From Cornwall to chaos.
After decades spent mastering every genre from classical to rock, Cornwall-born guitarist Jason Klaire realised the music he truly wanted to hear simply didn’t exist.
Rather than wait around, he decided to write it himself.
Now, stepping out as a solo artist, Klaire introduces us to ‘Stupid Children,’ a track that perfectly encapsulates his unique blend of virtuosic guitar work, layered lyricism, and sharp social commentary.
The song takes aim at the recklessness of young men, the absurdity of land ownership, and the collective arrogance of humanity, all wrapped in a deceptively beautiful melody.
We sat down with Klaire to discuss the philosophy behind his powerful new single, the magic hidden in your pantry, and why he’s finally found the freedom of being his own boss.
HAPPY: What’d you get up to today?
JASON KLAIRE: Today I flew back from a short break in Europe. As you can imagine my arms are very tired. I’ll catch a plane next time.
HAPPY: Tell us a little about where you’re from, and what you love about it!
KLAIRE: I’m originally from Cornwall in England. It’s a beautiful, picturesque part of the world full of rugged landscapes and coastline.
It is also a place filled with mysticism and magical legends, such as pixies, King Arthur, witches, ancient paganistic rituals etc.
In fact that’s why I had to leave, I upset the spirit of a banshee on the south coast and now if I ever step foot in Cornwall again I will turn into a pathetic, wannabe rock musician…oh shit!.
HAPPY: The song’s theme tackles the idea that we are all ‘stupid children,’ with a specific focus on young men. What inspired you to address this, and the issues of jingoism and land ownership, in your music?
KLAIRE: I have long felt that most of the real problems with mankind are caused by or come from men.
Then a few years ago I heard an interview with someone in television advertising talking about how most adverts are aimed at the 16 to 36 demographic because they are the ‘risk takers’.
That made me consider how it was men in that age-range that were the real problem. Often filled with anger at the world, testosterone and the desire to be ‘real man’. lethally combined with their actual ignorance and lack of experience of the world.
They are the ones that fight and kill. Sometimes for their own misguided reasons or sometimes because they are manipulated by older narcissists and despots (also misguided).
The land ownership thing is another big thing to me. I like to look at the big picture of the world. Many people think they see the big picture but it’s not big enough.
The truth is this: Nobody has any right to live on any piece of land or dictate who else lives there. Even if your family or native history goes back thousands of years.
We are all lucky visitors, guests on this world. It was here millions of years before us and will be here millions of years after us.
The sheer arrogance of any one person or body of people, claiming that ‘this is my land’ is astounding.
You are a tiny spec of nothing and if everyone could see this and fully understand it then the jingoistic, immigration issues that are stirring up so much hatred in the world at the moment would greatly diminish.
HAPPY: The lyrics in your songs are known for being clever and layered. Can you give us an example of a line in ‘Stupid Children’ that has a double meaning or is particularly important to you?
KLAIRE: One of my favourite lines in the whole song is actually the very first line: ‘Sometimes I try to find magic in the pantry’
Firstly I like the juxtaposition of something so otherworldly as magic, with something as mundane as a pantry. That in itself makes your mind do a double take, piques the interest.
After the initial impact of that clash of concepts, your mind then starts to consider the real meaning of the line. Finding the amazing inside the most seemingly boring things. Hopefully you then try to think of other ways of doing this.
On top of that, there’s the point that I actively try to find the wonderful in the mundane and what a great optimistic attitude that is to have in life. By looking deeper into things you actually start living in a more magical world, that was in fact always there but you’ve never looked at it properly.
And that’s just one line!
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HAPPY: You’ve said you started writing your own music because the songs you wanted to hear didn’t exist. How does ‘Stupid Children’ represent the kind of song you felt was missing from the musical landscape?
KLAIRE: I like to tackle themes with a certain amount of interest in my songs. It seems to me that 90% of song lyrics are either about love, dancing, or some other element of the music itself e.g. ‘feeling the groove’ or ‘about the bass’ etc.
Music is such a powerful force. If you combine it with images and thoughts of something of greater interest you can create something truly transcendental.
It doesn’t even need to be that deep, just a bit more thought-provoking or story-like or has an element of humour. Just something that stimulates other areas of ourselves and minds. I do my best to achieve this in my lyrics.
On a more musical level most songs are boring. A bland ‘non-melody’ for the verse and 2 or 4 bar repetitive phrases for a chorus. I like a melody that grows and develops.
Something that you don’t fully appreciate until you hear the whole section. For example the chorus of Stupid Children.
If you pay attention to each line you’ll notice that not one of them is the same, either rhythmically or melodically as another line and yet it doesn’t feel disjointed.
The melody has a sense of progression because the melody is the whole chorus, not just repetitions of a short melodic phrase. As such you can only understand the melody by listening to the whole section.
HAPPY: Talk us through the creation of the music video for “Stupid Children.” How did you visualize the song’s themes of power, beauty, and anger?
KLAIRE: I quite simply took the images that each line conjured for me and tried to generate them. I did of course use AI and as such none of the images are completely as I’d imagined but I kept trying until I was basically happy.
On top of the ‘line by line’ imagery. I had two overarching images for the whole song. The blurring of the line between adults and children and the misguided arrogance of mankind who feel they are the masters of the universe!
HAPPY: For fans who are just discovering you through ‘Stupid Children,’ what do you hope is their main takeaway after listening to the song and watching the video?
KLAIRE: Probably a chicken vindaloo although I like a nice chinese too…sorry!
Quite simply, I hope they had an enjoyable experience and felt they went somewhere a bit special for a few minutes. Felt a few things they would not have felt had they never listened to the song or watched the video.
HAPPY: After years of playing and teaching every genre, what was the most liberating part of finally stepping out as a solo artist to release music like ‘Stupid Children’?
KLAIRE: The lack of comparison. At least from myself. As a musician getting by from playing the guitar for other people you are trying to do a great job at a rock gig or country show or whatever the show, band, artist requires.
So you’re trying to be as good as the greatest musicians in that field.
Of course with writing and releasing my own music you don’t have that. No matter how good or bad my music is, I know that nobody can write it as well as I can!!
HAPPY: Now that ‘Stupid Children’ is out in the world, what’s next for Jason Klaire? Does this single point toward a larger project or album on the horizon?
KLAIRE: Absolutely. I plan on releasing one or two more songs (I’ve just completed mixing and mastering two possibilities) and then there will be an album. Hopefully by the end of this year.
The album will contain new songs as well as remixed, remastered and extended versions of my earlier releases.
HAPPY: Lastly, what makes you happy?
KLAIRE: I’m actually a very happy person by nature. It doesn’t take anything, I’m just happy!
