Jake Bugg: The Biography

May 2014

The first book about Nottingham’s most successful musician also throws the spotlight on the city’s burgeoning music scene. Manchester journalist and author of Jake Bugg: The Biography David Nolan reveals why he wrote the book and why he thinks the city could be on the way to having its own Madchester...

Why write a book about Jake Bugg?

I was commissioned to do it by the publishers, John Blake, who are very keen on catching things at the right moment. The last two books I’ve done for them have been about, at the time they were commissioned, relatively unknown people: Ed Sheeran and Emilie Sandé. There’s an art to that. If you don’t get it right you end up with a warehouse full of books that no-one’s interested in.

So you’re a fan?

Yes. The hallmark of good music to me, most of the time, is that it’s played by a skinny lad with a guitar. I turn down offers to write books because I’m not interested in the music or I feel there’s no story there. With Jake, I like the music and it’s a great story.

The story being, that he’s the first major music star from Nottingham in a long time. If ever. And that he was leading a scene that is now enjoying recognition nationally. How long was it before you realised that was going to a major part of the book?

I was unaware of the whole Nottingham story at the very beginning. I am now. It runs through me like a Blackpool stick of rock. As soon as I came to Nottingham last summer and started talking to people, that was what came out; ‘We’ve been waiting for this for such a long time’. In addition to that people said to me ‘Please don’t let this be a flash in the pan. Don’t let Jake Bugg be another Paper Lace.’ I was asking people like you, Dean Jackson, Mark Del, George Akins... when this book comes out, is it all going to be ancient history or is this the start of something? And you all said ‘this is the start of something’. And the names mentioned were people like Indiana, Saint Raymond, Kagoule... you were all on the money. It made me wonder if this is the last time it will happen. This could be the last city-wide music explosion that will happen in this country.

Why?

Because these days you can just as easily access music from Idaho as you can from Beeston. All the walls that existed years ago have come down. It’s hard to imagine it happening again, like it did in Liverpool in the early 80s, like it did in Manchester in the late 80s, which was the last one.

You think Nottingham is going to do a Madchester?

It looks like you might. The success of the music scene has exceeded everyone’s expectations. And Jake’s success is international. There are fan sites and Twitter accounts from fans in Indonesia, Brazil, France... to think that this is the same lad Gaz Peacham at the Maze remembered tipping up with a guitar on his back using a boot lace as a strap and thinking ‘he looks about 12 this lad but if he wants to play he can play.’ Even you guys at the Post, who have supported him right from the start, must be thinking ‘even we didn’t think he was going to be this big!’ So it’s a great story. From after school gigs at the Maze to Splendour and the Arena... and beyond. For a writer it’s a great story.

What has been the reaction to the book?

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve had tweets from Indonesia, Japan, Brazil, Poland, France... asking ‘can I get the book?’ That has completely taken me by surprise. It didn’t happen with the Sandé and Sheeran books.

And can they?

Of course. I’ll take one round their house if they want. With Amazon and Kindle, that book is a click away. It’s the same as music.

Did you approach Jake about the book, to tell his own story?

I approached one of his managers Jay (Hart) and initially he seemed interested but then backed off from the idea. I think it’s deemed to be a bit uncool to be in your own book anyway. And if he had been involved it would have changed the dynamic. It would have become like a ghosted autobiography. With an unofficial biography, I can write what I want. And I have.

What do you think is the key to Jake’s success?

There’s a musical history lesson with Jake Bugg, in terms of where he’s drawn it all from. People always mention Bob Dylan and Donovan but I can hear Glen Campbell, John Denver, Bruce Springsteen... and that is the secret of his success. He’s pulled it from sources than no-one else has. Three years ago if I’d have said the next big thing will be a teenage rockabilly, Johnny Cash, folk hybrid, you’d have spilt your pint.

Had you been to Nottingham before?

I’d been to the BBC with work before. Apart from that all I knew was that there were an awful lot of roundabouts.

And how did you find the city when you visited last summer?

I like that can walk everywhere. Everything is just 15 minutes away from the centre. And everyone was so open. If you had come to Manchester to write a book about the music scene, there’d be a gang of us at the train station sending you on your way. Because it’s a very insular scene.

What is your background?

I left school at 16 with no qualifications, was an apprentice journalist at the local newspaper, went on to magazines, radio, then television. I was a journalist and news editor at Granada, a producer and director, and worked on Tonight With Trevor McDonald until I left to write books. I got into it by accident. I did a documentary about the famous Sex Pistols gig at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester in 1976 that everyone claims to have been at. And someone suggested doing a book about it. Now I write, do a bit of lecturing and training. and still some TV documentaries.

Jake Bugg: The Biography (John Blake) is out now, priced at £14.99.

WE gave Jake's dad, David Bugg, 40, from Clifton, a copy of the book and this is his verdict...

It's quite surreal seeing your son's life documented in so much detail, from the age of around 13 when he became interested in music.

I have to say it's a fantastic book and well written. There's a lot of detail about the Nottingham music scene and rightly so. We have a very diverse scene and it is doing remarkable things out there.

It's not just about Jake but also the environment where he learned his craft.

And all the key players are mentioned like the Post and Zoe Kirk, the BBC and Dean Jackson, and all the bands he was playing with during the early years.

There is some information in there about Jake that I didn't know. The first few chapters made me realise just how determined and hard working he was when he was 14 and 15. A lot of the gigs he was doing when he was that age, I was unaware of.

He didn't know how I'd react if he said he was playing in a pub in Nottingham city centre so he kept me out of the loop. There was a chance I'd say no. The idea of my 15-year-old son playing in a city centre pub on his own, in a room full of people drinking alcohol, doesn't sit well with me but I probably would have been OK with it as long myself or his mum went with him.

His work ethic during that period really impressed me.

Reading it was quite emotional at times. Mine and Jake's lives touched and parted on a number of occasions as he embarked on his music career. His mum and I split up when he was quite young but I was just around the corner and I'd still be a dad to him. But there were things about his music career that I wasn't aware of.

