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.”

Jake Bugg

May 2013

AFTER months on the road in the US, Europe, Scandinavia and Japan, Jake Bugg was back in Britain earlier this week – for just 24 hours.
“I’m pretty tired,” says the 19-year-old, who woke up on Tuesday morning to join Nick Grimshaw on his Radio 1 breakfast show, where he was sounding pretty chipper.
“Well, you get so tired you...”
Go a bit mental?
“Yeah,” he admits.
“But I enjoyed it. It was a nice thing to wake up to.”
What Grimshaw failed to ask him about was his second album, which he is halfway through recording with Rick Rubin, the bearded rock producer who revived Johnny Cash’s career with his series of American Recordings albums.
“I knew about those albums but I didn’t know he was as renowned a producer as he is,” Jake admits.
“And I had Chad Smith from the Chili Peppers on drums; I didn’t know who he was; which was good because I took them at face value and just got on with it, making my tunes.
“I really enjoyed it. It was a cool vibe.”

Jake spent weeks at Rubin’s Shangri-La recording studio in Malibu, California, where Bob Dylan and The Band recorded much of their material (and Dylan used to live).
As well as Smith, there was Matt Sweeney, who played guitar on many of the American Recordings sessions.
Jake goes back at the end of August to finish the album, the follow-up to his self-titled debut, which topped the UK chart in October and has since sold 500,000 copies worldwide.
“I’m looking forward to it,” says Jake, who has a summer of festival appearances ahead of him, including Glastonbury and Splendour in Wollaton Park.
“It reminds you that’s what it’s about. I just hope it goes all right. But I’m happy with it so far.”
Is it like the debut? Or is there a new Jake Bugg sound, like disco or jazz-funk?
“There’s a bit of dubstep on there.”
He’s joking.
“It still sounds like me but it feels like a step forward. As if the first one was just a taste of what’s to come. You can kind of tell what I’ve been influenced by recently.”
He doesn’t mean musically as much as lyrically.
There’ll be none of the tales of growing up in Clifton that dominated his debut.
“I obviously can’t talk about smoking and drinking in the streets and stabbings in a car park when I’m enjoying the sunshine in LA,” he says.
The Cash connection continued while he was in the US as he dropped in on Sun Studios in Memphis, which gave birth to rock’n’roll in the mid-50s with the first recordings by Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. The careers of Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Charlie Rich, BB King and Howlin’ Wolf also started there.

Says Jake: “Sun Studios was cool, man. It was nice to play there and use the mics that Johnny Cash and all them guys had used; to be stood in the same spot, doing the same thing in the same room.
“I did a few demos in there for the album.”
He nipped up the road to Elvis’ home Graceland but says: “I didn’t actually enjoy it that much. I felt like I was intruding. I wouldn’t like a load of people walking around my house when I was dead.”
Jake tried demo-ing material in Nashville but the home of country music let him down.
“I went there to work with some of the biggest songwriters in the world and nothing came of it, funnily enough,” he says.
“The vibe was dead. It’s like they’d got complacent, like it was another day at the office for them.
“They’d get a track that was more or less finished and I was like ‘ no mate, let’s just pick up some guitars and see what happens’.”
And another thing... the video for Two Fingers, that featured Vicky McClure, was remade for the US release of the single. It doesn’t even feature Jake.
He swears a bit when asked about that. Then a bit more. He’s not happy about it.
The debut album was released in the US last month and it made it in to the Top 100, quite an achievement for a new British artist.
“I heard that it was going to fall out (of the chart) pretty quickly. That’s normal, apparently. You have to keep chipping away at it but you have to be there; they have to feel your presence, annoyingly.”
“Annoyingly” because he has other commitments elsewhere. He’s been in and out of Europe and Scandinavia for the past few months. When we spoke he’d just flown in from Japan.
“I didn’t have any sushi,” he says. “I had a lot of chicken and it was very good. And the people were really lovely.”

He told Radio 1 listeners how fans would be hanging around hotels and venues to see him.
“Yeah, they knew where you were staying. I’d come out of the hotel, my hair’s not even dry and there’d be some guy wanting an album signing.”
He adds: “It’s strange because there were a lot of people in Japan wherever we went but somehow it had a very peaceful vibe.”
We spoke as he headed for the airport again, this time to travel to Switzerland to play with his band, who he hadn’t seen for two months.
He auditioned drummer Jack Atherton and bassist Tom (“Robbo”) Robertson in Nottingham, where they are both based.
“They’re lovely,” he says. “We’ve spent a lot time together and we’re really close.”
Then adds mischievously: “But no matter how close we get if they start playing s**t then I’ll have to get rid of them.”

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DAVID Bugg, 39, from Clifton on keeping in touch with his famous son:
“JAKE and I have been texting whilst he’s been away. He has been extremely busy with promotional work, writing and recording, so we don’t always have time for long chats over the phone but we last spoke a couple of weeks ago.
“Last time I saw him was in February when he played Rock City.
“Things seem to have gone well for him in Japan. He has a lot of fans there and I’ve had a few messages of support from them on Facebook and Twitter.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing him headlining Splendour in July. I can’t wait to see him playing again after such a long time, especially on the main stage – it’s an amazing achievement.”