Our very popular “Undiscovered” Zone has its finger on the pulse of brand new talent and those singers, songwriters, bands and artists under the radar, who we feel deserve some attention from music lovers and the music industry as a whole.
Some of whom we have featured across the years in this Zone have been snapped up by record label A&R execs, directly from finding them here.
The latest gifted artist we shine the spotlight on is triple threat UK singer, songwriter and producer Jack Watkins, whose impressive debut album “Wonderland” sees the light of day in a week’s time on 6th September 2024.
He speaks to Lucy Boulter…
Jack Watkins may well be a new kid on the block for many, but his dream to make music is far from recent. In fact, back in 2013 and freshly graduated from the SAE Institute in Liverpool, Jack’s nascent talent as a producer was recognised in a global song mixing competition, winning him the trip of a lifetime to the Grammy awards in Los Angeles.
As well as rubbing shoulders with the great and the good at many of the Grammy events, this Lancashire lad found himself behind-the-scenes in the world-famous Westlake Studio, playing Michael Jackson melodies on the piano right where the epic albums “Thriller” and “Bad” were recorded.
He even scored an invitation from Extreme and Rihanna guitarist and songwriter Nuno Bettencourt, to hang out backstage and at the sound and lighting desk at a couple of Rihanna’s UK gigs later that year, on her sell-out “Diamonds” tour.
Jack was immediately in demand, working with vocalists and bands to produce their music, and building up his own catalogue of self-penned songs.
But then this promising career ground to a halt that felt so traumatic to Jack that he packed away his electric piano and production kit, and stowed his suitcase full of songs out of sight under his bed for a decade… until a renewed sense of creative purpose at the age of 30 put him back in the studio, and back on stage.
A decade or so ago, Jack was on a fast-track trajectory in the music business. Classically trained to play the piano, and well known on the north-west circuit for being in a big band and for playing piano covers at weddings, he had just graduated with flying colours from a sound production university in Liverpool.
Retreat
Within a matter of months he was hanging out with artists and producers alike, and soaking up all the knowledge and excitement of his chosen career path. But a legal issue saw Jack retreat from both writing and producing, physically hiding away his kit and his budding catalogue of work.
“I was working with a singer and songwriter and we’d created about 50 songs together, so we decided to formalise our partnership. I hired a music lawyer, to put together a contract, and everything was going really well. But long story short, it went sour and honestly I felt traumatised. It just made me want to avoid the music scene completely, and everyone in it.
“I buried my music, literally and figuratively,” Jack recalls. “I shoved everything under my bed, turned my back on it all, and got a job doing web design for a sportswear company.”
Of course, you can’t keep a good creative mind subdued for long, and Jack found another outlet for his artistic expression, creating and running a successful design studio which has seen him creating brands for seven-figure entrepreneurs, designing a Sunday Times bestselling cookery book, and attracting thousands of social media followers.
But two years ago, influenced perhaps by the klaxons of turning thirty, Jack decided enough was enough. It was time to put his music out there.
“I took myself off to the Lake District with my dog, Willow, to celebrate my design business anniversary and to plan for the next year. There was no bolt of lightning but as Willow and I sat on the bed, studiously ignoring the sign that said dogs must not get on the bed, I realised the goal that mattered most to me was nothing to do with the business I was supposed to be planning.
“What I really wanted to do was resurrect my musical passions – but not to produce other people. I resolved to put my own music out in the world.”
Having committed the goal to paper, Jack sprang into action. By the end of 2022, he had released a four-track EP, “Light In The Dark”, and last year took the exceptional step of staging a sell-out live launch of his second EP, “Infinity Inside”, at The Grand Venue in Clitheroe, which also hosts acts such as Toploader and Ruby Turner.
“I don’t think people knew I was capable of doing it – being on stage, having a stage presence, holding a room. Perhaps I didn’t know it, either”.
“But actually, when it was just me and a piano on the stage and a couple of hundred people in the audience, I’d never felt as alive. It was like returning to who I was all along – before life, self-doubt and other nonsense got in the way.”