The part in the book where Dean Jackson told him to get some CDs together to take to the workshop at Abbey Road... I didn't know Dean had told him to do that. But Jake came to me and asked me to do the CDs for him. I thought it was to send to A&R people. It's interesting to see where I fitted in with the chain of events.

There are things that are missing from Jake's story, such as his passion for football. He had no interest in any music up until he was 12 or 13. He was playing for quite a few teams and he'd got medals, trophies and certificates. At one point he was being scouted.

Then, all of a sudden, his uncle Mark gave him a guitar and the football just stopped.

He was writing and playing in his room but it was all hidden. I had no idea until he came to me to record him. And straight away I realised how much effort he'd been putting in to this new direction in his life.

I had a 32-track at home that I was using to record my own music. I recorded him doing three covers: If You're Going To San Francisco (Scott McKenzie), Empty Chairs (Don McLean) and Vincent (Don McLean).

This was before his voice had broken. I've a copy of that recording and no one will ever hear it. I think Jake would kill me.

I had another 16-track that I gave to him there and then so he could learn about recording.

There are a few mistakes in the book, such as him being named after the boxer Jake LaMotta. That's not true. When we first fell pregnant with him, my cousin Carl Duffy and I were great friends and his son was named Jake. We asked if he'd mind if we named our son Jake.

And he was never Jacob. It has always been Jake. It was annoying me so much that I had it changed on Wikipedia.

• 
  

The Swiines

February 2014

THE band opening for Jake Bugg at the Capital FM Arena tonight admit they’re more than a little nervous about facing 9.000 people in their home city.

“Every time I think about it my stomach’s going,” says The Swiines guitarist Scott Bugg, Jake’s 29-year-old cousin.

“The lads have been texting each other all morning. One of them is a mechanic and he’s serviced the wrong car. No-one can concentrate.”

Scott asked Jake if they could open for him at his biggest indoor gig to date, “as a bit of cheek” says Scott.

“I didn’t think he’d let us do it. He could have any band he wants. He said yes but I didn’t believe him. When he came round at Christmas he said ‘are you still up for the arena then?’ I thought, hang on, let me just change my pants.”

That he’s got his cousin’s band opening for him will no doubt attract accusations of nepotism.

“But he’s not going to have a substandard act on first when people have paid good money to see him,” argues Scott.

“He wouldn’t want us to embarrass him.”

The Swiines have been together for around eight years and a pre-fame Jake was an occasional member.

“He was always coming to gigs and in the studio and when we were doing interviews,” says Scott, who is an engineer by trade.

“When we lost our first bass player, Jake stepped in. He was only 14 but he was good. And when I broke my hand he played guitar for a few gigs.”

He jokes: “I’d say I’m about 99 per cent responsible for his success.”

He adds: “I’m just so proud of him. He deserves everything he’s got.”

That success inspired Scott and the rest of The Swiines to make more effort with the band, whose biggest crowd to date was around 2,000 people when they supported The Subways at Rock City.

Although have been on stage at the Capital FM Arena before in a battle of the bands competition..

“It has given us a kick up the backside,” he admits.

“That little rat has come along and done amazingly well.”

Scott is allowed to call him such names; he’s his cousin and best mate.

Every time Jake is back in Nottingham he heads straight to Scott’s house in Clifton for a few beers.

“Well, it’s where the party’s at,” he laughs.

“He comes round, we have a jam in the kitchen and have a few beers.”

As well as the Capital FM Arena tonight, their own headline show at the Rescue Rooms on Saturday and a support slot with Circa Waves at The Bodega on Sunday, next month they’ll support Reverend and the Makers at Rock City and then join The Rifles on their UK tour.

“I don’t want to say it’s all down to Jake” Scott says.

“We’ve been down London every week and getting a following.”

They played the Queen of Hoxton in London a couple of weeks ago and Jake was there to watch.

“We had to double security and get a room for him. I thought ‘hang on, it’s our gig not yours’” he laughs.

“I’m glad he came. It was a good gig, the vibe was there. He knows we’re up to it.

“Besides he’s got no choice but to keep us on the bill; I’d just tell our grandma and she’d slap him.”

He adds: “Jake has chucked us a massive bone and we are going to go for it. Now is the time to get two Buggs out there. I’m sure there’s room.”

Jake Bugg and Clifton zombies

February 2014

HE may be able to breeze through an arena gig in front of 9,000 people in his home city but when Jake Bugg sleeps he has bad dreams. Well, one in particular.

“I have a recurring nightmare that I’m being chased by zombies through Clifton,” said the 19-year-old yesterday, ahead of his headline show at the Capital FM Arena.

“I survive for ages but then at the end of the dream I always get eaten. I sometimes wake up sweating.”

He added: “Nothing else really bothers me but I do keep getting those dreams. I met a bloke the other day who had them as well so I think it’s pretty common.”

Where does it come from? Perhaps being chased in a dodgy tracksuit through the streets of Nottingham for his Slumville Sunrise video?

“My sister’s dad used to watch all these Seventies films when I was about four. It’s probably that,” said Jake, who has appeared in front of millions of people on US TV and attracted 40,000 people to his Glastonbury set last summer.

He started a UK tour last weekend and last night’s homecoming was his biggest one on the tour. In fact, it’s his biggest indoor gig to date.

“I have been to gigs at the arena. The amount of people there for the Kings Of Leon was crazy.”

And last night he faced the same size crowd playing songs from that self-titled debut and the follow-up, Shangri La, which reached No. 3.

His visit home was fleeting.

“I’m only back for the one day,” said Jake, who is off to London to the Royal Albert Hall today for the second of two workshops he’s leading with 16-18 year old music students.

“I can’t tell them how to write a song or how to sing or anything like that but I hope I can inspire them,” said the Notts County fan.

The first session was on Wednesday and part of it was to teach them how to play Broken, one of the singles from his million-selling self-titled debut album.

