I had the utmost pleasure of my first in-person interview ever, and post-pandemic of course, being opposite Jack Flanagan, youngest member of indie British band, Mystery Jets, of whom I've been a personal fan of for five years. Jack proves himself to be incredibly kind, open, honest, and passionate, and below is the lovely chat we had. Read to the end of the interview to see my review on Jack Live.
ME: So, opening for your own band, is it weird?
JACK: it is weird, I did it for the first time two nights ago and what happens is you get on stage and you get all this adrenaline and what normally happens is you get off, go to the bar, go to the next town, but since there's another support band after me, it's about trying to keep that adrenaline. But it's quite fun! it's less physically taxing than the mystery jets performance, that's like going to the gym, it's really intense.
ME: This is your first tour since covid-
JACK: It is yeah, with Mystery Jets, it's my third overall. I went on tour with a folk singer called Beans on Toast, which is funny cause he doesn't even like Beans on Toast. Two quite long tours, one before Christmas and one about a month ago.
ME: Ah! Cool, so how has it been, going back on the road?
JACK: Brilliant! I thought in the pandemic I'd never wanna do it again.
ME: Really?
JACK: Yeah, I didn't really like it but I think it took maybe not doing it for me to realise I love it, but doing it now is great and meeting all the fans, it feels like people are having a better time now.
ME: Obviously, being away from family and friends must be hard.
JACK: Yeah, it's the only hard thing really, I have a three year old daughter and for instance I've been away for a week but I got her yesterday and I took her to nursery this morning but I miss her. It's my job. I knew when I had her this day might come, but if the pandemic brought me anything it was all that quality time with her, watching her grow up. But my mum for example, she's come to see me at two shows.
ME: And obviously, your solo music is more a recent endeavour
JACK: Publicly, yes.
ME: Did the pandemic help make music?
JACK: I didn't make a lot of music for myself in the pandemic, but everything on the album is full of tracks that I did when I was nineteen, or twenty seven, and I'm now twenty-nine. I didn't want it to come out initially, but my manager did. I was freaked out by the whole thing, I used to have drug problems and wasn't mentally prepared for life and then I joined Mystery Jets which was a whirlwind. It's my first outing as a solo musician, but I've been writing since I was like twelve.
ME: Me too!
JACK: You write too? That's so cool, wow.
ME: Yeah! I mean, I don't release anything but I have been writing since I was a kid, it was always what I wanted to do as a kid until I found my passion for film. I always had a fear being on stage before my A-Levels.
JACK: It's weird, I never really had an issue being on stage, but I think I was scared of people hearing my feelings, I couldn't really see why anybody would be interested in it.
ME: That was something else I wanted to ask, what would you say is the thing you most write about?
JACK: Girls that I've met - I'm trying not to do that too much though, I'm currently writing my second album and I'm trying new things - but my twenties were all about falling in love and getting my heartbroken and my experience with chemicals and substances. I wouldn't condone any of it but there's a song on my record that I sing about called Misty Miller, who I'm friends with, and what happens is you go out and meet people, get upset, get happy, but that's when I feel most creative, when I meet someone who makes me feel something. It's just about growing up.
ME: It's life, isn't it really? I think a lot of the time, writing music is therapeutic.
JACK: Exactly, it's cathartic in a way.
ME: So I wanted to ask about the black and white theme going on in your covers and music videos at the moment.
JACK: I work with this guy called Gary who did the past three mystery jets records and he's from a band called IS TROPICAL-
ME: Oh my gosh, I love IS TROPICAL! I interviewed them!
JACK: Really? That's so cool! Gary's just this force of nature and we were referencing Jean-Luc Goddard and all that sixties art house French swedish stuff, Eternal Sunshine etc.
ME: I was going to touch about the camera work at the end of your video Skyhorse x Skyhorse!
JACK: Yeah most of that was spent in the freezing water - we did it during the recent storm, we were doing a recce in Margate and drove around and looked at some places and we found this place during a pink sunset and he told me to get in the water and ran away to his car and came back with his camera and he told me to get in with my clothes so I got in and we got the shot. We went back during the storm to film the video and I was wearing a wet suit under my clothes, which negates the point of a wet suit, so I was hyperthermic. It took three hours, but I think it was worth it.
ME: And in curses, you use a split screen where the shadow starts smoking.
JACK: Yeah, when someone walks across the screen, it splits and it cuts to me smoking. We took some ideas off of Grayson Perry.
ME: Ah, yes! I've met him. So will it remain black and white?
JACK: I think it's gonna go. I think in the next one I'm gonna burst into colour. I love the black and white but my manager is a big fan of colour. The next song is quite a colourful song, it's coming out pretty soon, but might have to change my video idea since I'm still touring haha!
