After three years of writing and 12 months of recording, Jack Gray is finally ready to share his debut album Swimming In Jeans with the world. Having produced and performed almost the entire record himself, the Australian artist has spent the past year refining a body of work that balances his love of experimentation with a more stripped-back, song-focused approach. Ahead of his Australian tour, Jack chats to Futuremag about perfectionism, learning to trust his instincts, working with Peach PRC and the very real nerves of returning to Mackay.
Futuremag: After so much time writing and recording these songs, how does it feel knowing Swimming In Jeans is finally out in the world?
Jack Gray: It feels like it’s been a long time coming. I’m so excited to have these songs out in the world and I’m very proud of them. I took a long time to really figure out the sound and what I wanted to say, so it’s pretty surreal that it’s all coming up.
Futuremag: The album brings together songs you’ve written across about three years, although you’ve been recording them over the past 12 months. Have those older songs changed meaning for you as you’ve revisited them?
Jack Gray: I think a lot of them are still true to their meaning. Sonically, I’ve tried every possible way you could dress them up, so they’ve definitely changed in terms of the production and the feeling you get from them. Some songs felt a lot sadder than they do now, or vice versa. But lyrically, the older ones still mean what I felt at the time, for sure.
Futuremag: You produced and performed almost the entire record yourself, which is a huge undertaking. What did you learn about yourself through that process?
Jack Gray: Actually, quite a lot. I learned that I am a perfectionist. I also think I learned that I might have ADHD. My sister has it and my mother has it, so it wouldn’t come as a surprise. I get really stuck on certain things and jump all over the shop. I mean, I have every trait of it, so I feel like I’ve discovered I’ve self-diagnosed myself throughout this album.
I’m definitely a perfectionist, and I also have trouble calling something finished. Every song was finished and then it wasn’t finished, and I did a whole new version and then Frankensteined the two versions together. So I’ve learned a lot about myself.
But for me, it was really about setting a challenge for myself and seeing if I could produce a record by myself. We got there in the end, and I’m really proud of it.
Futuremag: Was there a moment when you realised you were starting to trust your gut more and could say, “Yeah, this is finished”?
Jack Gray: Honestly, no. I actually have a hard time trusting my gut. Still working on that one. But I definitely have more confidence than I used to. Before this record, I had no confidence in my production or my abilities, and I definitely have more confidence now. I still wrestle with trusting my instincts and my choices, though.
Futuremag: Your previous work involved a lot of experimentation with sound, gear and production techniques, whereas this album feels a little more stripped back. Was there ever a temptation to overproduce it?
Jack Gray: There’s still a lot of production, but to me it feels a lot cleaner. It was more focused on the song rather than adding a bunch of random sounds in. So yeah, it’s stripped back a little in that sense, but there’s still a lot of production.
I do struggle with it because my favourite part is just making little sounds. I kind of feel like a kid in a candy store, or like I’m on a playground. It’s so fun to play with sounds and come up with stuff.
Once you’ve heard the song so many times, you kind of get bored of it and want to keep adding stuff. You don’t trust that, on first listen, it feels right. So I’ve been practising trusting that initial feeling of hearing the song and not trying to add too much after that.
Futuremag: You also co-wrote ‘Tattoos’ with Peach PRC. What did you learn from that collaboration, and is there anyone else you’d love to work with?
Jack Gray: I love making music with anyone who wants to make music with me. It’s my favourite thing to do, so there are plenty of people out there I’d love to work with. She was incredible.
What I learned from working with her is how insanely fast she is at writing. It makes me feel stupid! I was working on a beat and turned around, and she had a concept. We spoke about it for a minute and then 30 seconds later I turned around and she’s got the whole verse written. It blew my mind. I was like, “Okay, well now I should probably rethink my career. Maybe I’m not cut out for this.”
She’s incredible, and we had a mad time making that song.
Futuremag: You’ve had such great international experiences, but now you’re coming back to Australia for a tour. How does it feel returning to the place where you studied music?
Jack Gray: It’s exciting. I’d say predominantly my fanbase is here, so getting to fly around and play songs for these people who have been on this journey with me for seven or eight years is something I’m really excited about.
I’m just excited to hang out with everyone, see all the OGs and have a mad time on tour. I’m really looking forward to it.
I’m actually really scared, though. I’m going back to Mackay for the first time since I finished school, and part of me is really looking forward to it, while the other part of me is like, “Oh my God, everyone’s going to hate me.” So that’s a whole thing.
Futuremag: Are there any particular songs that you’re especially excited to play live?
Jack Gray: There’s a song called ‘In the Picture’, which I love playing live. I’ve actually never played it live before, but I’ve been practising it over the last few weeks and it just feels really good. I think people are really going to connect with this one.
Futuremag: Finally, after people see you on tour and listen to the album, what’s the main thing you hope they take away from your album?
Jack Gray: I hope that it all just feels authentic. That’s what I’ve tried to do with this record: make every song feel as authentically me as possible.
People can take away whatever they want to take away from this music, but as long as it feels real to them, that’s the most important thing for me.