One of the students will then join him on stage tonight to play the song with him during his Albert Hall gig, in front of 5,000 people.

“We’ll see if they can nail it,” he said.

“If they can then it’d be great for them to do that.”

The last time he was home was at Christmas for three days.

“That’s the longest I’ve been here in something like two years.”

He didn’t move back in to his old bedroom at his mum’s in Clifton but stayed in a hotel.

“I was just knocking around and minding my own business. On Christmas Day I was round at my grandma’s with my dad,” said Jake, of David Bugg, who lives near Jake’s mum, Leeysa Kennedy, in Clifton.

“It was nice to have a break. It’s not like I’m going to be sat round at my grandma’s and she’ll say ‘Play Slumville Sunrise!”, he laughed.

“I saw my mum, my nana and grandad, my cousins Grant and Scott.”

Scott Bugg is the singer and guitarist with Nottingham band The Swiines, who opened for Jake at the arena last night.

“I think they’re a cool band but I might be biased,” he admitted.

“They’re a good act to have on before me to get the crowd riled up. They did a show in London last week and I went down to see them. It was pretty cool. The crowd were great. I haven’t been to a gig and had a few beers in ages so it was cool.”

Scott is ten years older and The Swiines have been around for eight years. Jake played with them a few times, even as young as 14.

He’ll still have a jam with Scott round at his house in Clifton when he’s back home but he’s a little too busy to play gigs with them these days.

The Swiines have secured support slots with Reverend and the Makers at Rock City and a tour with The Rifles.

Said Jake: “Things are going pretty well for them. Scott is writing some good songs. If he can keep doing that things could get even better.”

Jake, whose next single will be A Song About Love, has played across Europe, Scandinavia, the US, Japan and Australia over the past two years and he’s just booked his first tour of South America.

And that has meant back to back phone interviews.

“I did 26 the other day,” he sighed.

“And it isn’t easy when their English isn’t that good and the connection is poor. You feel like an idiot asking them four times what the question was.”

The most common question was about Noel Gallagher, whose band High Flying Birds, he toured with across Europe and the US two years ago.

He recently sent a text to the former Oasis guitarist asking about seventies musician Terry Reid.

“Apparently he got asked join Led Zeppelin and he turned it down. Everyone thought he was a bit stupid but he went on to make these cool records. There’s one called Super Lungs which is a cool album but my favourite is River.”

There was hope that he’d pick up the Brit Award for Best British Male Artist on Wednesday night as it was Gallagher presenting the awards but Jake lost out to the 67-year-old David Bowie.

He’s up against Bowie again in the same category at next week’s NME Awards.

Said Jake: “I never prepare a speech because I never expect to win.”

Jake Bugg: Shangri La

November 2013

WAYNE Rooney has more guitars than he has but the England star can’t play a note.
“He came to the gig in Manchester the other night and he wanted his guitar signed,” says Jake Bugg.
“He’s got about 40 guitars but he can’t play; he gets them signed by people. He said he’d got one signed by Paul McCartney.
“It was nice because he gave me the shirt he wore for his last England game against Poland and signed that.”
The Manchester Utd forward tweeted a photo of the meeting saying: “Just been to see @JakeBugg in Apollo. Great gig.”
On this tour Bugg has also had the likes of comedian John  Bishop and British tennis player Laura Robson turning up to see him.
“To be honest, I don’t know who most people are,” says the 19-year-old, making a rare visit back to the city.
He was only here for 12 hours before heading off again to continue with his sold out UK tour.
After checking in to his hotel (he no longer stays with his mum in Clifton), he went to see his cousin and “had a few cans.”
There was a lie-in,  a couple of interviews, then the gig at The Maze.
“I’ve only been back to Nottingham maybe three or four times this year. It’s pretty full-on.”
And it will continue. Tomorrow he’s heading to Scandinavia, then Europe, back to the UK, more European dates, then North America in the New Year.
“Hopefully the routing of the tours will be a bit more organised so we’re not going from New Zealand to Canada to Japan,” says Bugg, who kills time on the road by playing darts, table tennis, football and computer games.
In February, he’ll be at the Capital FM Arena, not just his first headline arena show but the first for a local musician at the city’s biggest venue.

“Yeah man, it’s great,” says Bugg, who headlined the Splendour festival in Wollaton Park in July.
“I never thought I’d be playing it. Obviously you dream of it but you don’t actually think it will happen. I remember how many people were there for Kings Of Leon; it’ll be crazy.”
Tickets to the Maze gig on Saturday afternoon were free to those lucky enough to win them through his website. It brought him back to one of the first places he played four years ago as a 15-year-old.
“It’s nice to do those little gigs again,” says Bugg.
“The first time I played The Maze there weren’t many people there. A lot of venues wouldn’t let me play because of my age. I played a few Monday night gigs in the little bar at the Rescue Rooms after school. People were eating their dinner and not taking much notice. I was probably wearing a tracksuit, maybe that freaked them out.”
Not as hideous as the one worn in the video for Slumville Sunrise, filmed in Nottingham by director Shane Meadows.
“That was a pretty bad one but that was the idea,” he laughs.
“It was a fun day shooting that. I was in Malibu finishing the album the day before. Coming back brought me back to reality. Although I was robbing a jewellery store in a shell suit with old ladies running after me, which I’d never done before.
“It was funny, man. I haven’t had that much fun for a while.”
The video featured Rosamund Hanson and Andrew Shim, both graduates of The Television Workshop. Its director has watched the five minute scene at the end of the video where Bugg has to deliver dialogue. He reckons he’s good enough to join the Workshop.
Bugg seems surprised: “Acting is an exaggerated version of yourself. I can probably express more emotion like that than I can by being interviewed. I’m not very expressive in interviews.
“I like the idea of putting myself in a situation that I’m not used to.”
There won’t be much of an opportunity for any more acting as the momentum gathers pace with the release of Shangri La next week.
It comes just 13 months after his self-titled debut topped the chart.
“Music is about making records,” he says of the quick turn around.
“You’ve just got to get on with it.”
Shangri La is released the same day as the new Robbie Williams album and it’s not a battle he thinks he’ll win.

