Q: What is the story behind this song? Do you think social isolation inspired it and would it have come about without it?
JACK: I don’t think the song would have come about if I hadn’t been as socially isolated as I was at the time. I felt as though I had been trapped in a version of myself I didn’t like very much which is basically the subject matter of the song. I think it was born out of frustration but is ultimately a hopeful song.
Q: In the song you talk about “visions of another life, visions of a better life.” In those visions, what type of world or life do you see? Either for yourself or for the world at large?
JACK: Well there’s two aspects the vision of a better life: one being the personal vision of my life, in which I hope to overcome certain mental constraints; the second being a wider view for society in general to improve such as getting this corrupt government out of power.
Q: Where do you get your inspiration from?
JACK: Morrison’s reduced section usually. Although, that can be quite hard to get hold of sometimes.
Q: What came first, the melody or the lyrics? How do you think this impacted the process of creating this song?
JACK: The music always comes first. I have 100’s of ideas and motifs written down or recorded ready to explore. The music for “Visions” initially came from the bass guitar riff. A melody has to jump out at me from the music for me to pursue writing lyrics to complete a song. I often find lyric writing quite a laborious task. But amazingly, with “Visions,” the song just seemed to write itself. I never had to think too hard about what it needed, it always seemed obvious. 90% of it was finished in a day.
Q: What do you hope people gain from your music?
JACK: I hope people take away something I was not expecting. I like to be surprised by people’s take on things I think (or thought) I knew. Ultimately, I hope people can relate to the subject matter because it is in many ways a rather personal song so the application of the subject may not apply to many people’s lives.
Q: What’s next for you? Are you planning on touring or putting out an album?
JACK: So the band and I have recently started rehearsing and it is sounding great already without all the fancy bits. We hope to be gigging by the end of the year but in the mean time the next single will be out in October. I’m heading down to Manchester in a couple of weeks to start filming the music video for it, and there’s a really exciting thing happening in November which I can’t reveal yet but I’m very excited!
Interviewed by Kat Rendon
