Jacob Banks
“Cardi B and I would get on well don’t you think?” Jacob Banks inquires, cooling off in LA amidst a snazzy 30 date tour of North America, casual. At the time of our shindig, Jacob has just been announced as a tasty bill at Manchester’s Parklife Festival, basically the Coachella of the North in the way it consistently serves up the goods. An intense line-up for Jacob is proved with personal favs Mura Masa, NAO and slowthai performing at the 10th anniversary of the festival in addition to the Cardi-extravaganza he’s desperate to sneak a glimpse of and secretly hoping the now GRAMMY award-winning gal hops on by to his set (with presumably a pint in hand?).
Now usually when I’m asking someone about their musical upbringing I’m expecting tales of their parents bringing them up on left-field 30s jazz and so I wish Jacob could’ve seen the look on my face when he proudly confessed that his Westlife CDs were his audio-bible growing up (huge approval btw). From Disney soundtracks to early hip-hop ala 50 Cent diverting all the way over to Celine Dion and big vocal ballads, Jacob had always been musically open as a child. “I think your job as an artist is to reflect your taste. My full self doesn’t just like blues or jazz or reggae it likes all these things and so I try to find a whole for all of those influences, not even sound-wise but energy-wise.”
With all genres on the table, Jacob’s left spoilt for choice as to what sound he could tackle next. “Country I’ve never done and I’d love to try some of that, the melodies and instrumentation of country music is something I’m drawn to.”
Something else Jacob is drawn to is seeing colour within music, especially in his debut LP Village. “When I do an album it’s like a palette, each song represents a certain colour in the palette. Every song has a different emotion and I believe that with human emotions we experience so many things and I wanted to create a body of work that celebrates the human experience.” This hasn’t been a recent doing however and Jacob has envisioned the colours of the rainbow since he first laid his hands on music, “if I’ve done my job well you’ll be able to recognise it throughout the album,” and you certainly can – gold star for Mr. Banks.
In a time where everything in The Louvre can also be found on Instagram, it’s hardly shocking that this was the exact place Jacob found the artist behind the Village artwork. “I love anyone that’s creative. I love supporting people that put their heart and soul into something.” Owning art pieces from both friends and artists he’s discovered online, Jacob resonates with seeing “young people do dope shit” because the arts wasn’t something on his agenda growing up. “I thought maybe this isn’t the smartest decision,” he reasons, admitting to being hesitant of the artist lifestyle and not seeing anybody doing it as an actual career. “Then I saw successful people doing what they love and I wanted to contribute to that, in the long run, I want people to dream a little bigger and find themselves in something they love.”
And the rest is history. Jacob’s led a career that his younger self aspired to have; both audibly and visually. On his visionary outlook, Jacob preaches, “I only get to hold my mic for so long. It’s important that I use my time to say something that’s tangible,” something that’s persuaded him to produce visuals that challenge people’s taste buds. “I think with every song we always see this ‘boy meets girl’ narrative when it could be ‘boy meets boy’. You can only say so much in a song, you can tell a totally different version of the same story in a music video.”
Jacob is still relatively new and with all pristine artists I ask what’s next? Albeit, in this case, I ask when on earth he plans to take a minute and unwind from his restless schedule. “My job is such a luxury, I get to tour the world with my friends and make the music I want. This is it. This is everything I’ve prayed for.” The praying paid off, in fact, it’s a prodigious understatement. “To walk away now feels like the opposite of what I’m supposed to do. I’m just being thankful. I’m loving every moment and I’m trying to stay on the horse,” and off he rides into the sunset, en route to further world domination…