ME: I was going to say that I can hear the influence of Mystery Jets in your solo music, but I wanted to know what other music influences you had?
JACK: I grew up listening to the Lemon heads and the Beatles, my brother bought me their CDs and they're still pretty much still who I listen to every day. There's just something about them.
ME: Do you have any modern people you listen to too?
JACK: Definitely Misty Miller, Declan McKenna, lovely guy and he got on stage with us the other night, this song called I wanna be a cowboy was pretty cool, and Mink.
ME: Obviously, your album is coming out.
JACK: Tenth of June, yeah.
ME: And you said you're writing your second album.
JACK: Yeah.
ME: Is this stuff written more recently?
JACK: Yeah, I think over the last few six months. It's so much happier, I think having a kid and not being a mess, has helped!
ME: I think it's cool though, because you can see your growth through all of it.
JACK: Certainly! It really feels like I can put it all away now that time of my life is gone. God knows what I'll be writing about in ten years.
ME: Was making solo music partly because you wanted to do more and expand outside of the band?
JACK: I do wanna do more yeah. It wasn't planned, releasing this album, but I'm doing it now. I'm bad at everything else, I'm not qualified, you know?
ME: I can tell, from my own musical kind of upbringing and doing this for so many years, that you're passionate about music.
JACK: You've got to be willing to be poor, money may never come, I just about make a living, I'm not rich, but I will always keep doing it and all the people I was in a band with at eighteen, none of them do it anymore. It does keep you young though, music keeps you young, I look at others and think bloody hell you look old! Music is just the best thing, I couldn't ever see myself doing anything else. The best art in general comes from necessity, it has to be a bit of a struggle. If I was a millionaire I probably wouldn't be making songs. But money doesn't bring much meaning.
ME: I want to obviously touch on the mystery jets if that's okay?
JACK: Of course!
ME: I've been a fan for five years and the last album was in 2020 - will there be a new one soon?
JACK: We're writing one! Very early days but we've been writing for a while. Completely different from the last one, too.
ME: I have to praise the song Bubblegum by the way-
JACK: That nearly didn't make the album! It was my friend Harry from the band Peace who forced us to put it on there.
ME: Amazing, because it's my favourite song of yours ever.
JACK: Amazing, wow
ME: That's the fun of it though, isn't it, fans taking your songs and making it your own?
JACK: Exactly. Songs are the best when you see yourself in them.
ME: Have the mystery jets fans been supportive of your solo endeavours?
JACK: I think so! it's been a slow burn, like waging a friendly war, it's got a shit tonne of plays, as a start it's good. They're so loyal and friendly.
ME: From what I saw, you already have like three thousand monthly listeners.
JACK: I have a leg up!
ME: Do you feel you'll be doing music forever?
JACK: I know so. I don't know if I could tour forever - I take that back actually, maybe I would. I'm not at this grand old age, I'm not worried about forty, there's no difference in the brain, I probably will be doing this all forever.
ME: Do you think you will with Mystery Jets?
JACK: It's never not going to be a band. Everything that could have broken a band up has happened, and we're very much so bound together. We're like cockroaches, not going anywhere.
ME: I think it was 2018 or 2019 where you guys were on Sunday brunch.
JACK: You remember that?
ME: Of course! Are things like that surreal?
JACK: Quite boring actually haha. They're just so long, and presenters have headsets and they're just listening to other people ask the questions, so they're not really listening. I've been on a few programmes and the best one was CBBC with the band and it was really fun haha. You kind of take it for granted, when there's no audience in front of you.
ME: What's it like going to other countries and performing?
JACK: It's weird. You have a gig day, a jet lag day, a hang out day if you're lucky. I think my favourite place is Japan, I absolutely love it there. And South America, and Mexico.
ME: It must bring life experiences.
JACK: Totally, I'm a home body, so I need a reason to go somewhere. But I do enjoy it when I get there, I just can't sit and do nothing.
ME: The last thing I'm going to ask is your advice to young musicians.
JACK: If you think it's going to fail, persevere. There is no such thing in failure in it, even if you're tone deaf and rubbish, there's a place for you and you have to find it. Be honest and yourself, I catch myself out too sometimes. Do it because you enjoy it, not because you want to be popular. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. If you want it as a career, you have to keep doing it, even when it seems like it's going to fall on it's arse.
I had the honour, once more, to see Jack live a few weeks later. Jack performed acoustically alongside his friend for his solo work. Jack's voice is beautiful live and the acoustic versions of his song are equally as lovely, on stage he's in the moment and cares clearly about the songs he is singing. He has since released new single Gravy Train with an animation for it too. Jack's creativity stands out amongst a lot of other artists and I sincerely suggest seeing him live, both solo and with the jets.
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