Last week, when Melbourne-based artist Jake Stone released his latest single You’d Be, we were immediately immersed in his anthemic indie-pop sounds. Stone crafts captivating pop gems with a maturity well beyond his years.
So, fresh off the track’s release, we caught up with the artist himself to chat about the new track, his evolution as an artist, and what the future holds.
Fresh off the release of his incredible latest single You’d Be, we caught up with Melbourne-based artist Jake Stone for a chat.
HAPPY: Hey, how’s it going? What are you up to at the moment?
JAKE: Everything is going very well, I am very excited by the release of You’d Be. I am pretending to do VCE whilst secretly writing songs – although I am pretty sure that the whole world can hear me playing piano downstairs. On the real, I have a SAC coming up soon so fun times for all!
HAPPY: We’re loving You’d Be! How does it feel having the track out there in the world?
JAKE: It is an amazing feeling to have You’d Be out there now. I started writing this song when I was 14 years old, then kind of forgot about it for a while and then thought “hey, should probably finish that song“. You’d Be was the longest I have ever worked on a song before, and to see it finally out to the world is really surreal.
HAPPY: Could you tell us a bit about the track?
JAKE: Well, I’m glad someone asked:) The song was first conceived when my mum jokingly said she didn’t love me, I ran to the piano room and played random chords and sung “You say that you don’t love me, but you’d be lying.” I then realised that this song had potential and could be relatable to many. After countless re-drafts, I finally built up the courage to take it to Curtis Hatton who helped record and produce the song. I had a bunch of ideas for the song, but needed help putting them all together. Curtis listened to my ideas and really ran with them. I am so happy with the outcome.
HAPPY: How do you see this new track as being different from Fighting On Our Own? If at all…
JAKE: Fighting on Our Own is incredibly different, as the production was done at home and I didn’t really understand the process of how to record a song. All the ideas were great, and one day I would love to take it to the studio and re-record it. You’d Be has more of a storyline that is easier to follow and connect to, and has much more vocal layering and sophistication. I really grew as a singer/songwriter in between Fighting on Our Own and You’d Be, my voice also changed a lot. The writing for the two songs was similar, in terms of they are the only songs that have gone through multiple re-drafts.
HAPPY: When you emerged with Fighting On Our Own, you emerged with a really confident sound. How long had you been making music before that track dropped?
JAKE: I’m glad you think that I sounded confident because I felt anything else at the time. I felt underprepared and overwhelmed by trying to produce a quality song with minimal equipment. I also wasn’t confident that anyone would listen to the song or how to promote it. I really just took a pledge one day to start being a musician and was really excited by that. I had just taught myself to play piano and wanted to showcase my new musicianship.
I had been writing songs ever since I was 2 years old, admittedly they weren’t very good. Actually far from good. When I was 12 I had a period of time when I thought I should fully commit to music then forgot about it until I was 14 years old. I had never really produced a song before Fighting on Our Own but it was a great learning curve that I am thankful for. I have finally understood the saying that it is quality over quantity.
HAPPY: We’re picking up a few different sounds in your music… are there any particular artists you’re currently taking inspiration from?
JAKE: Thank you, I love having unique sounds. I take inspiration from many artists. Over the past 3 years, where I have taken most inspiration from is Bastille, the way that they compose their music is flawless, no pun intended. Lyrically, I believe Tupac had incredible ways of communicating his life and I would like to think that I have learnt a lot from him. Coldplay has been a band that my mum has played for me since I was negative 6 months old and therefore have mad respect for them. In terms of Australian artists, Guy Sebastian tops the list however Amy Shark is up there too for me.
HAPPY: What’s next for Jake Stone? Any other exciting plans in the works?
JAKE: Well, I have a new song in production at the moment called For You. This song is really different to anything I have ever done before and that excites me a lot. I have plenty of songs that are ready to be recorded, but the one to follow For You will be Soar. I am really privileged to have the opportunity to go to a recording studio and record these songs, and that is what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. It would be really good to get some gigs under my belt and a man can wish for a record label too?
You’d Be is available now. Listen above.
