We love getting the chance to interview artists who are inspired by the same musicians we are, and Jak Lizard is no exception!
Jak Lizard grew up jamming out to artists such as Stevie Wonder and Sly And The Family Stone, which helped incorporate a soul feel and sound to his music. It also helped push him into including more serious topics in his tracks, as the artists once did. His most recent project, Young Americana, has been an album he’s been working on for a couple of years by now, and we think it’s perfect. He has quickly become one of our favorite singers this year, not only because he is extremely talented, but he’s also just a great person to talk to you. So, our sweet Honey Poppers, here’s Jak Lizard.
Hi Jak! We’re very excited to be able to talk to you about your latest project, Young Americana, we’ve found ourselves so in love with it. We know you started making it in 2020, Which track on the EP was the first one written, and which one was the last?
The first song I wrote was Heaven Help Me’ at my piano in my house. The last song was ‘Shake’ in the studio with Jack Laboz.
Were there tracks that didn’t make the cut for Young Americana? If so, will we be hearing those songs in the future?
There were in all honesty, probably 20 songs that didn’t make the cut. Whether any of those see the light of day any time soon? I’m unsure.
Do you think you have changed musically or even personally from 2020, to 2022?
Yes, so much. I made multiple fundamental changes in my life since the beginning of this project it’s actually wild haha. To put it simply, I’m in a much better place now.
Our fave track off of Young Americana has to be ‘Heaven Help Me,’ we love the stop and go backtrack, and the added glockenspiel sounds. How long did it take for that song to come about?
The amazing thing about ‘Heaven,’ is that as a Jak Lizard song has notoriously one of the fastest turnarounds of any track of mine from start to finish. From conception to birth was under one year. Most of the tracks take a little over a year and change.
We really loved the collaborations you had for ‘Ride Home,’ Faterdude and Julia Zivic’s voices and yours go so well together. How did that collaboration come about?
Julia Zivic is an angel on this earth who has been in my life for a while now. She has sung background for me in live settings, recorded backups in the studio, and is an insanely talented solo artist. Getting her in the studio was and is still always such a priority. She just dropped album called Good Cry, it’s insane you gotta check it out.
Speaking of collaborations, some artists like to re-release tracks but with an artist collab. If you could have someone jump on the title track ‘Young Americana,’ who would you choose?
Wow. Love this question. I think Anderson .Paak would for sure skate on that one. Fingers crossed lol.
Some of our favorite lyrics come from this EP, what is your fave lyric you’ve written so far and why?
So far!? That’s too hard, haha, I could think of an example of what I’m lyrically proud of from the new EP though. What comes to mind right now is the second verse of ‘Give A Light To You.’ It starts with “I never thought I’d be in this predicament…” That verse came to me while just pacing around in my basement, no music, no nothing, just inspiration.
What we think makes your music stand out compared to others are the harmonies! How important is it to include harmonies into your tracks? How long does it take to perfect them?
Thank you! Harmonies are my favorite. Some stacks take 5 minutes, some take an hour hahaha.
Young Americana has been in our on repeat playlist, what has been in your on repeat playlist lately?
Hmmm, Good Cry -Julia Zivic, Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers -Kendrick Lamar, to hell with it – PinkPantheress among many others.
What is your favorite part about writing music? Is there something that you always struggle with when writing up a song?
The whole process is my favorite. I think I’m a musician for the simple fact that I love the creation of songs. The only thing I struggle with is being a normal person and leaving the studio haha.
If you could create a visual novel, what four tracks of yours would you include?
‘Young Americana,’ ‘Heaven Help Me,’ ‘Give A Light To You,’ and ‘Ride Home.’
What can we expect from Jak Lizard in 2022?
The best is always yet to come.
We thought Young Americana was as good as it gets, but we guess we have much to look forward to with Jak Lizard. If you haven’t already, be sure to stream the album here.
So, what did you think about Jak Lizard and Young Americana? Let us know in the comments down below, tweet us @thehoneypop, and talk to us on Facebook and Instagram!
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