Besides, if it does reach No. 1 next Sunday, it’ll mean knocking One Direction off the top spot and he’s not keen on the tabloids reviving his verbal spat with them.
Like the debut, Shangri La is a diverse collection, jumping from hillbilly Elvis, to Neil Young country rock, with a fair few folk and pop ballads.
Lyrically, it doesn’t name-check Clifton like the debut but still includes tales of working class life; of drugs and fighting.
“That life is strange to me now because it’s not mine any more,” he admits.
“I’m an outsider looking in from a completely different perspective.”
It was named after the studio in California where it was recorded by Rick Rubin, the co-founder of Def Jam Records and producer for the Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jay-Z, Metallica, AC/DC and Adele.
Rubin also revived the career of Johnny Cash during his final years with a series of acclaimed  American Recordings albums.
“We became friends and I’m sure I’ll go back to hear a few Johnny Cash stories because when I was there I had to be pretty focused on making the record and didn’t really have time,” says Bugg, who has sold a million copies of his debut album.
He has indulged in his passion for guitars, buying two vintage models worth over £20,000 each but he has yet to buy property, despite rumours that he had bought a house in Southwell and a Mercedes with the personalised number plate 8UGG.
“I don’t know what that was about,” he says.
“I can’t drive. And I’m not sure I’d live in Southwell. Is it a nice place? I’ve never really been.
“I’d like a little retreat in Malibu or a flat Paris.
“But I’m not in one place for long enough to buy anywhere. The two weeks that I recorded the album in Malibu was the longest I’ve stayed in one place for two years.”
Does he miss home?
“I miss the people. I don’t really miss Clifton because I was there for 17 years. I knew there was a big world out there and I wanted to see it. That’s what I’m doing.”

Shangri La is released on Monday. Tickets for his date at the Capital FM Arena on Thursday, February 20 are £22.50 from the venue, call 0845 413 4444 or go to alt-tickets.co.uk.

Jake Bugg

July 19 2013

HE is in London about to buy a guitar at a price that – after tax – rivals my annual salary.

And it’s not the first time that Jake Bugg has forked out a few quid for a vintage six string; in Nashville he paid $20,000 for a 1954 Fender Telecaster.

This time it’s a 1955 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop.

Still, when you’ve sold 800,000 copies of your debut album, what are you going to spend it on? And there’s wisdom in these purchases.

“Investments, man,” says the 19-year-old, whose return to Nottingham today is one of only a handful he’s managed this year.

“It might be a kid’s education,” he adds, looking toward a future that seems a long way off. For now it’s music that dominates the life of Jake Bugg.

So is that his thing, collecting guitars?

“No man, I just want something that sounds amazing. The guitars they made years ago... some parts you just can’t make anymore.”

Of the Gibson, he adds: “Any guitarist wants one. And it’s an investment. I can’t lose any money on it. It won’t deteriorate in value.”

He won’t be locking it in a vault but using it for recording and on stage.

“They’re meant to be played. But as much as I love them and want to play them, if I was ever in financial need....”

It doesn’t seem likely the way his career is going.

“You never know,” says Jake, who already knows he will be busy with recording and touring commitments well into next year.

His first guitar, given to him by his uncle Mark when he was still at school was, he reckons, about £30.

“I had that fixed up because it has a lot of sentimental value,” he says.

And he still has the Yamaha acoustic his mum bought him (£50, if memory serves), on which he wrote most of his self-titled debut album.

“I don’t take that on the road because I don’t want it to get broken.”

Since the No. 1 album in October there’s been a tour with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, shows with the Stones Roses, tours of the US (where he appeared on national TV and the album reached the Billboard Top 100), Europe and Japan and he’s halfway through recording his second album with legendary producer Rick Rubin, the man who revived Johnny Cash’s career with the series of American Recordings albums.

He’ll be returning to Rubin’s studio in Malibu at the end of August.

He has said that the album is going well but he needed to write more upbeat songs.

“Yeah, I could do with one or two but I’m not struggling,” he says, casually.

The album will reflect what he’s experienced over the past year.

“I’ve met a lot of people and heard a lot of crazy stories,” he says.

“I’ve just been writing about that.

“It would be very dishonest of me to talk about smoking and drinking and stabbings in car parks... I’m not saying that’s all that goes off in Notts because it’s not.

“But I’ve not spent much time at home because I’ve been travelling around.”

He adds: “I’ll never forget where I’ve come from.”

So he’ll be singing about buying expensive guitars and sunning himself on a California beach?

“Certainly not,” he replies before adding, “It is an inspiring place to write, though.”

Musically will it be similar to the debut that showed his love of 60s and 70s singer-songwriters like Donovan, Dylan and The Beatles?

“It’s hard to explain because I just write the songs,” he says.

“I like it. Whether everyone else thinks it sounds good... that’s up to them. I’m making the record I want to make. If people like it then great but, if not, I’ll just keep making records.”

This summer has been a busy one already. When we speak he’s just returned from Portugal. Last weekend he was at T In The Park and supporting the Rolling Stones in Hyde Park.

Prior to that it was Glastonbury.

“It was the biggest gig I’ve ever played,” he says of his second set on the Pyramid Stage, which was watched by an estimated 40,000 people.

Then he remembers there were 80,000 people at the Stones gig.

“That was the most amount of people I’ve played to but they were there to see the Stones. I told the band ‘when you get on the stage just think that no one knows who we are and if one person claps it’s a bonus’.”

Does he get nervous playing to so many people?

“It is a big crowd but they all look the same after the first few rows,” he says, with characteristic cool.

Does he scan the crowd and see how people are reacting?

“I’ve played those songs a lot of times so you’ve got to keep yourself occupied,” he jokes.

“It is interesting to see what people’s reactions and expressions are to certain songs. That helps you to develop your set.”

He describes the Glastonbury experience as “a bit mad.”

