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.

• 
  

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: The Maze (secret gig)

November 9. 2013

He was never going to do a Take That or a One Direction song but the tongue-in-cheek requests shouted out from the crowd of around 100 people when asked "Right, what songs are we playing then?" reflected the good humour in the room.

Indeed it was the most we've seen Jake Bugg smile during a gig, this one a secret show at The Maze in Mansfield Road where those lucky enough to win the free tickets through his website, could get the 19-year-old to do their favourites from his No. 1 self-titled debut album.

There were a few songs from his follow-up album, Shangri La, due out a week today, including the opener, There's A Beast And We All Feed It, a blast of lively country-meets-rockabilly.

As he sauntered on to the small stage at the venue where he'd played one of his first gigs in the city four years ago (yes, aged just 15) there were chants of "you Pies", from fellow Notts County fans, mixed confusingly with opposing calls of "you Reds".

Bugg dodged a bra thrown at him but, if reluctantly, accepted and downed a shot handed to him by a fan.

Trouble Town was the first singalong of many, each a hit single. Two Fingers included a stamping beat from those near the front, Broken's howling chorus was turned in to a football chant, likewise Slumville Sunrise, although they'd not quite got to grips with the verses on new single.

The skiffle/garage energy of that and his first single from Shangri La, What Doesn't Kill You, suggest that the album is harder than the first but songs played tonight, the folk balled Pine Trees and the countryfied love song You And Me, a highlight of the new album, showed otherwise.

Older numbers Someone Told Me, Simple As This and Saffron were also requested, suggesting not everyone just wanted to party but were keen to hear his musicianship. "Go on JB!" someone bellowed, encouragingly. Not that he needs it; every vocal was as strong as you'd expect from a teenager who has played hundreds of shows in the UK, Europe, the US and Japan.

He'd been back in Nottingham, only his fourth return this year, since Friday night. Less than 12 hours later, straight after this 5pm show, he was off again, this time to continue on his sold-out UK tour in Doncaster.

"This is one of the first places I played when I started out... thanks for coming out," he said before ripping into set closer Lightning Bolt, leaving the first verse to the crowd who were drowning out his own voice.

A film camera was trained on him throughout; a documentary about his journey from Clifton to California, where he recorded the new album with Rick Rubin, is due next year. As is a book of images from renowned music photographer Kevin Westenberg, who was tucked at the back of the stage; he's been following our most successful musician this century all over the world.

"It'll be nice to be back at The Maze," he said before the show.

"It was one of the first places I played and there weren't many people there. The promoter gave me a tenner for doing it which was nice because I didn't have the bus fare to get back home."

He added: "A lot of venues wouldn't let me play because I was 15. It's one of the reasons we chose the Maze for this show. We aren't doing Nottingham on this tour so I thought I'd do a little gig for anyone that wants to come along. It'll be good fun; an intimidate show, letting people shout out what songs they want me to play."

Bugg headlined Splendour at Wollaton Park in July in front of 17,000 people. His next show will be at the city's largest indoor venue; the 10,000 capacity Capital FM Arena, on February 20. He'll be the first Notts musician to headline a show there.

"I never thought I'd be playing the Arena. Obviously you dream of it but you don't think it will happen. I saw the Kings of Leon there and remembering how many people were there... it's crazy."

He was looking tired having recently awoken after a late night.

"I got in last night and went round my cousin Scott's and had a few cans. Then I came back to hotel. I'm just a bit tired in general because it's been pretty full on.

"But that's what it's all about; you've just got to get on with it."

Union J shoot video in Nottingham

May 2013

X FACTOR finalists Union J have shot the video for their debut single, Carry You, in Nottingham.
The four-piece, who got together on the ninth series of the TV show, came to the city in March for a two-day shoot that included the Music Exchange, Jam Café, COW Vintage, Brik Barbers and the Maze, where they are seen singing at an open mic night.

