Jake Bugg: On growing older, battling cynicism, and working-class pop music
Jake Bugg performing on stage during the Teenage Cancer Trust show.
When singer Jake Bugg was 17, his world flipped upside down.
He’d grown up on a hard-knock council estate in Nottingham and watched many of his friends go down the wrong path.
But then, while still a teenager, he released his debut album, and to his astonishment it went straight to the top of the charts.
Too young to drink, barely old enough to drive, he was suddenly a superstar.
It took a great deal of adjustment, and he initially struggled to get his head around his overnight success. He was a deer in the headlights.
“I was definitely angry when I was growing up,” says Bugg, who is promoting his new album,
“You don’t know a lot about yourself at that age. Not as much as I would have liked to.”
Bugg is a peer of the late One Direction singer Liam Payne.
They were born within 12 months of each other, and both grew up in humble circumstances in the English Midlands.
Musically, they are very different, but became famous around the same time.
This interview was conducted before Payne’s tragic death at age 31 — and the ensuing soul-searching about the duty the music industry owes to young stars.
But Bugg talks movingly about his own journey from obscurity to celebrity.
It was quite a rollercoaster, though he recalls always being determined to make his dreams a reality.
“I don’t know if it was arrogance,” he said. “It was more I had to believe I was going to do this.
"Whether that was playing in front of two or 10 people every night, I knew this was what I wanted to do.
"When it did eventually happen, I was ‘oh, this is what I was hoping for’. At the time you’re living in the moment, taking every stage as it comes.”
There was a lot of attention very quickly. The single ‘Lightning Bolt’ became a huge radio smash — earning comparisons to The Beatles and Bob Dylan. Bugg was feted by and the .
By 2013, he was dating model and actress Cara Delevingne. He later became the official shirt sponsor of his beloved Notts County soccer team.
In a finger-click, all his dreams had come true. And yet, he never felt he was in a position to put his feet up and enjoy his success. He’d come so far so quickly — could it all really be happening to this kid from Nottingham?
“You don’t know where [your insecurities] are coming from,” he said.
There were a few missteps. In 2013, he had a bizarre one-way feud with One Direction, whom he criticised as “not a proper group” who “didn’t write their own songs”.
“They’re there to look good. Music-wise? I assume they don’t really have a clue,” he told ITV news — which prompted 1D to hit back, with Louis Tomlinson tweeting, “Hi JakeBugg do you think slagging off boy bands makes you more indie?”
He has become more thoughtful with time, and his feelings have taken on a greater nuance. He doesn’t regret anything he said, but he has moved on.
If people get a kick out of pop music, good for them. It’s not for him, but who is he to judge?
“A lot of the stuff I said when I was younger… I think the points were valid. How I delivered them was done very poorly,” he said.
“This is something you learn as you get older. If people enjoy that kind of music... it’s not my place to say whether or not they should be listening to that. I think my views were [valid] but executed poorly.”
He may have moved on, but he hasn’t forgotten where he came from. The new album is inspired by memories of his childhood — his scrappy upbringing on a huge estate.
There are songs about his youthful dreams and friends who perhaps lacked his single-mindedness and made bad decisions.
The plaintive single, ‘Zombieland’, for instance, is about someone sleepwalking through life — a moving evocation of how small your world can seem when you give up hope of it ever getting better (‘He lights a smoke before he leaves/Another day without a dream’).
“A lot of people as they get older and life doesn’t work out the way they want it, it can make you cynical,” says Bugg.
“It can make you have a terrible outlook on the world. But it’s never too late.
“It’s important that you just keep believing. Whatever it is you want to do, you should go for it and make the most of it.”
He doesn’t want to get political, understanding nothing is more boring than a rock star sermonising to his fans.
He nonetheless feels successive British governments have forgotten about communities such as the one he came from. That was certainly the case with the recent Conservative government, he feels.
“I try not to get too crazy politically but something’s not right. With the [UK’s new Labour government] hopefully we will finally get some adults in the room.”
The class divide in British society has found its way into the music business, with many new bands coming from privileged backgrounds.
With their rich parents paying the bills, they have the freedom to pursue a music career — knowing the world won’t end if things don’t work out. It was a luxury not afforded to Bugg.
“The more money you have, the more time you have to be honest,” he says.
“People who are from harder backgrounds, especially bands, these guys… they’ve got to work nine to five. And then they’ve got to find money for touring. They’ve got to find time to practice and to write. It’s incredibly difficult for them. It would be nice to see more artists from a working class background.”
He believes the music business is at a crossroads. It’s never been easier to release music, but if everyone has a voice, is there a risk genuine talent might be drowned out? That is his worry.
“I feel the market is saturated. Because of it, there are a lot of great artists and exciting artists that get left out a little bit. Which is a shame. A lot of it is social media and the internet. Because everybody has a voice, a lot of it gets drowned out a little bit which is quite sad. There are so many good artists out there. But now you have to have the whole package these days [ie a social media presence in addition to good songs]. There’s not a lot of support.”
Not that this will trouble Bugg who has continued to develop as an artist and, with , has released arguably his finest LP yet.
He’s older and wiser – yet the spark that drove him early in his career continues to burn brightly. This Bugg’s life has more than a few surprises left – and many songs still to sing.
- is out now. Jake Bugg plays The National Stadium, Dublin on November 21, see ticketmaster.ie
