Music
Interview
JERUB: “My music is shaped by empathy”
Nottingham's soulful pop singer-songwriter discusses performing for Lenny Henry, and how his shows are "therapy sessions" for fans
The first time we spoke to JERUB two years ago, the Nottingham-based British Nigerian singer-songwriter hadn’t even released his seminal EP, Carry The Load, yet. He had, however, performed for King Charles at the coronation, had his songs as needle-drops on Love Island, toured with JP Cooper, played multiple festival slots, and was adjusting to a whirlwind year in his career.
Now, on a sunny day in July, JERUB is much more at ease, talking through tracks on a new playlist he made, preparing to go to the studio to make new music, and speaking with the confidence of a seasoned performer. Though his star continues to rise, his humility remains steadfast, reiterating how important it is for his music to be a positive force in the world. It’s a warmth reflected in the soulful, jubilant vocals and lyrics of his indie pop.
Ahead of his Wonder Years tour this November, we caught up with our July New Music artist of the month.
You released a new single, ‘Let It Go’ last month. Compared to your last EP, Carry The Load, this song feels more jovial than carrier, more summery, and sonically a little bit more free. What was the inspiration behind the new song and thematic direction?
Great question. I think I still feel like a new artist, even though I’ve been doing this for a couple of years now. Carry The Load was great – I really enjoy making that record because I got to experiment a lot. And I remember my team going ” Just try stuff out.” You don’t really get to know what you really want to do until you do what you don’t want to do. Or until you take the path onto what you’re really carving out. I’m not saying Carry The Load isn’t what I wanted to do, I love that record, but it’s more that I think EPs are for carving out your sonic identity.
And I think even this next EP is still going to be me on my journey. The big difference is I realised the thing I was searching for in the music was a level of freedom, like you said, and a level of rawness, which I think I find so much when I do live music. It’s so easy to find that space to deliver that feeling when I when I play live with my guitar or with a band. And I wanted to get that on a record. I wanted to get that feeling across when people listen to it on different DSPs. ‘Let It Go’ is very raw – it’s not a lot of instruments, just electric guitar, acoustic guitars and drums. And the song is really about figuring out how to let go of things that aren’t good for you, which, as an idea, is quite a real thing and it’s a vulnerable place.
I read the interview that you did with Apple Music where you talked about the three albums that you were listening to at the time of your Finding My Feet EP. On that list was The Life of Pablo by Kanye West, Hello Fear by Kirk Franklin, and The Human Condition Jon Bellion. Are those still the albums that inspire your new work or have you been listening to different artists?
Well, I think one of the interesting things about my music, and maybe music in general, is what you consume isn’t always what you deliver. And I think for me, I consume a vast amount of music, whether it be gospel, singer-songwriter, rap, grime, or even recently – today I made a playlist called ‘A Soulful Education’ because I realised that I love a lot of soul music, but I don’t know it. I’ve actually been influenced a lot by it, but not in a really conscious way. So I made a playlist just to put names to all the songs that I’ve grown up listening to, and really have shaped kind of the way I sing. And that gospel soul expression mixed with like, you know, Adele, Ed Sheeran and Jon Bellion. And Justin Bieber’s new album.
I’m listening to Justin Bieber’s new album! It’s so good!
It’s so good. I wasn’t a Bieber fan until 2016 when I heard Purpose. And Purpose for me was just like, “oh my gosh, this is amazing!” And it’s a little bit dubstep-y, to be honest with you. My point is that it’s not necessarily that these are the records I listen to, and that are shaping me right now, but more that I’m consumed by mastery of music, and I think that will leak into the music I make. But more than anything, music I make is shaped by empathy, feeling, and just the intangible vibe in a room. And the thread that weaves all of it together is the vocal.
What’s on ‘A Soulful Education’?
Oh, man. Etta James – I actually listened to it on repeat this morning. I don’t know why – ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’. Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change is Gonna Come’, obviously. The first time I did a cover of that song was at Comic Relief on TV. It was Lenny Henry’s last one, and that’s one of his favorite songs, so I did that song for him. I performed it again at Ronnie Scott’s and it inspired me to listen to soul music again.
Something that I feel permeates throughout all of your music is a sense of empathy and vulnerability and community. Why is it important for you as an artist to express that through your music?
It’s definitely something that’s important to my music because it’s important to me as a person. I remember being in a year 11, you have a leavers book where everyone writes down “what will you be doing in 10 years” etc. And a few years ago, I remember opening it up again, and I’d written down “I don’t know what I’m going to be doing, but I’m going to be helping people.” And I think there’s something innate from a young age that’s always felt to do something that serves someone that’s not just myself. It led me to do a year of Psychology at university, but it wasn’t for me, so I ended up I graduating with a social work degree. I practiced for a little bit.
And I think empathy is something that is important to me as a person. We all have the ability to empathise, but I think the difficulty of empathy is it’s costly. We gravitate towards – myself included – towards numbness, because it’s so much harder to feel. So I think that’s why I care about empathy.
What do you want fans to take away from your live show?
I’m still formulating an idea for this next tour in November and December. It’s the biggest one we’ve done so we have an opportunity to make it really special. But from every show, I want people to have a moment where they feel – even if it’s one moment, even if it’s one song, even if it’s a 10-second moment, where they they go from just being entertained to actually feeling something. I’ve had it many times in my shows, where people come up to me crying and saying “Oh my gosh. That was a therapy session. I needed that.” Someone said to me on my last tour, “I felt like you pulled me apart and put me back together in one set”, which was the biggest compliment. And it was just one of those moments where it put language to the thing that I really desire in a live show, which is where people feel and people are healed, and people are whole.
Do you have any venues that you would love to perform at?
I’ve played Union Chapel three times this year, but supporting other people. I had a moment when I was supporting Nick Mulvey where I thought, “I’d love to come back here for my own show one day.” It’d be really special. So maybe off the top of my head, I’ll say Union Chapel. But there’s so many iconic, amazing venues that I would love to play.
Finally, where does the artist name “JERUB” come from?
Wow, what a question. I’d like to say that I said put it in a search engine and it came up randomly like Childish Gambino, but that’s not what happened. My name is Gideon. That’s the name my parents gave me. It’s actually a biblical name, and Gideon the Bible character was also known as Jerub, so it’s kind of my name in a different variation. When I was choosing an artist name I wanted to be called Gideon, but it was was taken by a heavy metal band and I didn’t want to compete with that.
It’s not good for SEO.
Not at all, not at all.
JERUB tours the UK and Ireland this November – find tickets here
