In His Shangri La

Jake Bugg's schedule is the dream success story; two albums in consecutive years, the former eponymous album debuting at #1 in the UK, making him the youngest male solo artist to do so. He's worked with the likes of Iain Archer, Shane Meadows and Rick Rubin, and when we speak, Bugg is a week out from heading up a two-day songwriting workshop for teens at the London's Royal Albert Hall.

“I'm sure people will say, well, he's only 19, how can he tell people to write songs?” Bugg says. “But the truth of the matter is you can't really tell people how to write songs; all I can tell them is it's gotta come from the heart and soul, and you just gotta keep writing, writing and writing.”

For Bugg, songwriting has been his cornerstone since the age of 14. “It kind of became my outlet, whenever I was feeling a bit annoyed or not feeling great, or even if you are, it's just an outlet to escape from the real world and keep myself sane.”

His songs often chart deeply personal territory, the perfect way to express himself without explanation. “I can find it quite difficult to talk. Music is the thing that helps me to project how I'm feeling in a way I'm most comfortable with. But then people ask you about it in interviews, and it's like, I find it difficult to talk about this, that's why I wrote the song!”

Barely out of his teens, Bugg has had the guidance of older songwriters like the aforementioned Archer and Brendan Benson (The Saboteurs) in the studio in the past, and he found the experience enlightening.

“It was just cool, because obviously they're a bit more experienced. They'd go, 'Why don't you try this?' There was just loads of ideas flying around; it was a very inspiring thing to do. I got some songs out of it, which is pretty cool.

“It [a song] has to be my idea. I don't really like it if it's somebody else's, because it has to be mine. How can I sing that to an audience? I'd be lying to them, as well as lying to myself. I don't want to be singing about somebody else's problems.”

While his debut album was firmly rooted in stories from the Nottingham council estates in which he grew up, Bugg's follow-up sees his focus shift to broader topics.

“It's not about moving away or trying to distance myself, it's just a natural progression. I don't live that life anymore. On the second album I talk about the same subject, but it's from a different perspective. Once you've got those two different perspectives on that subject, what's the point of writing about it anymore?”

Bugg is already writing songs for the third record. “It's what I love to do. It's like playing Call Of Duty on my Playstation or having a kick about with my mates; it's my hobby.”

Though Bugg is passionate about music, it's best not to talk music videos with him. His immediate response regards whether he enjoys the visual accompaniments to his songs is, “I hate videos, I absolutely hate 'em.

“You have to get up early, and the last one – A Song About Love – it was cold, I was tired, it was horrible. Horrible. I've not even seen it. I don't want to see it. You know a video like Slumville Sunrise, that was fun to do a bit of acting, or the Seen It All video – that was cool because it was a story on top of a story, and I only had to do one little bit and play table tennis and that was the best thing ever. But nah, I hate videos.”

In the midst of his gripes regarding his last visit – “It was freezing. I was expecting it to be well hot, I didn't even know you had winter down there” – he mentions being surprised regarding nightlife rules. When informed of the lockout laws, his opinion is strong.

“Well that's crap if you want to meet your mates then [after 1.30am], innit? The thing is that the more you put rules in, the more people want to go against it. I don't understand it.

“It'll be more violence inside bars. If you're having trouble and having a drink, and you can feel some tension in a bar, and you'd rather leave but don't because you can't get into another bar, that might end in violence inside. Thank you for the heads up.”