Says Jake: “Two years ago I played the smallest stage and then ended up on the Pyramid. That’s pretty cool.”

He’s been open about his dislike of festivals and didn’t make an exception for Glastonbury by only staying for his two sets.

“I had to get off anyway,” he says. “I’m doing festival after festival all summer.”

Although Glastonbury was bigger, Jake enjoyed T In The Park.

“The crowd appreciated it that much that it sent shivers up my spine, which was dead weird.”

The same may well happen today, playing the biggest stage in his home city.

“It’ll be the first festival I’ve headlined as well so it’s a massive thing for me. But as much as I’m looking forward to it and excited about being a headline act I’ve got to treat it like any other gig and play the way I play. I’ve got to give it 100 per cent, stay focused and try and give the folks a good show.”

He doesn’t mean his folks, although they will be there.

“They’re all coming down and it’ll be nice to see everyone. There will be a lot of people who want to chat and I want to be able to chat to everyone but I can’t really stick around that much because I’ve got to move on to the next show. But I will try my best to see everyone.”

Rebecca King

June 2013

Rebecca King, 23, from Clifton, is a mother-of-one and an aspiring singer/ songwriter who has performed in front of thousands of people as a guest on the Professionals On Ice arena tour...

I GREW up in Surrey and came to Nottingham four years ago to study for a degree in childhood studies at Nottingham Trent University.
My plan was to become a social worker or a teacher. I’d intended to do a PGCE after the degree but I had a baby in my third year. He’s 18 months old now.
I still hope to go back to university to do that, maybe by home learning when he’s in nursery full-time, or I’ll be an amazing singer.
The first recording of me singing was when I was three. It was my own song called Flower Shop. You can’t really understand any of the words, apart from Flower Shop.
I always did talent shows at school and I went to Stagecoach before doing a music performance course at college.
I sang at a fashion show in a club when I was at college and that was probably my first gig.
I’d grown up listening to very cheesy pop like Britney Spears, the Spice Girls, 911, Steps and Take That. But when I was at college my mind was opened up to a whole new world of music.
I really got in to Angie Stone, Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu and Raphael Saadiq.
I take a lot of influence from soul and roots reggae. My son’s dad, who I met at Trent, is from Barbados, and he introduced me to a lot of that music.
It’s funny because I never really wanted to go to university; I actually wanted to be a police officer. But in London, at that time, you had to become a PCSO first and that did not appeal to me at all.
None of my family are in the police. Both my parents are retired. My dad was in computers and it was a really well paid job but neither he nor my mum would spoil me and I’m thankful for that. It helped to prepare for me for university.
I had a great time at Trent. I wish I was still there now.

It was after I finished last summer that I started taking music more seriously, but I knew I needed to find someone to help me.
I heard William Kofi on Kemet FM one afternoon talking about what he does as a manager so I emailed him. I think after about ten emails he realised I was quite serious.
It was through William, who acts as my manager now, that I got to perform on the Professionals On Ice arena tour. It was very exciting to be a part of that. Although, it was offered to me five days before the first show at the arena in Sheffield.
There were about 2,000 people in the audience and all I could think was ‘please don’t fall on the ice’.
I wasn’t on skates but I had to walk in the dark across a carpet on the ice and on to the stage.
I did two songs at the beginning and two at the end. I sang two of my own called Come To Life and Damn It I Do and Christina Aguilera’s Ain’t No Other Man and Rihanna’s Diamonds.
It went down really well. The scariest bit was talking to the crowd in between the songs.
It was the first time I’d ever sung my own songs to anyone.
Now I do an open mic night every Thursday around Nottingham.
I’ve finished my album, Racing The Earth. There is a soulful undertone to the songs, so there are influences of Erykah Badu and Angie Stone but with touches of Aluna George. I love how weird but listenable their music is.
The first single from my album, called Damn It I Do, will be released in August.
For more information about Rebecca and to listen to her songs, go to www.rebeccaking-official.com

