Jake Bugg: "There needs to be more space for younger people to practise their craft"

Having travelled from Donegal to Dublin late last night after playing Sea Sessions, Jake Bugg picks up his box of Marlboro Gold and heads outside for a moment of peace before he starts his next interview of the day.

Known to some as a reluctant interviewee, Jake strikes me as shy more than anything else. With his Nottingham drawl, he is softly spoken and extremely polite. He has plenty to say but prefers to express himself through his music, with injustice and societal inequality at the heart of his new record, A Modern Day Distraction.

Album opener ‘Zombieland’ acknowledges those who have been broken by the daily grind – working hard all their lives and barely scraping by. At 30, Jake is still making music to vent his frustrations with the world.

“It’s incredibly important to me,” he acknowledges. “I’m not the best talker at times, so music is a great vessel for the things on your mind. You have more time to put thought into it and add more expression to your words. There’s a lot of social injustice at the moment, and I see that through people that I grew up with. It’s incredibly tough and I think it’s important to highlight such things.”

In an interview in 2022, Jake said he’d happily pay more tax if it meant people could switch their heating on. Where does his sense of social justice come from?

“I think it’s from where I grew up,” he considers. “It was tough for myself and a lot of people I know. That’s where it comes from and I think you never lose that.”

Twelve years on from his eponymous debut album, musically, Bugg has returned home. With its blues-rock sound and surefire fan favourites like ‘All Kinds Of People’ and ‘Instant Satisfaction’, admirers of his early work are sure to fall in love with A Modern Day Distraction.

“This record feels like more of a natural progression from the first two albums,” he reflects. “It definitely feels like there’s a lot more of my musical DNA in it than the last record. I’m happy with it, I just hope other people are happy with it. When it goes out into the world, it’s not yours anymore in a weird way. I’ll always listen to the record a lot before it’s out, but as soon as it’s released, I don’t really listen to it anymore.”

Throughout the album, there are undeniable themes of loss and moving on. I ask if anything significant happened in his life since his last album, Saturday Night, Sunday Morning, in 2021.

“A lot of big things have happened to a lot of people,” he says. “That’s what most of it was about. Life is incredibly tough for a lot of people at the moment. We’ve been through Covid and a lot of strange things have happened in the world. For me personally, a lot has happened, to be honest.”

One track in particular, the anthemic ‘Never Said Goodbye’, is all about lost time and regret.

“Around that time in my life, I lost a couple of people who were close to me,” says Jake. “The thing is, with that song, it’s not meant to just be about me. We all feel that at times and it’s just one of those things. You wish you could have said certain things, or had more time, and yeah, it was tough. The song helps with the healing process a little bit.”

While Jake has been working in the music industry for almost half his life, he still hasn’t warmed up to the cyclical nature of the business. If he could change one thing about the industry, what would it be?

“Hmm, I gotta be careful what I say,” he quips, acknowledging his label rep sitting beside him. “I think the market’s become a bit saturated, especially with a lot of more mainstream pop stuff. It would be great to see more opportunities for younger people. Especially for a lot of working-class artists and groups, it’s incredibly difficult to get those opportunities.

“When I was growing up, we were lucky to have a place where there was a little recording studio and stuff for artists to use, but that’s been shut down and it’s just sad. There needs to be more space for younger people to practise their craft.”

With the rising cost of concert tickets and dynamic pricing, live music has become very expensive for music fans too.

“It’s shocking really, it needs to be stopped,” says Bugg. “I think Keir Starmer is talking about doing something. It’s a monopoly, it’s shocking that they can do whatever they want. It needs to be stopped,”

Speaking of eye-watering ticket prices, Jake went on tour with one half of Oasis earlier this year. Having released their self-titled collaborative album in March, Liam Gallagher and John Squire played a string of shows, including a sold-out show in Dublin’s 3Olympia, with Jake as their support act.

“It was brilliant,” he smiles. “There was a little bit of winning over to do in some places, because they’re hardcore John or Liam fans, but all the gigs were great in the end. I loved it. Obviously, there were one or two nights out with a few drinks involved as well, which is always fun, but yeah, to see those guys perform each night was just brilliant. I really enjoyed it.”

Touring with these two icons is the stuff of dreams for many. Did he get any good advice from Liam or John?

“Not so much, I didn’t really see John that much to be honest,” he explains. “I think the best thing that you can take away from it is watching those guys play and perform. That’s the best way to learn, watching the masters.”

Along with The Mary Wallopers, Blossoms and The View, Jake is also on the bill for Liam Gallagher’s Malta Weekender.

“I forgot we were doing that actually!” he says. “That’s gonna be absolute carnage with all the other bands playing. I don’t even want to think about it, it’s giving me anxiety already how mental it’s gonna be!”

With his Irish connections (his full name is Jake Edwin Charles Kennedy), Jake is also a great admirer of Irish music, including Fontaines D.C.

“It’s a country with a lot of love for music and there’s a lot of it around,” he says. “You just have to go to a local bar and you’ll see someone absolutely smashing it on stage each night. Even when we’ve been playing the shows, the crowds have just been so brilliant. You can see how much they love their music.”

Finally, Jake considers himself to be quite serious “because life is serious”, but amongst his group of friends, he plays a different role.

“We all love to laugh, as serious as we can be at times,” he reflects. “It keeps you human at the end of the day. The tour bus is just ridiculous, and the pub is always full of laughs, but my role would probably be getting the pints in!”

• A Modern Day Distraction is out now. Jake Bugg plays the National Stadium, Dublin on November 21.