Interview: JERUB
Nottingham, UK, based singer-songwriter JERUB has just released his emotive new single, 'Feel it'. Louder Than The Music caught up with him to find out how it all began, how the black lives matter movement inspired his new song, and his thoughts on music in general.
For those who haven't heard of you before, can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got involved in making music?
Hey, I’m JERUB, I’m 22 years old and I’m an artist from Nottingham. I began my music journey just over a year ago in April 2019 when I released my first single ‘Paint Me In Gold’, I had previously been singing from a young age but never really thought to pursue music but in 2019 I felt to give it ago and we have been going ever since.
Tell us about your new single 'Feel It' and what the inspiration behind it was?
‘Feel it’ is a song I wrote with a friend of mine on the back of the killing of George Floyd and the black lives matter movement in 2020. For me and for many others, the death of George Flyod was incredibly difficult to process. I sat down with a friend to write a song and this topic was what came out in attempt to process. When processing, I realised that as a black man living in the UK, I couldn’t turn a blind eye to the killing of someone like me in a different country, it would be more comfortable to do so and as a society we often chose our comfort over feeling the pain and hurt that others feel. We don’t have to understand it all but we can make a decision not to ignore it and choose comfort but choose to ‘Feel It’. And I love that although this song is written from my perspective, its words are dynamic and can apply to human.
Do you have plans to release any further new music this year?
Yes! I am looking forward to releasing more music this year and more regularly. I hope to put out my first project also.
What message would you like people to take from your music?
I love writing and releasing real songs and truly connecting with people. I want people to leave with something real.
How would you describe your style of music and what are your influences?
It’s difficult to define a specific style. It’s a mix of singer-songwriter, pop, RnB, soul. I grew up listening to a lot of different music. I started singing in a choir so listened to a lot of gospel. I listened to lots of singer-songwriters like Ed-Sheeran and Adele but also love the old soulful voices like Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding and Bill Withers. In addition, I listened to a bit of hip-hop, Kanye, Chance The Rapper, Kendrick, so a bunch of different stuff.
If you could work with any songwriter, who would it be and why?
Such a difficult question to answer. There are so many incredible writers out there. I love Bon Iver so Justin Vernon would be there, Chris Martin, Ed Sheeran, Jon Bellion. There’s a few, sorry.
How would you define success in your career as an artist?
I think success is relative the stage and season of life you find yourself in. The goal post of success will always change. This year, I want to release more music more regularly and that will be success for me. But ultimately, I want to give this the best I have and take it as far as possible. The more people that have connected with my music as possible, the more I deem it a success.
You're stuck on an island, it's hot, you only have enough battery life left to listen to one song on your phone. What track is it?
Hard one, skinny love - Bon Iver? I’m not sure! Tough.
What does the next year hold for you?
This next year holds more music for the people. I can’t wait to share.