Jake Bugg

February 2013

AFTER playing the biggest show by a Nottingham artist last night, with a sell-out gig at Rock City, Jake Bugg will top that in July by becoming the first homegrown musician to headline the Splendour festival.
The 18-year-old from Clifton will follow in the footsteps of Madness, Pet Shops, the Scissor Sisters, Blondie and Dizzee Rascal by topping the bill at the sixth annual music bash in Wollaton Park.
“I just hope that everyone who goes along has a good time, that’s more important than anything,” he said with typical modesty about his latest achievement.
“It’ll be my biggest crowd to date. It’s hard to believe I was playing the courtyard stage two years ago. Going from the bottom to the top is great.”
Others confirmed for Splendour on Saturday, July 20 are Maximo Park, Squeeze and KT Tunstall.
George Akins, chairman of the DHP Group which organises the festival with Nottingham City Council, said: “It will be the biggest show by a Nottingham artist. It’s really exciting seeing him grow from playing the smallest stage just two years to the main stage last year and now headlining.
“He also has the Brit Award nominee, the No. 1 album... the stars really are aligned for Jake and Nottingham.”
He added: “And of course he’s the first Nottingham artist to sell-out Rock City.”
That was last night and was attended by his mum, dad and BAFTA-winning actress Vicky McClure, who appeared in his video for the single, Two Fingers.
Said Jake yesterday: “There will be a lot of people coming tonight who I know so it’ll be a mad hometown gig.”
It’s part of a sell-out tour, his first major outing since topping the chart in October with his self-titled debut album.
Last night was his first opportunity to party afterwards with friends and family.
“It’s a long tour so I have to look after my voice. It’s quite weird playing these big shows with 2000 people going mad, then afterwards I stick the kettle on and have a cup of tea.
“But tonight is a different matter because I have a day off tomorrow, so it’s going to be one of them.”
The tour will end on his 19th birthday on February 28.
But he won’t be back home in Clifton until April.
He calls his mum, Leeysa Kennedy, an IT worker, every few days but struggles to stay in touch with all of his friends and family.
He said: “I’m just so busy. I try to speak to people as much as I can. I remember who my friends are. They and my family are really important to me.”
Jake’s dad, David Bugg, a care home worker, also lives in Clifton. It was his brother who gave Jake his first guitar when he was 12.
At 16 he appeared on the Post’s online music show, This Is Live, where he was spotted by Nottingham musician Jason Hart.
“I thought he was the best thing I’d seen in 20 years; the most amazing voice and the most amazing songs,” said Jason, who now co-manages Jake.
“I took him into the studio we have in Colwick and worked on some songs. That was it.”
Aside form the No. 1 album and Brit Award nomination, Jake has toured the US and Europe with Noel Gallagher, opened a secret show by the Stone Roses and appeared on national television in the UK and US.
“I’m not surprised at the success but I am by how fast it’s been,” said Jason.
“I thought he would do well anyway because he’s real and I think that transmits. People buy into that. But I’ve never seen anyone have success like this so quickly.”
And it’s had a knock on effect with London record labels showing more interest in the Nottingham music scene than ever before.
Said George: “We are getting calls all the time, which is exciting. And I think that other musicians now feel that real success is actually within reach.”
Splendour will again showcase the best of Nottingham’s band and musicians across its three stages.
“We are moving some of them who have played before to a more prominent position on the bill.”
The opening act on the main stage will be a local artist chosen through a competition organised by Nusic.
Last week Jake made it in to the gossip columns when The Sun speculated about his relationship with model Cara Delevingne.
Said Jake: “You do have moments when you think ‘so, this is my life now’. But I knew that if I wanted to do this as a career there would be a few things that I’d have to deal with.”
When asked about Delevingne he said with a grin: “No comment.”
He’s not the first member of his family to have a taste of fame as his grandmother, who left Clifton to run a guest house in Mablethorpe, boasted to him that she was once asked out on a date by Buddy Holly.
“That’s what she says and I hope it is true because it’s a great story. It was when he was on tour and she was working in a theatre in Manchester. She said that he asked her out on a date. So I could be sat here speaking to you in a nice big pair of specs.”

Tickets for Splendour, priced from £15 to £37.50, go on sale at 9am on Friday, February 22. For more information go to www.splendourfestival.com.

Jake Bugg is No.1

October 21 2012

JAKE Bugg has thanked the people of Nottingham for helping him reach No. 1 in the UK albums chart.

The 18-year-old from Clifton beat pop superstar Leona Lewis in a close run battle to the top.

“The whole city has got behind it, been really supportive and I’m very grateful for that,” said Jake, who was told the news by his record label at lunchtime today, hours before it was officially announced on Radio 1.

It’s the first time a solo musician from the city has topped the albums chart.

There were just a few thousand copies between his self-titled debut and Lewis’  third album, Glassheart. The former X Factor singer had topped the UK chart with her first two albums.

How well did he know his closest chart rival?

Said Jake: “I know that she’s off X Factor and she probably doesn’t write any of her songs.”

He was typically laid back about achieving a No. 1 album at the age of just 18.

“It feels cool, you know. I’m just a bit tired. I’m chilling out.”

Then added: “It’s mad, isn’t it?”

Jake spent today nursing a hangover in his hotel in London after staying out until 3am.

“I had a bit of a heavy one,” he said. “I got hammered and had a bit of a laugh  with a couple of lads from my label. I think I fell asleep in the taxi.”

It was at the end of a long day of promotion that started with Soccer AM.

“Apparently I was the first Notts County fan they had on there. I really enjoyed it. It’s a bit of a mental show.

“Then I was on Radio 1 to do Vernon Kay, then XFM for a session, then another session with Ian Wright on Absolute.”

He said: “I wanted to try and get some sleep this afternoon but I don’t think there’s much chance of that.”

After more interviews he’ll be celebrating the number one tonight.

“I’ve a couple of my mates from Clifton coming down to see me so we’ll have a few beers.”

Even though he’ll be heading off to the US tomorrow to support Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds?

“It’s the only way if you are going on a plane for nine hours to have a few drinks the night before,” he laughed, adding: “And maybe a few on the plane as well.”

Jake has already played shows in Europe with the former Oasis guitarist.

“They were incredible, big shows, some of them 7,500 people. European crowds are great. They all got in early and watched the show and they were all listening. During the acoustic songs you could hear a pin drop.”

Did he speak to Gallagher?

“Yeah, Noel’s sound. We talked about football and stuff. No doubt there’ll be plenty of time to talk to him more in the States.”

Jake phoned his mum with the news of his No. 1 as soon as he heard.

“To think that he has achieved No. 1 in the albums chart fills me with such pride,” said mum Leeysa Kennedy, 40, a sales account manager for an IT company in Ruddington.

“I could hardly sleep I was so excited. And I think he has made not just myself and my family proud but the whole of Nottingham.”

Mike Atkinson, who included Jake in a piece about Nottingham’s music scene in The Guardian last year, said: “Jake is the first truly home-grown act to make it all the way to the top. And as if that wasn’t enough of an achievement, he’s done it with his debut album.”

Mark Del, who promotes local music through his organisation Nusic, said: “Jake’s success speaks volumes for the healthy state of Nottingham’s music scene, which gave him so much vital exposure in his formative years. Without that early backing – from venues, promoters, scene champions and local media, as well as his ever-supportive group of fellow artists – Jake’s climb to the top could have been a much harder one.

“The city is bursting with great home-grown talent, from every musical genre.”

Jake, who has sold out his shows at the Rescue Rooms on November 23 and Rock City on February 15, reckons his No. 1 album success could only be topped one way.

“If Notts County win the Premiership... with me in the line-up.”

Jake Bugg Vs Leona Lewis

October 20 2012

THE latest figures show that there are just a few thousands copies between Jake Bugg’s self-titled debut album and Glassheart by Leona Lewis.

But Jake is in the lead.

And if the 18-year-old beats the pop superstar to the top of the album chart tomorrow it will be a first for the city.