JJ Hamblett, Jaymi Hensley, Josh Cuthbert and George Shelley finished fourth in last year’s X Factor. Carry On is their first single since for Sony Music, who commissioned the Nottingham production company Wellplastic to make the video.
“Wellplastic were asked to pitch to create the video after working on two videos for Nottingham artist Indiana, who is also signed to Sony,” says Sally Hodgson from the Lace Market-based company, which has also created promo videos for Speedo, Moulton bikes and Nottingham Girls’ High School.
“The team at Sony loved the idea of filming outside of London and were impressed by the locations Nottingham had to offer.

“Wellplastic set up a temporary production office at Broadway Cinema and the exterior shots were captured around BioCity and One Thoresby Street.”
Union J and the production team stayed at the Lace Market Hotel.
Although the shoot was a secret, the boys were tweeting throughout their stay in Nottingham.

“Absolutely amazing time shooting our very first music video,” said Jaymi.
“Bye bye Nottingham! Been such a crazy few days! Can’t wait for the next few months,” added George.
Sally added: “It was a bit of a homecoming for George as his father lives in Nottingham.”
The video also features Daybreak presenter Richard Arnold, who tweeted: “On set with @UnionJworld for their first ever video shoot. Lads on great form. Top secret frozen location!”
Close to a million people have watched the video on YouTube.

Howard Marks

September 2009

My weekend...


I SHALL be in South Wales tonight with the show I'm touring around the country alongside Kav, who used to be in the Happy Mondays.
I'll stay over in Cardiff on Saturday and get drunk before heading to Nottingham with the same show at The Maze on Sunday night.
It's a typical weekend for me – I'm usually working.
My weekend will usually begin with me ensuring I have everything together to do a show or a DJ set but some weekends I have to lock myself away and fulfil a writing deadline.
Last weekend was an example of that – I wrote a travel piece on Egypt for The Times that will be published next Wednesday.
I do like my music, usually old fashioned rock'n'roll and dubstep.
And I do like to go to gigs to see bands. I'm a regular at venues in the winter and festivals in the summer. I enjoy family-oriented music festivals mostly, in particular Camp Bestival in Dorset and Beautiful Days in Exeter. I went to both of those this year.
In terms of gigs, I've seen the Dub Pistols several times and have been very impressed with their performances.
I'm constantly on the move so I don't spend much time in front of the television. I hardly ever watch live TV.
I'm currently watching the DVD box set Egypt – Recovering a Lost World.
Boringly enough, one of my favourite DVD box sets is Planet Earth.
I hardly ever go to the cinema either, though I recently saw and liked The Boat that Rocked.
I haven't really got a favourite radio station or show. I only listen to the radio if I'm driving.
I'm currently reading High Spirits by Robertson Davies. It's a book of ghost stories. But I usually tend to go for autobiographies.
I like my food and you'll find me in a restaurant every day of the year. I highly recommend Shabab and my own restaurant, Azucar, which are both in Leeds.
The food passion continues at home as well and if I order a takeaway I tend to favour prawn and mushroom madras.
Do I keep fit? No.
My idea of a perfect weekend is one with lots of sex.

The Howard Marks Q&A and DJ set with Kav playing live with his band is at The Maze in Mansfield Road on Sunday from 8.30pm. Tickets are £9 at the door or in advance from the venue or Fopp, in Queen Street. To book call 0115 947 5650. Howard Marks appears on Kav's Mr Nice EP which is released on September 28.

