Jake Bugg

Jake Bugg Artistfacts

  • February 28, 1994
  • His real name is Jake Kennedy (Bugg is his father's name, which he borrowed for stage purposes). "It's just two syllables," he pointed out to Mojo magazine.
  • There is only one day's age difference between Jake Bugg and another singer-songwriter with the initials JB: Justin Bieber.
  • Bugg grew up in Clifton, Nottingham, once the largest housing estate in Europe. He told the Daily Telegraph that he spent his childhood "having a kickabout" with his friends. "There used to be a football court in Clifton," he said, "but the council took it away so the kids have got nothing to do. They're going to just make trouble, aren't they? That's what you do." Several of the songs on his debut Jake Bugg album such as "Seen It All" draw on his early experiences.
  • Bugg first became interested in music at the age of 12, after hearing Don McLean's "Vincent" soundtracking the moment on the "'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky" episode of The Simpsons when Lisa becomes interested in astronomy. He told Mojo that he had no idea why that song in particular provided such a life-changing epiphany. "I can't answer that," he said. "I was like 'What is that song and why do I like it so much?' So I'm just as curious as you. After I'd looked at all of McLean's music, I really wanted to learn the guitar. My uncle coincidentally came round with an acoustic and showed me a couple of chords."
  • Bugg began playing bass in his older cousin's band, and around the same time began writing songs. He is mainly self-taught and never learnt how to read music, his only training was a music technology course at college that he dropped out from at the age of 16.
  • He was excluded from school for swearing at a teacher. Bugg was allowed back to perform before his former fellow pupils, wowing them in the process.
  • Bugg was signed by Mercury Records after being chosen by the BBC to appear on their "Introducing" stage at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival.
  • The oldest song on his eponymous debut album, "Someplace," was written by Bugg at the age of at 15.
  • Jake Bugg debuted at #1 on the UK album chart. At just short of 19 years old, he became the youngest British male ever to have an album enter the charts at top position.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Holly Knight ("The Best," "Love Is A Battlefield")

Holly Knight ("The Best," "Love Is A Battlefield")Songwriter Interviews

Holly Knight talks about some of the hit songs she wrote, including "The Warrior," "Never" and "The Best," and explains some songwriting philosophy, including how to think of a bridge.

Maxi Priest

Maxi PriestSongwriter Interviews

The British reggae legend tells the story of his #1 hit "Close To You," talks about his groundbreaking Shabba Ranks collaboration "Housecall," and discusses his latest project with Robin Trower.

Paul Stanley of Kiss, Soul Station

Paul Stanley of Kiss, Soul StationSongwriter Interviews

Paul Stanley on his soul music project, the Kiss songs with the biggest soul influence, and the non-make-up era of the band.

Second Wind Songs

Second Wind SongsSong Writing

Some songs get a second life when they find a new audience through a movie, commercial, TV show, or even the Internet.

Bob Daisley

Bob DaisleySongwriter Interviews

Bob was the bass player and lyricist for the first two Ozzy Osbourne albums. Here's how he wrote songs like "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley" with Ozzy and Randy Rhoads.

Devo

DevoSongwriter Interviews

Devo founders Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale take us into their world of subversive performance art. They may be right about the De-Evoloution thing.