“It feels great,” says Jake.

“Whether it will still be No. 1 when the chart comes out I don’t know but it would be amazing. Especially with my debut album.

“I didn’t imagine that it would get in the top ten, never mind No. 1.”

The Official UK Charts Company will announce the results for the Top 40 albums on Sunday evening, as Radio 1 runs down the Top 40 singles.

As well as support on Twitter from the likes rapper Example and chart-topper Ed Sheeran, family and friends have been buying the album - even his own mum.

“I am so proud of what Jake has achieved so far,” says Leeysa Kennedy, who Jake lives with in Clifton.

“From an early age, Jake demonstrated an amazing talent where music is concerned.”

Says Jake: “My mates have gone out and bought it as well. It’s great that my hometown is getting behind it.”

His four best friends have had a taste of the limelight, appearing in the video for his latest single Two Fingers.

The song includes the line: ‘I go back to Clifton to see my old friends, the best people I could ever have met.’

Says Jake: “I went to school with Jas and Cameron, and Billy and Grant are my cousins. They’re in my Trouble Town video as well.”

Two Fingers also features Wollaton actress Vicky McClure.

“She’s lovely.” says Jake.

“I had to do a bit of acting in it. We had to improvise. She’s such a great actor and she really helped me with that.”

It was in 2010 that Jake appeared on the Post’s online video show, This Is Live, as an unknown.

“It’s incredible that I did that only two years ago,” he says.

It was his current manager, Jay Hart, who saw the video, got in touch and began working with him.

Jake signed to major label Mercury Records last year.

He has since been played on Radio 1, appeared on Later with Jools Holland and supported the Stones Roses at a secret gig in London.

On Monday he will fly out to the US for a tour with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Snow Patrol.

“It’s what I’ve always wanted to do,” says Jake.

“So if it means I’m really busy and getting a lot of attention heaped on me, well that’s the way it goes.”

Jake, who says he has heard of Seventies band Paper Lace, one of the city’s few chart successes, came home last weekend.

“It was nice to have a break but when the album came out on Monday the work started again.

“I won’t be back in Nottingham until my gig at the Rescue Rooms in November.”

That’s already sold out so he’ll return on February 15 to play Rock City.

“A couple of years ago I played in the basement at Rock City supporting a country band and no-one was there. So headlining on the main stage is a big thing for me.”

Potentially becoming Nottingham’s biggest music star at the age of 18 doesn’t phase Jake.

“I don’t really know anything else to be honest.”

He adds: “I enjoy meeting celebrities and the parties but what I enjoy most is sitting down and writing songs”.

Post reviewer Mike Atkinson, who last year had a feature on the emerging Nottingham music scene published in The Guardian, says: “This time a year ago, Jake was playing a late night residency at the Glee club. It’s been an extraordinary ascent.”

Local music champion Mark Del adds: “It's an amazing achievement for Jake and incredibly exciting for Nottingham.”

NOTTINGHAM'S ALBUM CHART SUCCESS

Swing Out Sister topped the chart in 1987 with It's Better To Travel. Singer Corinne Drewery was born in Beeston and grew up in Long Eaton but the family left for Lincolnshire when she was eight.

Ten Years After have been the city's biggest album sellers with millions of sales in the UK and US but the blues rockers never topped the chart, although they had eight Top 40 albums in the late Sixties and early Seventies.

Stereo MCs reached No. 2 and won a Brit Award for their 1992 album Connected. Rob Birch and Nick Hallam left Ruddington in their late teens and moved to Brixton.

Paper Lace topped the singles chart in 1974 with Billy Don't Be a Hero but their albums failed to chart.

Alvin Stardust, the '70s glam rocker who grew up in Mansfield, had two albums in the UK chart during 1974: The Untouchable (No. 4) and Alvin Stardust (No. 37).

Iron Maiden have topped the album chart five times and have a Notts connection; frontman Bruce Dickinson was born in Worksop.

The Wanted have reached No. 4 and No. 5 with their albums and the band features Newark's Jay McGuiness.

Jake Bugg and the Stones Roses

August 2012

“I HEARD about it last week when my manager phoned me and said: ‘Do you want to support the Stone Roses?’ and I was like ‘well, I don’t know really...’ (laughs).

“The guy who put the gig on had gone to the Stones Roses and said ‘you need to check out this guy; you need to get him on’.

“I did about half an hour on my own. I was nervous beforehand. I mean, Jimmy Page was in the crowd. And as a guitarist that was a bit mad.

But once I got on the stage, all that seemed to go out the window, I didn’t feel nervous one little bit and I got on with it. I could see a few of the famous faces knocking about while I was playing. There were only about 400 people there, so it was a bit mad.

“I watched the Stones Roses after and they were great. I never thought I’d get to see them live but to be on the same stage... I could have watched it from the side of the stage but I went into the crowd and stood on a step, so I had the best view looking over everyone. It was a great gig.

“I spoke to Jimmy Page afterwards and he was a really nice guy. I didn’t want to say ‘oh you’re a great guitarist and I like all your Led Zeppelin stuff’. I know he’d played on the Donovan track Hurdy Gurdy man, when he was a session player back in the 60s, and I said ‘I love your solo on that track’. It looked like his eyes lit up a bit. It probably made a change for him not to be asked about Zeppelin.

“I went for a fag with Miles Kane then went backstage and Mani told us to grab a beer. Then Ian (Brown) came over and said: ‘You’re brave doing those songs up on the stage, aren’t you?’ I can’t tell you what he meant, it’s what he just kept saying. I don’t know if he meant the kind of songs I was playing or that I’d gone on there on my own.

“Then I met John Squire and he was really sound as well.

“And I got to hold a silver medal. I couldn’t tell you whose it was but he said he’d trained in Nottingham. He was a swimmer, I think.

“And I met Wiggy and he was cool.

“I remember it being a great night and talking to a lot of people but it was quite overwhelming and a lot of it was a blur to me. And we had free drinks so...

