Growing up in a creative musical environment, Jack was surrounded by music from an early age, this helped shape his own distinctive sound.
As a part of Music Is To Blame’s What’s To Blame? interview series, Jack Valero discusses his recent releases and his musical family.
Introduce yourself and where you’re from.
Hey, I'm Jack Valero and I'm from Brighton. Thanks so much for having me!
What or who would you say is to blame for your music career?
Haha, the blame would definitely fall on the shoulders of my parents.
Growing up in our house you could not get away from music. There would often be something playing somewhere in the house and you'd just pick up on it. What really turned me onto it though was one day my Dad brought home the game Guitar Hero 3 and I became obsessed. Along with the rest of my generation I was really into games and it was a very popular one at the time. Not to mention that films like School Of Rock were also very popular so created this new surge of music lovers. But what the game did was bring the old classic rock songs to a new generation in a format that was a big part of our young culture. When I went to school I got in with a crowd that would always talk about what level they had completed a song on Guitar Hero, but a lot of them could play actual guitar too. That's when I started to ask my mum and dad about certain songs on the game and I would get the bands whole back catalogue and started to play guitar myself. I wanted to be part of the music gang. It had made guitar playing and music an identity at school and that's when it changed from what your parents were listening to, to our own cultural reference point.
Did you feel pressured at all to live up to your Dad's career?
Wow straight in the deep end haha.
Good question though and honestly yes I do sometimes. Not from my parents though at all, I think most people in my position feel this to different extents. For me I always felt that I had to prove myself twice as much as everyone around me as I felt I had to prove that I was there on merit and not because of my lineage. The frustrating thing though I was always inevitably compared to what my father had done. Even though many people do judge me purely on merit that comparison still lingers whether in my own mind or others.
I can't complain too much as I also have had tonnes of support from both my Dad and Mum who are both veterans in the industry as well as others and I am eternally grateful, but at the same time I'm also directly adjacent to someone else's career that's years in the making and even with all the good faith and support in the world that can be difficult to find your own identity.
Who are the biggest musical inspirations for the sound you’ve curated?
I was exposed to a myriad of music growing up from classic rock to reggae to folk and even classical. The artist that I really caught on to and decided to base my own music identity around is Tom Petty. I loved how he could write catchy songs and still write interesting lyrics as at the time I thought those were mutually exclusive. I even based my singing style around him which accounts for my nasal singing and American twang.
Before that though was David Bowie as he was so outlandish and knew who he was and people loved him for that, quite an alien concept for me at the time. Along with them would be The Ramones. ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ was the first song I ever learnt, they were so accessible and I loved the ethos of 'if we can do it you can do it too', the whole here's three chords now start a band type mentality that also fitted in with the punk bands at the time like Green Day.
Not to mention everyone at school either hated punk or didn't understand it, perfect for an isolated teen needing an opposing identity to the popular kids haha.
Talk to us about your sophomore EP ‘Not In Kansas Anymore’?
The songs on this EP have mostly been influenced by a sense of huge upheaval or change, whether that be on a social/political or personal scale. I read about how the phrase 'Not In Kansas Anymore' had been adopted in culture to reference that we have stepped outside of what is considered normal, we have entered a place or circumstance that is unfamiliar and uncomfortable, we have found ourselves in a strange situation and I felt that fitted the songs overarching theme perfectly.
How do your more recent releases compare to your debut track ‘Heaven Help Me’?
Well that song ‘Heaven Help Me’ in particular has changed tremendously as it was originally a sombre ode to living through covid and after working with Jamie Webster changed to a loud and strong call to action. So I think the main way they compare is that the new EP has a message and theme that connects all the songs sonically and subject wise, whereas before my songs were more isolated from each other.
How was it working with Jamie Webster on your recent releases?
Working with Jamie has been amazing. Not only working with him but the whole Scouse wrecking crew Tim Cunningham (bass & Co-producer), Danny Murph (lead guitar) and Jim Sharrock (drums) who feature on all the tracks of the new EP. Jamie took me under his wing and everyone made me feel so welcome. Was kind of overwhelming at first to have such talented people around you working on your songs. Working with Jamie was particularly interesting though as when you're working with a producer who is also a recording artist they know both sides of the booth intimately and can get right into the nooks and crannies of every song. For example, he knows what it's like to struggle on getting a take right for a singing part at times and so he would come into the booth and sing it through with me to help me nail it. He would instinctively know where your head was at and help to get you into the right headspace.
Not to mention he's such a lovely and supportive person and does so much to support other musicians. Felt very lucky to have the chance to work with him and everyone in the group.
What have you got coming up that you’re most excited for?
Well at the minute I'm focusing more on consolidating after this EP and planning the next faze. So I guess the main thing I'm excited for is to enjoy that the EP is finally out in the world and see what people think.
Are there any up and coming Brighton artists that should be on our radar?
There's lots of great artists in Brighton, but if I had to pick one to check out at the moment it would be Elba Rose. She's a fantastic artist who does nearly everything herself. She's helped me out many times with content creation and works incredibly hard. Has a really great alt-pop sound with edgy lyrics, very talented and just had a new release.
Check her out on tiktok, insta and Spotify. You won't be disappointed!
Sum up your sound in three words
Thoughtful, crunchy & catchy
Olivia Brown
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