Jacob Reddy is a rising indie rock talent hailing from Blackburn, and we’ve been proudly following his work since last year’s smashing tune ‘Wear The Crown’. Labelling his sound as “Grit Pop” Jacob recently unleashed his highly-anticipated debut EP titled ‘These Streets Are Ours’. A delectable five-track offering, it’s the perfect example of just what Reddy is all about!
Determined to know more about the man behind the music, I was thrilled when Jacob agreed to an interview! Chatting with us about playing the Croissant Neuf stage at Glastonbury, his recent spell of boredom, brought on by the absence of his guitar, and why he’s hopeful about initiatives like the arena/stadium ticket levy, please welcome our friend Jacob Reddy!
Hi Jacob, thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us! I’m stoked to re-introduce you to our ever-expanding audience! Before we get into the nitty-gritty, could you tell us about your musical journey? I know you released your debut single ‘Outside The Box’ in 2021.
I can’t believe I released ‘Outside The Box’ less than 4 years ago as so much has happened since then! Back in 2021, I was 16 years old with very little idea of what I was doing. I’m now about to turn 20…and still don’t really know what I’m doing!
Seriously though, it’s been quite a journey since then. I’ll try and summarise it as briefly as I can: In the summer of 2021, I did a charity busking tour, where I busked in all 51 cities in England in 22 days, raising just over 10K for Derian House Children’s Hospice. That was great fun (but very tiring).
Since then I’ve been writing and releasing music and basically trying to get myself out there and performing as much as I can. Highlights have been supporting slots with the amazing Lottery Winners, Pet Needs, James Walsh from Starsailor and The South. And a headline gig at the iconic Deaf Institute in Manchester on my 18th birthday. I’ve also just returned from my first-ever UK tour, which was great fun!
Earlier this year I was lucky enough to be asked to play at Leigh Leopards Rugby League Stadium pre-match and at half time for their match v St Helens. There were around 8000 fans there so that was very nerve-wracking but an amazing experience!
The most surreal experience, though, was playing at the legendary Glastonbury Festival in 2023. I performed twice on the Croissant Neuf stage and had the best few days ever! It was especially cool arriving the day before it opened and wandering around an empty Pyramid Stage!
Now, we at Mesmerized have been keeping a close eye (and ear) on you ever since coming across last year’s banger ‘Wear The Crown’. Most recently, however, you’ve just delivered your highly anticipated debut EP ‘These Streets Are Ours’. It’s an absolute stunner! What do you want our readers to know about your latest offering?
Thank you! I think the new EP is quite an exploration of different sounds. I’ve been trying to get more meaningful with what I’m writing and I think the EP was the first sort of step into that direction. I’ve called my current sound ‘Grit Pop’ as although I’m mainly focusing on creating catchy melodies and passionate, sing-along choruses, I’m also aiming to fuse other elements into my tracks, taking inspiration from indie rock, folk punk, alt-rock and pop.
I’ve been blown away with the reception so far and it’s been great to see people connecting with the EP, particularly with songs such as ‘Streets’, which is more of an atmospheric, U2-esque rock song, with a somewhat ethereal feel to the music. The song (as with much of the EP) focuses on optimism and unity, particularly in a time of uncertainty and discourse. Lyrically I was striving to portray a message of hope for friendship and togetherness, in a community where ‘all are welcome here’.
As a massive football fan myself, I have to ask you a little bit about ‘Ewood Lights’. Written as an anthem for your famous hometown football club Blackburn Rovers, the track gets played to around 15,000 people every single home game! How does it feel to hear 15,000 voices singing along to your creation?
Even now, a couple of years after releasing the song, it’s difficult to put into words just how crazy the whole thing feels. Being from Blackburn and being a massive fan of the club for pretty much as long as I can remember it’s so surreal to now hear my music playing in the stadium every week. I even got asked to play the song live at a local Rovers pub, The Rising Sun, for ITV News on FA Cup Quarter Final Day in 2023, with loads of Rovers fans singing along. That was another surreal experience!
I’d say it’s one of those things where if you told ten-year-old me that one day I’d be writing a song for Blackburn Rovers he would probably start laughing in disbelief!
Who are some of your biggest musical influences? And who would I see under “Recently Played” on your streaming service of choice?
I’d say my biggest influence would definitely be Frank Turner. He has been someone I’ve always loved the music of and he pretty much got me into going out and performing my own music. I think I’ve watched him live every year since the Positive Songs tour and he’s just an amazing performer!
