Jack Keyes (12, J&C) recently released a song entitled How To Lose that has received much praise over the past few days.
Redeye sat down with him and discussed his inspirations for the song.
Q: Tell us a little about yourself.
A: I’m a senior in J&C who will probably be going to a warm weathered place for college. I love to eat and I love my dogs.
Q: Now you released a song called How To Lose the other day. What inspired the song?
A: I usually write when I’m in a happy mood but am reflecting on a time where I was frustrated or upset. For this song, I was thinking about how people (including myself) aren’t always honest with each other. I realized that I’d rather take the bad and learn how to lose instead of dance around the situation.
Q: When did you start playing music?
A: In middle school I emailed my godfather, who is a songwriter, about wanting to learn guitar. I asked him what brand would be best, but he told me to hold off on buying one. I didn’t understand why he said this until one day I was surprised with a package at my house that contained a left handed guitar he had bought me after he saw my email. I spent the whole summer getting familiar with the instrument and I still play the same guitar nearly every day.
Q: Did you play all the instruments?
A: The drums were played by a guy who went to Bellarmine, but I didn’t use any other outside musicians.
Q: What kinds of bands have you looked up to for inspiration?
A: My favorite bands are ones that are thoughtful and poetic, but still melodic and tough or lo-fi sounding. Louisville has produced some amazing bands–Squirrelbait is one that I’m into right now.
Q: What has the feedback been since you’ve released the song?
A: It made my day to see the kindness people gave me. They didn’t have to take time out of their day to even listen to it, but the fact that some people not only listened, but also were eager to post the song on Twitter meant so much to me. It made me really love my friends.
Q: Did you consider YPAS as a magnet before you chose J&C?
A: I’ve always thought of myself as more of a journalist than a musician, even when I’m writing songs. Sometimes I even watch interviews of a band on YouTube as much as I listen to their music just because it gives me a chance to get more background info on an artist I like. I’ll put myself in their shoes by pausing the video after a question is asked and thinking of how I would answer it.
Q: Do you have any ideas of a music video idea for How To Lose?
A: I don’t know why, but for some reason I picture the music video being a guy dancing ridiculously in a banana suit or something all over weird areas of town.
Check out his song How To Lose below and for more upcoming work of Jack Keyes, check out his soundcloud page by clicking here.