Chas & Dave, The Maze

October 23 2008

BILLED as a kind of farewell for Mr Hodges and Mr Peacock (for club gigs, anyway) meant that some had paid £36 for a seat. The rest – standing – half that. No one was complaining though as The Maze became The Queen Vic at party time for just over an hour last night. Pork pie hats, the lot.
The usual – Rabbit, Gertcha, The Sideboard Song, London Girls, Margate, Banging In Your Head – were exchanged with a mixture of more of the same but lesser-known and inventive "ioanna" courtesy of the trio's (Mick is still behind the kit) auteur Chas Hodges. Now I see what he meant about Jerry Lee Lewis, who he toured with in the 60s, being a big inspiration. It's rock'n'roll piano most of the time.
A nifty instrumental billed as "rock funk classical" was followed by Snooker Loopy and you could tell which Hodges preferred, despite the beery yawping reaction to the latter. And while the dual vocal magic of Rabbit is their best-known hit, it was Ain't No Pleasing You, a perfect four-minute pop song, that prompted the biggest singalong of the night. A fitting end to a rather silly evening.
Next time round Chas will be playing with his own band. Dave Peacock, who looked a tad wearied by it all (he only livened up when he broke a string), will only turn out for the occasional theatre gig or festival appearance.

Chas & Dave

October 2008


THOUGH it has been their bread 'n' butter since the late-seventies, Chas & Dave hate the idea that they're novelty cockneys.
"Some of the public thought it was a couple of drunken blokes that got lucky in a pub," says Chas Hodges of early reaction to their success with hits like Rabbit, Margate and Gertcha.
"Dave really gets the hump but I know what I can do. It don't bother me.
"In the early days musicians around us, like Eric Clapton and Albert Lee and Jerry Lee Lewis, they always saw what we were up to."
That's right, there was life before Chas & Dave; both Hodges and Peacock were part of the British rock and blues boom of the Sixties.
With a band called The Outlaws Hodges toured Britain and the US with Jerry Lee Lewis.
"That's when I really started learning to play," he says.
"I saw him as a kid in 1958. I thought I gotta learn to play piano. He showed me a few things. He was great. He's always been great to me. He's paid me some great compliments."
He was also a member of Cliff Bennett and The Rebel Rousers.
"We used to play the old Nottingham Boat (Club). All the bands did it. It was great."
But it was with Heads Hands And Feet that Hodges hit on the idea for Chas & Dave.
"We were touring America and I was singing in an American accent. I felt a bit of a fraud so I started singing in my own accent. I got in touch with Dave when I came back. This was 1972, and told him my idea."
He adds: "Record companies said you ain't going to sell no records with this London accent. They couldn't make it out."
It worked so well they ended up with their own TV show and supported Eric Clapton on tour.
"We used to get Albert Lee on our set at the end to do a couple of rock 'n' roll things. Two or three days in to the tour Eric said 'what's the matter with me? I want to come on an' all'. So him and Albert used to come on at the end of our set."
The same year they also opened for Led Zeppelin at Knebworth.
From 1979 to 1986 Chas & Dave had half a dozen hits: Gertcha, The Sideboard Song, Rabbit, Stars Over 45, Snooker Loopy and Ain't No Pleasing You, their biggest success, reaching No.2 in the UK chart. They were also behind three hits for the Tottenham team.
A support slot with The Libertines – Pete Doherty and Carl Barat were fans – reignited their appeal but these days they're playing fewer gigs as Chas & Dave.
"I shall be doing clubs with The Chas Hodges Band. I've just finished my own LP."
It's a DIY job. He wrote all the songs and played all the instruments.
He's also written the Chas & Dave story, All About Us.
So what's Dave been up to: is he bone idle or what?
"Yeah," he laughs.
"He packed up his involvement in writing about four years ago. But he's got other interests. He's got some horses that he likes driving. He still wants to gig but not as much as I do. The older I've got the more I've got in to it."
Not that either of them have to bother.
"We don't have to work if we don't want to," he says.
Which is why they're not in it for the money, turning down I'm A Celebrity... or "that jungle thing" as he calls it.
"(My manager) said: 'you get like fifty grand straight away!' We said 'well we (effing) don't want to do it. (Bobbins) to that. I write songs.
"If someone comes along with loads of money I ain't bothered. I don't want loads of money. I'm a musician."

Chas & Dave play The Maze on Thursday, October 23.