YOUNG HEART, OLD SOUL

Country folk British singer/songwriter Jake Bugg lets us in on his music during his debut stint in Kuala Lumpur

HE IS A LITTLE bit country, a little bit rock ‘n’ roll. He’s a little bit of Memphis and Nashville, with a little bit of Motown in his soul. Yet, with all the varying music styles his studio albums have to offer thus far - from the self-titled debut in 2012, to the most recent Hearts That Strain in 2017, one would find it hard for such a niche style to come from a 24-year-old singer/songwriter, let alone one who spent all his life in Nottingham, instead of the open country road across the Transatlantic.

Suffice to say, Jake Bugg is very much an old soul wrapped in a young heart; we might even go so far as to claim that he is some sort of a Johnny Cash reincarnate. Those present at his surprisingly sold out show at The Bee in Publika end of April, would have an idea what we are on about.

If not, we did catch up with him hours prior to his gig that day, and picked his mind a little on the music he fancies and creates, despite the heavy jetlag that had been weighing down on him since he started his Hearts That Strain world tour last June.

Your music style has always been a li le indie folk, a li le country folk, and a li le bit rock ‘n’ roll, amongst the four studio albums under your sleeves thus far. Has there always been a conscious decision for the music style you’d explore for each album?

There has never been a conscious decision of sorts in what kind of style I’d go for when putting together an album. Yes, I’ll always want to do something different to keep things exciting for me as a musician, as well as for the listeners, but at the same time, I don’t like to think about - at least not consciously - what I’m about to create next. I’d rather things be more fluid and organic, and out of instinct than anything else.

When commenting about this album to the media, you mentioned that “this time around I just wanted to write the tunes and record them with great musicians.” Who would you say is your most memorable collaboration on this album?

I thought it was pretty cool to have Dan Auerbech of The Black Keys to co-write and co-produce the album with me. We brought our music all the way out to Nashville, and we had the privilege to work with The Memphis Boys, the house band who used to work in the American Sound Studio, and has once laid down memorable tracks with music legends like Elvis Presley and Dusty Springfield; I felt that I’ve learned quite a bit from those guys. One of the musicians from the band that I’ve seen performed and really enjoyed playing with was the pianist/keyboardist Bobby Wood. What he brought to the plate may just be real simple piano lines, but already, I feel that he’s added so much more soul to the record and music. I don’t know how to put it into words, but he just picked all the notes that I love.

What other musicians do you look up to?

I really appreciate musicians who have a very individual style with their instruments, as that’s