Jack's Jump into the Scene! 17/12/12

Image compliments of GC Photographics

Jack Craig is a relatively new arrival to the singer/songwriter scene in the City. Currently he is
recording his first EP and has just come fourth in Derry’s Walled City Singer/Songwriter competition.
Jack explains that at first he didn’t have an interest in pursuing music but with some encouragement
he turned a teenage hobby into something a little more serious.

"I’ve been playing since I was about 19. I’m 28 now but I’ve only really been taking it seriously the
past three years. It’s been through watching people about town, the likes of Dennis McLaughlin and
other people and thinking ‘I can do that too’. My brother’s been in bands, I never really took him on
at the start but the more and more I went out to watch the bands, the more I liked the scene and
thought I could do it as well.

There were always guitars around, I was never really into the folk that I’m into now, I was more into dance music. My brother said to me one day ‘Finally you’ll see sense and I think you’ll get into this type of music’. He used listen to like Dave Mathews and Bush and all bands like that, he was always trying to get me into the type of music, trying to get me to respect it because I used to think it was crap to start off with. The more and more I listened to it and then finally picked up the guitar and he showed me a few chords and took it from there. 

I started listening to more folk artist and really got into Paddy Casey, that Amen album. That was like my wee bible almost. I used to listen back to that and learn the songs and play them at open mic nights and stuff like that. People used to say I had a nice voice. More and more I got into it, started getting a wee bit more confidence and started writing my own stuff then."

Jack’s brother has been a massive influence for him in getting involved in music. He has also had
some recent success in a local competition which is spurring him on even more. “My brother, he’s
been in bands like Fargo and JO now, he’s been about so I’m just taking everything he says in as well,
he’s been out there in the music scene before doing it. He’s a big influence; he introduced me to a
lot of people in around the town. I’m more into the folky side of things, he loves his rock and heavy
rock. I just entered The Walled City, that singer/songwriter competition and I got fourth in that and I
was delighted with it like. There was quality talent, Decky McLaughlin won it like and I would look up too Decky too, he’s been about the place. The talent in the town’s unbelievable and to come fourth
in a competition like, I was pretty proud of myself and not having much music there but I know it’s
there, I have it ready to go it’s just getting it out there.”

Jack describes that his music has been in the pipeline for a while and with a little help from his
friends he’s hoping to have an EP out soon. “The past two years I’ve been taking it really seriously
and making a point of sitting down with the guitar and going and writing a song, it’s taken me like 2
years to write 4 or 5 songs that I’m really happy with, long enough like. My girlfriend that I’ve started going out with, she’s added a lot to it as well, doing backing vocals, she’s a trained singer and has been giving me a few tips about how to breathe properly and sing properly and stuff like that. I have enough there now for an album I’d say but I’m in the middle of doing the EP. My brother’s helping me out there and my girlfriend’s doing backing vocals, Jennifer Kelly. I have about 3 songs done; I’ll work on them a bit still. I want to have the EP out in February or March. Hopefully 5 tracks, I have 4 strong songs. Like I said I have an albums’ worth there but I don’t think there too polished and finished for an album but definitely going to get the EP done, start small like.”

For some singer/songwriters the approach to songwriting can be a tricky one to put your finger on.
Jack’s approach takes inspiration from everywhere before he pulls separate ideas together. “I’ll have
four or five pages just of words, I sort of pick out the pieces that I like that fit and try and make a
story out of it. One verse could be about one thing and another verse about something different,
it’s hard to describe almost how I song-write. I’ve a song called ‘Won’t Let you Down’, I wrote that
when I was very drunk. It’s about an ex girlfriend I’d been going with, we had a fight one night and I
think I realised it was coming to the end where I knew we were going to break up so I sat down with
a pile of drink in me and recorded it on a wee dictaphone, just let that go and was rambling over the
chords I was playing. I listened back to it the next morning and picked out the parts I liked and wrote
them down, I just arranged it then.”

So far Jack hasn’t done a lot of gigging in the city but has seen a different side to audiences here
from his involvement in the Walled City competition. “When you’re playing in some bars you know
people are in for a drink and they’re not listening but in the song writing competitions, which I think
there should be more of in the town, people sit down, they’re there to see the singer/songwriters
and their abilities, I prefer the quiet sit down instead of the other but sometimes you have to make
money and play those bars, you have start somewhere. I just want to get the EP done and get it out.
Brian Magoo does it for free and he’s finding his feet up there at the moment too in Beechwood,
neither of us are professionals, Brian really likes my music too and he tells me what he thinks of the
songs, I like to hear what other people have to say.”

Jack’s recent success will see him take on more gigs in the Spring and possibly a music residency as
well as a few potential appearances locally, which are yet to be confirmed. For more news on gigs or
to hear some of Jack’s music you can have a look at his Facebook or SoundCloud pages online.