Jake Quickenden is a man of many talents. As well as being a singer-songwriter, he has vast presenting credentials and he’s also signed to a modelling agency!
The Scunthorpe-born star is currently touring across the United Kingdom and it’s fair to say that his incredible vocals are impressing crowds in every city. Some fans have even admitted to travelling over 7 hours just to see him in person. That’s dedication.
We caught up with Jake in Liverpool last week. In our exclusive interview, he revealed which reality show he’d love to appear on in the future. Jake also spoke about working with Bailey McConnell and he gave some advice for this year’s X Factor finalists.
You can read highlights from the interview and hear our chat with Jake in full below!
You recently kicked off your headline tour, how are you finding it so far?
“I love touring, I love performing and I love meeting people so for me it’s great. It just gives me a chance to show my music off and meet people that support me. Without them, I’d be doing jack shit so I just appreciate every second of it. It’s good.”
Your new single is titled ‘Get Away With Me.’ If you built a boat and could get away to any place in the world, where would you choose?
“Jamaica. Yeah, I’ve always wanted to go to Jamaica. It just seems like a really happy place like the atmosphere there and the carnival vibe there. I just think it’d be mint to go to Jamaica. Maybe one day.”
The song is a duet with Bailey McConnell, who you’re currently touring with, how did that come about?
“I’ve known Bailey a few years just from the circuit and gigging around. I’ve always got on with Bailey and think that he’s a really talented young lad. He’s a songwriter as well, he’s not just a singer, so for me he was the perfect person to get on my tour. We get on, he’s like a little brother, I can take the piss out of him and he’s a great talent. Then we just thought why not do a song together? It’s turned out really well so I’m happy.”
Earlier this year, you released the ‘New Chapter’ EP. How would you describe your the EP for people who haven’t yet heard your music?
“It’s just my original stuff. It’s written from the heart or from experiences that I’ve gone through or my friends have gone through. I just want it to be a bit more acousticy pop rather cheesy pop. I felt like my last one was a little bit cheesier than this one is so hopefully I can keep progressing. I feel ‘Get Away With Me’ is the best song I’ve done; that and ‘Feel My Love’ are the two most credible ones. So if I can keep working in that direction and keep it credible, I dunno, I can maybe make it one day.”
We love the lyric ‘They say bad things happen to good people, I agree, we’re all equal’ – are there any lines that you’re particularly proud of writing?
“Oh God mate, there’s too many to be fair. There’s a lot of hidden messages in my lyrics. Maybe something out of ‘Blindfold’, for me, is the most meaningful because it’s obviously written about my brother. So that’s the most meaningful; I can’t think off the top of my head a lyric but the song as a whole.”
From the emotional ballad ‘Blindfold’ to the club banger ‘Feel My Love’, your singles have been quite diverse. Are there any other musical genres that you’d like to experiment with in the future?
“I’m gonna do everything mate. Like the next song I release probably will be ‘Bail Me Out’ which is a fun, poppy, Lucy Spraggan kind of vibe. It’s catchy and it’s different. I think you should always mix it up and keep changing and not just release the same old shit.”
In 2014, you made it to the live shows on The X Factor. The live shows are set to start again soon so what advice would you give to this year’s finalists?
“Just be yourself. Don’t become a diva, don’t become big-headed and don’t think you’re already Justin Bieber. You’re not, you’re on the show but when that show ends there’s so much more work to do. It doesn’t get handed to you on a silver platter so keep normal, keep grounded, have fun and be yourself. Don’t let anyone change you because people do and it doesn’t work out.”
Have you kept in touch with any of your fellow X Factor finalists? We know you had a huge bromance with Ben Haenow.
“Yeah, I love Ben to pieces. I talk to him every now and again. Jack Walton I talk to. Stevie I saw the other night. So yeah, the Stereo Kicks lads, I still talk to Tom Mann quite a lot and he was a mate before. Parisa from Only The Young. I stay in touch with most of them to be honest; there’s not really anyone that I don’t. You’re on the same circuit and you’re chasing the same thing so you bang into each other all of the time.”
You were also a runner-up on ‘I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here’ – are there any other reality shows that you’d like to make an appearance on in the future?
“Strictly. Definitely, I really want Strictly Come Dancing man. Just because I watch it and I want to learn to dance and it’d be so sick to get fit and dance and have fun. I’m not gonna be bothered if they say ‘Jake, that was rubbish’ because I’m not a dancer. It’s like on The X Factor when they said it was bad, I was like ‘oh’ because I’m supposed to be a singer but I’m not a dancer. I don’t think people should let it get to them if they’re not good.”
If you could leave a message for everyone who’s supported you on your journey so far, what would you say?
“There’s nothing more I can say than really just thank you from the bottom of my heart for continuing to support me and being as nice as you all are sticking up for me on Twitter if I get any shit. I just can’t get my head around that people still want to come watch and people still want photos and stuff so, for me, just thanks.”
‘Get Away With Me’ is currently available here on iTunes alongside Jake Quickenden’s previous releases. We’d definitely recommend that you check out ‘Feel My Love‘ and ‘Loved Me Before’ if you haven’t already; those are two of our personal favourites.
Jake Quickenden’s next gig will be on the 8th October at the Borderline in London. The ‘Blindfold’ singer will also be performing in Southampton, Brighton, Cardiff and Scunthorpe later this month. You can purchase tickets for Jake’s shows here.
Aside from the tour, Jake will continue to surprise everyday heroes on ITV’s ‘Lorraine’ and he’ll also be releasing a 2017 calendar very soon. Keep your eyes peeled for that.
As Jake mentioned in the interview, he’s not too sure when his next EP will be out but he hopes that’ll it be next year. With every release, Jake’s material seems to be getting stronger and stronger so we can’t wait to hear what he has in store for us next.
Have you been to see Jake Quickenden on tour or are you going to one of his forthcoming shows? Make sure you let us know over on Twitter @CelebMix!