The Return of Jake Whiskin
Photo by Holly Whitaker
Fresh off a sold-out UK and European tour with Barns Courtney, Leeds-based singer-songwriter Jake Whiskin is back with "Sabbath Deep Cuts," his first new music in several years. We caught up with him to talk about the new single, returning after time away, and why he's stopped second-guessing the music he wants to make.
You took some time away in order to focus on your family and your health. Was there ever a point where you weren’t sure you’d come back to making music?
There’s been a few times I’ve contemplated not pursuing a career in music, in part because it’s so fatiguing. There’s a lot of effort put in and sometimes very little in the way of returns. Thankfully I’ve had enough encouraging moments to keep me going over the years, but I would say it got pretty close this time. During the making of the first album I got ill with chronic vertigo and it just took a huge toll on me physically and mentally. It took me years to bounce back from that and I’m now thankfully in a place where I felt I had it in me to keep going. The other side of that is that even when I was having a rough time I was still making music and I will always make music because it’s just who I am, whether I'm releasing it or not.
Photo by Holly Whitaker
You say that this new chapter is about making the music you want without second-guessing yourself. Has this changed the way you write?
Definitely, I think it’s good to take a step back from the work you’re doing and get perspective sometimes; but maybe I was a tad too trepidatious in the past about how certain aspects fit and not overly comfortable with my own voice. Which is why I pretty much double tracked everything on the first album. This time I’m more comfortable within myself and not too concerned whether something feels like it fits in a certain lane, I guess. Whether it’s more of an introspective folk song or something more pop, for lack of a better word, I don’t really care as long as I connect with it and feel good about it.
"Sabbath Deep Cuts" has a late-night, reflective feel to it. Was that something you set out to capture, or did the song naturally find that space?
I think it just found that space naturally. My music is often reflective so that just happens and I don’t often try to write a certain way because it just becomes something else anyway. The next few songs to be released all have this similar feeling of a late-night to me; so I guess that’s just the mood of the work at the moment. I would say that in the studio when James Flannigan, the producer, started layering violins it took it to this slightly more melancholic feeling that taps into that too.
Your first album was recorded close to home in Leeds, while the new single came together in Los Angeles. In what ways did this influence the way the song turned out?
When you’re in a new unfamiliar place there’s this excitement that gets into your psyche, and LA is obviously such a historic city for music. Tom Petty used to rehearse not far from the studio we were recording; so I got a real kick out of that. It was also the first time I’d worked with James and we really hit it off. Even though he’s LA based we had this shared history being from the North of England that was fun. So I think the place can play a role, but who you’re working with and where your head's at is ultimately the biggest influence, in my opinion.
You just spent weeks playing sold-out shows with Barns Courtney. What did this experience teach you about where you’re headed next, both as a performer and as a songwriter?
It had been so long since I played shows so it taught me that I actually know what I’m doing, which was reassuring. I didn’t go in with any plan of what to do on stage besides playing the set and quickly found myself letting my guard down and connecting with the audience in a more casual way, essentially making terrible jokes all the time, but that’s just who I am so it felt pretty good to feel comfortable within yourself on a stage. In terms of songwriting I think deciding the setlist actually helped me realise which songs were stronger or weaker than others - which is helpful when you have too many. I also learned that Barns Courtney is a very talented and funny guy to spend three weeks with, and that he has a far superior collection of jackets than me.