Chatting with indie newbie Jack Ferry

Hey Jack! Tell us a bit about yourself?

I'm Jack Ferry, and I just want to make music all the time. I play a lot of instruments and I simply do not shut up about it. My main train of thought is that if I keep making enough noise, someone's gonna hear it, and it's going to mean something to them.

When did you start making music?

I've been playing music since I was 12, crappily at first, but slowly getting better and attempting to write my own songs - again, crappily at first. I was a keyboard player in a couple of bands for a while, stood at the back smacking chords; it took me ages to actually be a good keyboard player and I haven't played keys for a band in years. Like all kids who fall in love with guitar and the piano, I messed around in bands having fun until something clicked and I knew I wanted to keep doing it.


Was there anything in particular that inspired you to choose this career?
I'm not sure what the click was, probably a song or album I played on repeat until I could see the singer's lips moving in my head, although knowing me it was probably The Beatles or They Might Be Giants. Actually, no! It was Courtney Barnett! Her double EP and debut album fundamentally changed my life and made me realise how much fun creating music actually was - everything sounds so fresh and exciting on that record! I remember hearing "Avant Gardener" for the first time and thinking - "Yes, it all makes sense now. Music. It's my life now.". So if you don't like my music, email Courtney Barnett about it.

How does it feel getting support from the likes of BBC introducing?

BBC Introducing is such a lovely helping hand to have in your corner, I've discovered so many fantastic artists through the Introducing radio shows and on their stages at festivals. I mean, there's no guarantee they're even gonna play "Thirty One Years" on the radio any time soon. They haven't let me know yet, but the month is still young! I'm an exceedingly hopeful person, and they've played me before. The host in the South West, Sarah Gosling, is such a fantastic host and has a real ear for great tracks. I hope I make the cut.

Talk to us about your latest release Thirty-One Years! What’s the narrative behind it?

Thirty-One Years is a song about my childhood house. Well...sort of. It's about the feeling of coming back to your childhood after being "on your own" for so long, and that feeling of a loss of home. The bridge has a line that goes "I cried on the floor / about not going home / about leaving my home / how I'll never be home again." - which is a completely true story - I cry on the floor quite a lot actually! But crying on the floor at the age of 20 about realising that home is a concept and you've got to make it yourself...I mean yeah, it might be the wankiest mental breakdown there is (it's not even in the top 5 for me), but it's a hard thing to parse! My childhood home is also the home my dad grew up in, and so the song is kind of a question to him, after he left for school, did he feel the same about coming home? To a place that he still lives in now? I imagine it's a little different for him, having raised three children there. But still! The album art is a painting of the house, painted by a patient at the hospital my great (maybe great-great) grandfather worked at. I think it's from the 50's.

What song so far do you feel best demonstrates your ability as a singer/songwriter?

Honestly, out of all the songs that the general public are allowed to hear so far, "Thirty One Years" is the one I'm proudest of in terms of songwriting and construction. There are a couple of moments that I'm still really proud of - the flow in the second verse "A sepulchre I have separated myself from using time", I still think that one is really really nice. I charted out the horn parts for that one, and I really like the relationship between the trumpet part (played by Merryn Rosie) and the clarinet (played by me). There are so many really amazing performances on that track actually. Nathaniel Walter's piano playing REALLY shines through on this. Owain Hanford put so much effort into his drum part - I remember I didn't see him for two weeks for some reason, and he came to our first rehearsal back and he had a whole comprehensive chart of what he was playing throughout the song, and gosh, it's good. Kelly Morris and Matthew Smith's vocals on here are amazing as well - as always. And Kelly's bass playing is really nice and understated here which really adds to the rustic feel of the song. Izzy Spencer also plays a really subtle, but really really lovely electric guitar part throughout this track - he's got such an amazing sense of presence and performance. He's an incredible guitarist, like he can do all that crazy widdly-widdly insane stuff, but he's also fantastic at fitting into a track where he needs to. I'm really lucky to work with such a talented group of musicians.

Do you have anything else in the works currently?

I've got an album in the works! I'd like to say that it's coming out next year, it's all finishing touches and little bits of spit shine all over the place, but I'm really proud of it. I'm just a little bit of a perfectionist, and I want it to be fantastic. But you know, mixes aren't finished, they're just released. There has to come a time where you say "Alright alright it's done!", which I am quite bad at. But I'm practicing.

Any plans to do live dates?

I've got no plans for live shows yet, my band is kinda geographically all over the shop at the moment, but I'm working on it. So if anyone wants to play a gig with a fun pop-rock outfit, with a front man who'll play guitar, saxophone, banjo, accordion, and melodica interchangeably throughout the set, please please PLEASE get in touch!