Jack Garratt video premiere for 'Surprise Yourself'

UK artist Jack Garratt (Press image)

Jack Garratt has put together a studio session for "Surprise Yourself" off his upcoming album Phase.

The Brits Critics' Choice Award winner, who has been writing music since he was 12-years-old, was catapaulted into the mainstream music stream following the nomination but seems to be taking it all in his stride.

Favourable comparisons to Ed Sheeran are not underserved: Garratt clearly has drive and talent in spades, and 2016 looks set to be a very promising year for him.

Check out the video and let us know what you think.

Q&A with Jack Garratt

What have you been listening to recently?

"I've been listening to a lot of the big wave of this new kind of jazz fusion that is becoming more and more important. It was everywhere on Kendrick's last album: it's that real LA sound, the futuristic jazz and hip hop fusion, so I've been listening to a lot of Flying Lotus, his new track he just dropped for the Rick Rubin compilation is so sick. I've also been listening to the Anderson Paak record as well who are fantastic, and this guy called Kamasi Washington who's a jazz musician who is just so f**king good.

"I still listen to Hiatus Kaiyote all the time as they make me feel things I didn't know I could feel [laughing]. I'm just really into that world at the moment, as those artists are taking inspiration from the genres I love, like funk and soul and Motown, but then they're speeding it up, chopping it and making it sound modern and fresh."

Your video for Surprise Yourself really showcases you as a multi-instrumentalist and I’ve seen you trying to play about 10 instruments at the same time in a live show – is there one you don’t play that you’d like to learn?

"There are many instruments that I don't play which I'd love to learn. I would love to play more brass and wind instruments actually - I played the trombone as a kid and I really enjoyed it and wish I played it more. But i'd love to be able to play the trumpet and the saxophone, as I just love the way those instruments sound when they're presented in the right way, like when they're played with real emotion and authenticity.

"I'd love to be a better organ and synth player as well, as although I can play the piano i've started to use a lot more synths recently and i'm having a lot of fun figuring out how to use those to the fullest extent, as obviously they are just totally different to just playing the piano, there's so many ways to manipulate sound. Basically I want to learn anything I can't play."

What was the first gig you ever did, and what’s been the best so far?

"The first gig I ever did in the way that I'm doing it now - I did it in a venue in East London, and I spent two weeks building the set up that I play with, with drumpads and keyboards etc. and I performed under a fake name because I just wanted to make sure I could do it in a faceless environment and just try something.

"I didn't know how it was going to go, I was trying this new thing and I didn't know how people would respond, so I wanted to do a show to see if it would work in front of people rather than gain attention. It was a really good show though, it went so quickly and I was shaking the whole time though because I was nervous. The best show i've ever had was probably the two I did at The Village Underground last year, we had lasers and everything, it was amazing.

"The crowd was just unbelievable, like it was filled with every different kind of music lover, and I felt like I was a part of it. I almost felt awkward about the fact I was the one on stage with a microphone, it was just a great night, and i've been trying to replicate the feeling that we're all there for each other with every show, encouraging people to be part of the show."

A couple of critics have said you "only" fuse folk with electro but I thought I heard a few blues riffs in "Surprise Yourself" and a bit of gospel with the layered vocals – do you feel like you bring in other genres?

"I try not to bring in any specific genres at all, I try to write and produce music that comes entirely from the ideas in my head. It's interesting that you bring up just those two genres as I've had people class me as all kinds of different things, and people sometimes find it hard to pigeonhole me in one place or the other. I don't try to not be pigeonholed, I just try to make the best music that I possibly can. You're absolutely right with the blues connection, and I learnt to write music and play guitar by watching videos of Stevie Ray Vaughn, like I would watch his videos and memorise his finger movements, press pause and try to play along myself, so i'm very glad you picked up on that!

"The idea of genre seems so boring to me, and I feel like it's much more fun to treat the audience with respect by not giving them what they expect. It would have been easy for me to notice people saying that I take folk music and I do electronic things with it and then just do that twelve times for this album, but that's not fun for anyone, it's not interesting to do the same thing over and over again. I like to do something different every time because as people we're different with each new minute, you rarely feel the same feeling twice, and because I write about emotions in my songs, I try to make it new every time."

Do you have a favourite film soundtrack/composer?

"I am a huge fan of film music, particularly Michael Giacchino who writes a lot of the music for Pixar. I think the music for children's films, especially the Pixar soundtracks is just incredible. Giacchino did The Incredibles soundtrack, which was just perfect because it isn't a superhero film, it's a spy movie, which is what makes it great, and because of that the music isn't stoic and full of big fanfares, it's jazz because it's like James Bond or Mission Impossible.

"The thing is with music for children's films, it has to be cartoonish but without over-saturating things, and there are Mickey Mouse style moments, but it's mature if anything, which is really interesting. I think my favourite soundtrack though has got to be the one for How To Train Your Dragon by John Powell. The music for that is utterly incredible, and the way he wrote that music is so intelligent, which is important for a kids film."

Do you get irritated by media attempting to lump you into the same group as James Bay?

"I don't get pissed off by it as there's nothing to be pissed off about. I'm not gonna get pissed off by someone comparing me to an artist who writes with integrity and from his heart and has had success because he likes the songs he writes. The only thing that gets to me sometimes is when people try and use it as if it's a bad thing. I get compared to everyone, so I kind of learnt not to listen as they are all so different and at the end of the day they don't matter, because the opinions I care about are the opinions of the people i'm trying to connect with and touch with my music.

"Journalists and bloggers and reviewers can lump me in with anyone they want, because that's what they do, and i'm not gonna stop them from doing that. Sure, I disagree with some of them, but I'm not gonna get pissed off with comparisons to someone who cares about the music they write, regardless of whether the person who's lumping me in likes that music or not."

What are you most looking forward to for 2016 other than the album release?

"Touring! I'm so excited about it. There are some really exciting, interesting things that i'm working on for the next tour, and I cannot wait to try them out, even if I can't say anything about it right now. I'm touring America soon as well which is going to be amazing, I just want to share the record with as many people as I can."

Jack Garratt is currently on a sold-out UK tour. His debut album Phase is out on 19 February