After reviewing Jack Berry’s new album ‘ Mean Machine’ earlier this month, we decided to have a chat with him about his new album and to get to know him a little better.
How Did ‘Mean Machine’ come about?
I had a bunch of songs I was working out and I got a call to use an old track (“Kiss Like”) for a Showtime show but I had to re-record the instrumentals. We went in, recorded it in an hour and the engineer just says, “Well, you’ve got the studio for the day…want to record anything else?” Three days later we had Mean Machine.
Did you find it difficult to decide what tracks you wanted on the album and what order to put them in?
Which songs were already set, but the order I treated like a concept album. Lyrically everything is correlative and the story carries itself throughout and I arranged the tracks to justify that.
The songs on the album all keep in with the same theme of conflicting emotions only portrayed in different ways was it difficult to keep the same theme through all the songs?
I certainly didn’t plan it to be that way, so it wasn’t difficult to stick to it. It’s more difficult to just stay out of the way of the flow. Let it breathe.
Your songs are full of swagger and confidence does this reflect on your personality?
Most of the figures I placed as heroes growing up had bravado in spades. Like Clint Eastwood or Muhammad Ali – but I wouldn’t say I walk the streets like Shaft. I’m a lot more laid back than what my music suggests…til I’m not.
Which of your songs are you most proud of?
I’m really proud of The Bull. The storyline alone was a fun thing to create and everything fell into place from there. I never planned for it to be so heavy but that’s what I love about it – the rise and tension. Parts of other songs still give me chills which is weird I reckon, to get that feeling from your own songs but I’m pretty good at detaching myself from the project as a person and artist.
There are some really great riffs in this album, were they difficult to come up with or did they come naturally?
Thank you for saying that. Naturally I suppose. The difficult part was refining them. I could hear them in my head but I’m only a sub-par player so it took time to do the riff justice.
Do your songs draw inspiration from personal experiences?
I like to use the content or vibe as a sort of score or soundtrack to my personal experiences so in a way yes, but not verbatim.
From your album you get a sense that these songs would be epic performed live, what is your Favourite song to perform live and why?
The live show brings the ruckus, I can tell you that much. I try to bring the energy of a punk show in rock form. We’re all dropping in sweat by song three. “Bad Dog” is typically the closer and for good reason.
What advice do you have for people who want to start a career in music?
Once you commit to starting that road, don’t turn back – only way you’ll make it is being relentless. Especially these days. It’s a beautiful thing to have so many artists among us, but it makes it a bitch to survive and get noticed.
What has been your biggest challenge in the music industry so far? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
Keeping my mouth shut about other genres or artists that receive so much fame and attention. There’s just no point but I’m so opinionated and certain things like country, which is just pop music with shit lyrics these days, not at all a candle to what it use to be but…ah dammit. See. Shut my mouth.
Any Plans to come to Ireland in the future?
By order of the Peaky Blinders I assume.
What is next for Jack Berry?
Shows, shows, more shows. Then back to the drawing board. Scatter some whiskey and tacos in there and that should cover it.
Whiskey and tacos sound good! might do that myself! stream ‘Mean Machine’ below.
https://soundcloud.com/jackberrymeanmachine/sets/mean-machine
