#jack haining

Jack is a singer/songwriter who began writing acoustic music at the age of 15, penning lyrics which he describes are ‘as close to home as possible’, holding meaning and allowing him to connect with them whilst performing. His original song ‘Embers’ is about the healing process we go through after losing a loved one, and tracks like ‘Somnus’ are straight, honest, love songs. Speaking of his song writing for this interview, Jack said ‘I just write about things going on in my life at the time, and try to make the lyrics as honest as possible in reflection. I spend of lot of time making sure I get them right and that they convey the desired imagery/ story/ place that I had in mind whilst writing them.’

Jack, although he says he’d like to tell us otherwise, was first inspired to pick up a guitar after listening to pop music at the age of 5, ‘in particular Busted’, he laughs. After sifting through a lot of indie music, by the age of 10 he’d come across albums like “Veneer” by Jose Gonzalez, and “O” by Damien Rice which really resonated with him. ‘Something just felt right, so I stuck with it.’

Commenting on his style, something he finds tricky, he talks about his influences. ‘My music is heavily centred around the acoustic guitar and different fingerpicking patterns, rhythms and alternate tunings, something I have been captivated by since I first picked up a guitar. The combination of lyric writing, and this style of playing, with warm, home-grown style production, feels like the best summary of my music I could give.’

Having recently just moved to London to study Music at Goldsmiths, Jack is currently taking the time to write new songs, settling into a creative flow down south. ‘I’m really just trying to hone my sound a little more, play live as much as I can and just make to most of being here to be honest.’ Being in London, with such a huge, but wonderfully diverse music scene, you have to be unique musically to get noticed. ‘I guess I’m just working away at that!’

Discussing his biggest influences he revealed the names of great acoustic guitar players, in particular the likes of Jose Gonzalez, Michael Hedges, John Martyn and Andy McKee, all of whom have been hugely influential to his own style of playing, as well as the main non-musical influence - nature. ‘From a young age I’ve always had a great love of the natural world. I never feel more at home than when I’m amidst the Yorkshire Dales. Nature has a lot to teach us, and I try to include some of that, whilst capturing its beauty, in my lyrics. Poetry is another huge influence, particularly ancient poets such as Bashō and Rumi.’

Writer’s block, something which all writers face, is something Jack can tend to struggle with. ‘I have a tendency to spend ages cooped up writing the same song which leads me to a point where I can’t hear what needs to be done anymore.’ Advice he would give himself in the situation is to leave the guitar for a while, take a walk somewhere really quiet and empty his mind a little. ‘Going back to writing after this is always when I’m at my most productive.’

Having known Jack for a very long time, I have grown up with his music and have been to a lot of his gigs and concerts. He has been involved in festivals, had his music played on the radio and played in an ‘Ont’ Sofa’ video for Prime Studios as well as a Sofar Sounds video, to name but a few. Talking about his favourite experiences so far, he reminisces the night he was playing a show down at Chapel FM in Leeds, his so called second home. ‘My good friend Denmarc Creary joined me on stage and rapped a verse in my track Embers. The whole night had an amazing vibe anyway, but that really topped it off, simply because of the emotion that overcame us both and how receptive the audience were. Those are the kind of nights that sum up why I do what I do.’ My final question to Jack was what his top tip would be to anyone starting out.

He said, ‘short and simple: learn how to enjoy it. It’s so easy to get so caught up all the anxieties and pressures of performing that it becomes easy to forget to enjoy it! There’s no point doing it if you don’t enjoy it, same goes for anything in life, what’s the point if you don’t love it? Sure enough, it takes a while to get past all the worries, but the sooner you do that, and learn to feel comfortable enough as a performer, the sooner you can just enjoy it and make the most of it.’

To hear Jack’s music check out his YouTube channel, Facebook page and