes Ellie Goulding, Stormzy, Emeli Sandé, Craig David, Dizzee Rascal and Busted to name a few.