1. Hello, thank you for your time, please introduce yourself in a few words!
I’m JACOBS MORGAN, I’m a queer songwriter and artist from London. I work across a lot of mediums and am working on my first EP which will be released in late 2021.
2. Please give us an update about – new single, new album, tour dates, new videos?!
I’ve just released my first single ONE TWENTY-FIVE on 3rd September along with its accompanying music video. It’s a super queer project, has a vogue-y beat to it, and the music video centers on community and black love; the ways in which we lift each other up. It’s very sensual and intimate and captures the energy of the song. I’m also a writer-director and it was a real joy to be on set directing something with a bunch of my friends was honestly a joy – it was shot in New Cross at a laundrette I used to frequent in some of my most joyful and also most dark moments. The rest of my EP comes out later this year…
3. Name 5 things we all should know about you as an artist?!
- I try to do all of this from a place of joy, even if it’s about darkness or any kind of emotional turmoil the process is always fun and actually filled with joy.
- I am a Barb. I know all the words to CHUN LI, and I wish there were a way of skipping to Nicki Minaj verses in all the songs she’s featured in.
- My heart is in two places. I spend most of my time in London, but I think of Berlin as my second home – I’m there as much as I can, I think of Berlin as a place of incredible creativity, and I always find that I write well whilst there.
- I have a cat called Viola (after Ms. Davis) and she has heard every one of my songs thousands of times. She usually leaves the room; she’s a harsh critic.
- I can play the recorder to a professional standard. But I never get the chance lol.
4. What fashion style or brand would best describe your music?
It’s a kind of sultry pop that really makes me think of (what I imagine) New York in the 90s.
5. Tell us more about your songs! Topics! Message!?
It’s about the experience of being out with your mates in a club, surrounded by incredible people and energy, but being preoccupied with whether some not-that-great guy has text you back. It’s like the opposite of Lady Gaga and Beyonce’s Telephone which is of course about wishing someone would stop blowing up your phone. This is about wishing someone was. The rest of my EP follows a similar path sound-wise, but some of it leans into a heavier techno beat or more of pop sound with a twist.
6. Besides music, do you have any special talents?
I really love languages. I’m pretty confident in BSL (British Sign Language) and am in the process of improving my German and French. I also used to be able to do all three kinds of splits but I lost that a while ago – now I’d snap.
7. Being on stage feels like….!
For the first 30 seconds absolutely terrifying, then it feels like a fucking party.
8. How did you learn to sing/ to write/ to play??
I was actually very lucky in that I had a music teacher who was a very kind lesbian who I think saw that I was queer at a young age. She arranged for me to have free or subsidized music lessons when I was at school, and it very much started my love for music, which is something that she nurtured and I took with me through my life. Writing-wise, I think my process is very similar to that for screenwriting, which is my other creative outlet; it’s mainly about ways of conveying emotion, but also trying not to take myself too seriously. At school, I also learned piano, flute, recorder, guitar, and drums, and have a very varied proficiency in each of those.
9. A question you’d like to answer but have never been asked in an interview before?! + include the answer, please. 🙂
Q: Who is the most underrated artist in the world?
A: Normani. I could talk for hours about how much of a badass she is. She’s got a stunning voice, and her visuals are always absolutely killer.
Instagram: @jacobsmorgan_