And in a few weeks, Jack is returning to The Grand Venue, this time to perform his 16-track debut album called “Wonderland”, slated for release on September 6th. With track titles such as “Lost and Found”, “Set Me Free” and “Renaissance”, we are promised a paradox of both love and loss that perhaps reflect Jack’s own journey of rediscovery.
Jack’s album launch concert, on September 21st, will again be playing to a 250-seated capacity (“I personally hate standing at gigs. I’m an old man in a young body,” he quips), but this time joined by a live band to add a new dimension to his piano-vocal combo.
“It’s a dream come true to play my own music with other musicians,” he enthuses. “It’s so much fun, and I love how alive it feels when we play together.”
Along with two brand new, unheard songs and a sprinkling of crowd-pleaser covers, the gig will play “Wonderland” in its entirety. And just as the album offers a juxtaposition of light and dark, Jack’s emotions about the next few weeks vacillate between excitement and fear.
“I feel quite vulnerable, sharing music I’ve written, because I pour so much of myself into my songs. My album is mostly autobiographical, and even the more conceptual tracks are coming from a real experience. So here you go, here is a bit of my heart, and it’s in music form.
“To me it feels like I’ve given birth to a child, and then given the child away!”
“I can protect my music when no one has ever heard it. Once I put it out into what feels like the wild west, people can judge it. And they can judge me.”
Some of the tracks are co-writes, but there’s no mistaking the fact this is a Jack Watkins project from start to finish. He is not alone in competing in a very busy digital marketplace without label support, but he is unusual in bringing such a breadth of skills to the project. His production study at university, his design flair and technical know-how, and his musical ability weave well together to create a product that looks as good as it sounds – even in the digital age, thanks to an online version of old-school sleeve notes and visuals.
“I was just putting together the credits for the album this morning, and it’s written by Jack Watkins, recorded by Jack Watkins, produced by Jack Watkins, design by Jack Watkins. I fear it’s quite tedious to read!
“To be honest, most new artists have no choice but to do it all themselves; for the labels it’s more about data – followers and streaming numbers – than it is about artist development. And I don’t want to do this just for one album or one hit song. I want to do it for a lifetime.”
The more I talk to Jack, the more I wonder if he has been trapped behind that wall of other people’s judgement, real or perceived, more than he realises. When he talks about his musical influences, it sounds to me like nothing much has changed since the likes of George Michael and Boy George channelled their sense of being misfits into their art.
“I’d never seen people who look like me be a music artist. I’m not a conventional looking artist, am I?”
“I don’t think it helped that I grew up watching The X Factor, when anyone over the age of 25 was lumped together in the same category, whether they were 26 or 50! I just didn’t feel like I’d ever seen myself in other acts.
“I’ve never been one to fit in boxes that make sense to other people, or even to me sometimes, and I’ve always felt like a bit of an outsider. I think it’s why my musical inspirations aren’t just performers with amazing artistry and musicianship, like Elton John or George Michael, or amazing producers like Max Martin. More recently, my inspirations are more the performers whose identity is part of their artistry, like Adam Lambert and Troye Sivan.”
So is 32-year-old Blackburn-based Jack targeting a particular market, one he breezily calls “gay man music”? “No, because I think my music is quite eclectic. I never want to sound like I’m just listening to my own music. But I also think if your music isn’t something you want to listen to yourself, then there’s a problem.”
What if?
A decade ago, could Jack have foreseen that he’d be talking about his own musical voice, rather than helping other artists to find and express theirs? “Sometimes I wonder ‘what if?’, of course I do,” he muses.
“If I hadn’t felt I had to hide from music for ten years, where would I be now? But on the other hand, probably I never would have been brave enough to make the leap to being an artist, releasing my own music. Maybe this album would never exist.
“It’s an old cliché, I know, but I have to believe everything happens for a reason. I guess this was just how things were meant to happen.”
Words by Lucy Boulter
Profile photo [top of page] by Ian McManus
Live photos x 3 by Mark Leeming