In terms of my “Recently Played” I’d say in general I’m a bit of a stats fan! I love facts and figures so I’ve downloaded an app that tells me all about what I’m listening to, how long I’m listening for, and all these things I find really interesting (that would probably put most people to sleep!)
Apparently, my top 3 artists this month are Enter Shikari, Bob Vylan, and Frightened Rabbit, although you’d definitely have seen Softplay, Idles, Beans on Toast, the new Courtneerers album, Electric Callboy and, of course, the legendary Lancashire Hotpots popping up over the past few months!
German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said, “Without music, life would be a mistake.” What would your life look like without music and what fills your days when you’re not busy creating?
That is an awesome quote and one that I wholeheartedly agree with! I feel like I’ve always said “I don’t think I could live without music.” I had my first electric guitar lesson on my 7th birthday and have pretty much been playing, performing, listening to music, and going to gigs ever since!
This past week, though, I think I’ve really realised how boring my life would be without music as I travelled back to uni the other week and didn’t have enough arms left to get my guitar on the train. I’ve pretty much spent the past week staring at the walls in boredom, wondering what to do with myself! Luckily, since then, I have been reunited with my guitar and gone back to my old ways of annoying my neighbours with lots of long guitar strumming sessions, more than likely going on until the early hours of the morning!
What are your thoughts regarding the music industry of today? And, if you could, what changes would you make to it?
I think, not just from my perspective, but also from the perspective of many others around, it’s so important we preserve the grassroots segment of the industry. It’s heartbreaking how many iconic venues have had to close down due to lack of funding, and I’m imagining a future where there’s nowhere for up-and-coming artists to play if something isn’t done about it soon.
I’ve been reading a lot into the MVT recently and some of the stats are quite harrowing, but at the same time, it’s great to see there are people out there helping to preserve grassroots venues through fundraising and promotion. Initiatives such as the arena/stadium ticket levy are great to see, especially with artists like Coldplay, Sam Fender, and Enter Shikari getting involved, and I hope it’s the start of things to come.
I was involved in a Livestream where all proceeds went to the Music Venue Trust, organised by a brilliant promoter, Daniel Marshall from Songs Behind The Music, and headlined by Pet Needs and The Hunna. That was something I really enjoyed being part of, and is hopefully the sort of event that will become more common in the future.
OK, Jacob – desert island time! You’re allowed to grab 3 albums before being stranded on an island. Which do you go with and why?
As someone who likes to overthink things like this, I think it’s important to not necessarily pick the best three albums but three albums that I, in essence, won’t get bored of if I’ve played them thousands of times!
With that being said, my first album will have to be my favourite album of all time – ‘A Flash Flood of Colour’ by Enter Shikari. Not only is it my favourite album but it does happen to cross into pretty much every genre out there.
This might be cheating but I’d then get one of those bumper compilation albums. I found an indie one online with 100 tracks which I reckon would keep me going for quite some time with songs I enjoy.
Finally, I’d take ‘Opposites’ by Biffy Clyro. Again, one of my favourite albums ever and it also has a lot of songs on it with a lot of variety. I’d probably sneak Frank Turner’s ‘Songbook’ in there as well!
Thanks again for taking the time Jacob, it’s been great getting to know you better! What comes next for you musically and do you have any words of wisdom you’d like to leave us with?
Thanks a lot for having me. I’m not sure how “wisdomous” I am (or if that is even a real word) but I will say I’ve got a different sort of year ahead.
Firstly, I’m playing a gig on 1st February (The 10 Below Festival, organised by the brilliant Owen Miekle Williams from After All Promotions), where all of the acts are being accompanied by a string quartet! That’s going to be a very unique sound and I absolutely can’t wait!
I’ve also been working on loads of music, probably writing more than I ever have. Having started as an indie pop artist and then moving more into the indie rock genre for the past 18 months, I’m now writing stuff that is falling much more into an upbeat, story-teller, singer/songwriter sort of vibe. I played a more intimate, acoustic gig in my hometown of Blackburn recently which I really enjoyed. I love connecting with the audience and being able to chat between songs – so that’s something I’d like to do a lot more of in 2025. I’ve also been delving into my back catalogue of songs I wrote years ago, and giving them another spin! I can’t wait to start sharing all of my new material (and new versions of old material) as the year goes on!
Thanks so much for interviewing me – I’ve loved the questions and had a load of fun answering them!
