.png)
Going around East London for a walk with singer-songwriter Jeremy Zucker is not something you do every day.
In this interview, the artist discusses his new EP “is nothing sacred?” and the concept around it, revealing that it's about vulnerability and the idea of sanctity. Of the inspiration behind is nothing sacred? Jeremy states, “The EP is a response to the questions ‘is nothing sacred?’, meaning, "does nothing matter in the world?" It’s sort of this exploration of opening yourself up to being vulnerable and surrendering yourself to the potential for pain in the pursuit of caring about something greater than yourself.”He also discusses his writing process and working with other musicians, including the fun he had working with Chelsea Cutler and alexander23.
Zucker recently wrapped his run on The Kid LAROI’s national “Bleed For You” Tour and is
set to headline his own international tour later this year.
"is nothing sacred?" Is finally out. What is the concept behind it?
The concept is basically this is kind of a question thrown into the void. The idea of something being sacred and the idea of sanctity, the thought of holding something very valuable. And in my life I’ve spent a lot of time about caring about things. And I think I went through a long period of just not caring about s*** and, l was a little used to everything, I guess. And so this project was kind of a way for me to experiment, sort of, like, see how I wanted to really be vulnerable again and break down whatever walls I had built up. Because opening yourself up leads to care about different things.
Did you start working on it right after “Crusher” came out?
It took some time. I was making music for a while with a bunch of different goals. I’m always writing and that eventually, I landed on what would become the sound of the EP.
“OK” is your first track of the EP. Why this track to introduce the album?
It's one of the most fun songs we ever made. I was in London when I wrote, I was in Peckham. I was with this guy, Two Inch Punch. Nice. And were just jamming around and making music and we came up with that idea, but at the time, it wasn't called “OK” and there was a completely different chorus. So, I brought the record home and asked myself, “what the h*** do I want to say in this chorus, and how do I want it to sound“ but also “how do I want it to feel?” And I went through a bunch of different versions of it and brought some friends over to help me write it and couldn't get it right. My last resort was calling Alexander23 who’s a mastermind, I grabbed my phone and went like “hey, can you help me finish the song?” And brought him over. We immediately wrote that chorus and that is the song you hear now.
You've been writing music and you've been performing for so long. What has changed so far? What has changed musically?
I just think it's become more mature, and I've had to do a lot of thinking about everything. Everything is just, I think, more intentional, where in the past it was very reactionary and very instinctual. Right now, I must sort of think about things more and be more intentional with what I'm doing because I can't just kind of flop around anymore.
You said in previous interviews that you like to work on your own songs alone, is it easier rather than having people involved?
I think it takes more time to do it alone, but I find it a bit less confusing because I've become aware of what I am supposed to be doing when I'm alone. I guess when I'm making music with people, the goal, it's harder to like it. It's harder to understand what it is that makes sense. And it's harder to direct it and to guide it when there's someone else with their own instincts and information. So, when I'm alone, I can really do what I want and how I want it. I know where I stand and if something doesn't go the way I want, I can just change.
If I'm with someone else in the room, I think there's like, a part of me that becomes more difficult to access.
When you create a song, do you ever think about people’s opinion?
I try not to. It's easy for that thought to come into my head, but I have to shake it off immediately or I wouldn’t finish that song or I wouldnt be making it for the right reason. I make a song with that design.
With the new EP, what do you want people to know?
What I want everyone to know is in the music.
That’s such a powerful answer! A lot of people have asked you about “Brent” which is your project with a great musician and really good friend of yours Chelsea Cutler. What is it like to work with her?
It's a lot of fun. She is really inspiring and I love working with her. I really like where her mind goes musically. And I feel like it's always a treat.
Does it ever feel like it's a job when you work with your friends?
It depends on who they are. With Alexander23 for example we've only really gotten together three times to make music, and each time we end up with something that we love that came out to them so in that case, it doesn’t feel like work, it’s easy and it’s great.
With Chelsea, though, we've written so much music together that we, again, really must think and be intentional and we try to have fun. It gets more difficult to have fun when you've already done so much.
We must really be intentional about how we're curating our space and the instruments and what we're doing and why we're doing it. Because obviously you want it to be perfect.
We want to still be able to guide it the way that we want it to be.
You’ve been in the industry for so long and played everywhere. Is it difficult to cope with fame?
I don't know. Everywhere weird. Everywhere I am, it's different.
At a show of mine, obviously, that'sthe most extreme scenario where there are thousands of people that know me and know my music and are, like, yelling after me, I guess. But when I walk on the street in a random town, in a random country, no one knows who I am. It really depends. When I get stopped in places I don't expect to get stopped, I'm like, oh, s***. Yeah, I forgot I was not in other places. There are some people that know me, and I have to kind of be like other companies. Wow. Really weird. It's not one or the other. It's kind of a mix of both.
What is next for you?
Can't really say. I know what is happening next, but I can't really talk about it ;)
You can follow Jeremy Zucker's journey here and on tour across North America, see details below and on jeremyzuckertour.com
Photos by: Gianmarco Rizzo
Words by: Sal Fasone
Comments