“The people there were saying ‘thanks for playing it’ and I was like ‘what you on about? Thanks for having me on!’

“The Stone Roses gig was a blessing really because I was nervous about the Noel Gallagher one next week in London for War Child. You know, meeting your idol.

“But now I’m not even really thinking about it.

“I thought it was going to be a bill with a few acts on but it’s just me and him.

“And I think he’s playing on his own as well.

“I’ll be going to America with him and Snow Patrol on my own. Noel’s people were worried about the logistics of taking my band. It’s not hard for us to set up; it’s only bass and drums. At least I’m not going to have to pay as much (laughs).

“I’ll be doing Europe with Noel as well before the American tour and that will be with my band.

“I’ll be in Europe when my album comes out in October. I can’t get wait to get my hands on it. After America I come back here for my headline tour which includes the Rescue Rooms.

“I think America are on about putting my album out next year, which is great because not so many UK albums get released over there.

“I always knew I wanted to be a musician and make a career of it but I never once thought that I actually would get the chance.

“It’s wicked, man. I just hope and I can do the city proud.”

Jake Bugg

May 2012

HE rolled up to the TV studios at around nine in the morning with his band. And 14 hours later he’d finished his debut appearance on Later with Jools Holland, the UK’s flagship live music show.

The final hour of that long day was a live broadcast on BBC2, with 18-year-old Jake Bugg performing his latest single, Lightning Bolt.

But earlier in the day he and the rest of the guests, including Jimmy Cliff , Paloma Faith and The Hives, had recorded a second show, which is to be broadcast on BBC2 tonight.

“It was cool, man,” says the Clifton-born musician.

“It was bang on. To watch it on TV and then actually be there on it was crazy.

“Jimmy Cliff came over after and shook my hand. Paloma Faith looked after me because I was a bit nervous.”

Nervous? You’ve been on BBC TV before, on BBC 2’s The Review Show, which admittedly hasn’t the prestige of Later.

“Well, I was the new boy,” he says.

“And we had a couple of technical faults on the pre-record. There was feedback on the first song so we had to do it again. It made us look a bit silly, because we had to follow Jimmy Cliff. And then the mic stopped working on the second one.

“I was more relaxed about the live show than the pre-record.”

For that he performed his first two singles for Mercury Records: Trouble Town and Country Song.

“It was crazy because Jimmy Cliff was watching as I was performing. That was a strange experience. But he and Paloma Faith came over after and said they thought it was good, which was great.”

He admits not really knowing who the reggae music legend was until recently.

“I’m not going to lie, I only found out about two weeks ago,” he says.

“I asked a couple of people and when they mentioned his song (The Harder They Come) I was like ‘oh yeah...’

“I knew who Paloma Faith was. And she was incredibly nice.

“And I got to touch that dress.”

Aside from his performance resulting in the name Jake Bugg trending on Twitter, the social networking site was aflutter with comments about the singer’s bizarre outfit, one that resembled a kitsch toilet roll cover.

It was such a long day -- this was Tuesday - that Bugg needed a bit of shut-eye late afternoon.

“I was doing promo in the afternoon; photo shoots and interviews for The Observer and the NME. Because of the heat I had to have a couple of power naps before the show.”

Napping at your age? You’re only a young lad.

“Well it’s a long day for a young lad.”

He adds: “It was an incredible experience.”

As was his recent tour of Europe supporting soul singer Michael Kiwanuka.

“That was my first time out of the UK,” says Bugg.

“I got to go to Milan and Sweden... all over really. I think the biggest crowd on the tour was 1,500 people in Amsterdam. In Stockholm there were only 650 people but they were all completely silent, listening to me. And that’s pretty incredible for a support act.”

He did a bit of sight-seeing, mostly in Paris and Milan.

“It was weird to experience all the different cultures, although they’re not too different to us.”

It’s all a bit like Clifton then?

“No it’s not all a bit like Clifton,” he laughs.

“Well, some bits are.”

He still lives with his mum back in Clifton in the house where he first picked up a guitar to write songs.

Mum works in IT, while dad, who lives around the corner, works in a nursing home.

Music wasn’t Bugg’s first love. That was to play football, which he did for Nottingham City Boys, the cream of schoolboy football talent.

By 14 he’d lost interest and turned to music.

“Before I was 12 I didn’t have any interest in music at all,” he says.

“It was all about football. I was playing for four teams at one point. But when I picked up a guitar I lost interest for some reason. I’d sit in my bedroom and play the guitar for hours.”

He was inspired, not by the hip-hop his mates were listening to, but Donovan and Don McLean.

At 16 he was filmed for EG’s online music show, This Is Live, where local musician Jay Hart spotted him. Jay is now his manager.

Within a year -- and after a brief spell washing up at Clifton Fish Bar - he’d been signed to Mercury Records, the home of Rihanna and Kanye West.

His Dylan-inspired debut single, Trouble Town, was released in March and playlisted on Radio 1.

He says: “People have been comparing me to Bob Dylan and he is amazing, don’t get me wrong, but maybe a lot of people say that because they don’t really know Donovan. My mum always played Catch The Wind. Some of the songs he wrote are just phenomenal.”

His second single, the markedly different Country Song, can currently be heard on the TV ad for Greene King IPA.

Latest single, Lightning Bolt, errs more towards Jack White. Or, as suggested by a few tweeters, George Formby.

Bugg continues to work on his debut album, scheduled for release in October with songwriter and producer Iain Archer, ex-Snow Patrol.

Prior to that he has a summer of festivals lined up, including Dot to Dot in Nottingham next month and July’s Splendour.

“I think I’m having a little holiday in Ibiza,” he says.

“I’ve got a gig at Ibiza Rocks over there but there are a few days off before and after so it’s like a holiday but with a gig in between.”

Jake Bugg will be playing Rock City as part of the Dot to Dot festival on Sunday June 3 at 6pm. He’ll be on the main stage at Splendour in Wollaton Park on Saturday July 21. For more about him go to www.jakebugg.com.