Jake Bugg Interview - Modern Day Distraction, Writing Songs

Jake Nugg — Jake Bugg
(photo credit: Kevin Westenberg)

For the past 12 years, British rock singer/songwriter Jake Bugg has been a popular and acclaimed artist, particularly in the United Kingdom and Europe. He was only 18 when he released his debut album, Jake Bugg, which debuted at #1 on the U.K. album chart was certified platinum. Bugg became immediately known for his hit single “Lightning Bolt,” which has become a classic song that is featured in many films & TV shows.

Currently, Bugg has just released his new album called A Modern Day Distraction (on Arista Records). This album marks a strong return to his original rock & roots sound (following his 2021 album Saturday Night, Sunday Morning, which was more pop and experimental). This album contains 12 songs (all co-written by Bugg) that showcases Bugg’s authentic rock style that he’s known for.

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	Here’s an excerpt of our interview with Jake Bugg, who discusses the making of his new album, A Modern Day Distraction.

A Modern Day Distraction features a wide range of songs, from the harder-edged rocker “Zombieland,” to the more acoustic, folk “I Wrote the Book.” Other highlights include the catchy, fast-paced tunes “All Kinds of People” and “Keep On Moving,” and the ballads “Beyond the Horizon” and “Never Said Goodbye.”

In his new bio, Bugg explains that the songs on this new album were born out of a frustration of social inequality. Bugg found that the time had come when he just couldn’t look away. He said, “People might say ‘What do you know?’ or ‘Just stick to music.’ I’ve got a bit of money, but we all know the people this affects. I was just writing it because it was the way I felt. It pisses me off—especially in a country like ours where we have the means and funds to take care of the people suffering the most, but we choose not to.”

Bugg, who is now 30, was born in Nottingham, England, and he fell in love with classic rock & roots music when he discovered artists on YouTube and other media. When he was 12, he learned to play guitar and started singing and writing songs. By age 16, he submitted his songs to the BBC’s Music Introducing site, and he quickly received an enthusiastic response from managers and record labels.

Here’s the video of Jake Bugg’s single, “I Wrote the Book.”

Soon after, Bugg signed a label deal and began recording his debut album, Jake Bugg. After breaking through with his hit “Lightning Rod” and his album, Bugg was suddenly in great demand and toured Europe, the U.S. and other countries.

For his second album, Shangri La (in 2013), Bugg flew to Southern California to work with legendary producer, Rick Rubin, at his studio in Malibu. This album was certified gold in the U.K. and contained the chart single, “What Doesn’t Kill You.” Then Bugg subsequently released the albums On My One (2016), Hearts That Strain (2017) and Saturday Night, Sunday Morning (2021) and A Modern Day Distraction (2024).

To promote his new album, Bugg has launched a concert tour in the U.K. and Europe, and he recently came to the U.S. to play shows in New York, Chicago, Nashville and Los Angeles.

We are pleased to do this new Q&A interview with Jake Bugg. He discusses the making of his new album,, and he recalls his early success with his first album.

DK: I read that you’re from Nottingham, England. How did you get started with singing, playing guitar and writing songs?

Jake Bugg: When I was a kid I wasn’t into music…I used to play soccer a lot. Then when I was about 12, I came home from soccer training and my uncle bought me a small guitar. He taught me a couple of chords that evening and from that I was obsessed. I couldn’t put the thing down and I fell in love with music altogether.

DK: When you were a teenager, what was your big break that helped you get started with your music career?

Bugg: I think my big break was when I was 15 or 16. I sent a couple tracks to the BBC Music Introducing website, and a local DJ at the BBC radio station got back to me the very next day. He invited me in for a live session, and overnight I had offers for management. Then he introduced me to people from the record label, and so I’d say that was a big point for me.

Here’s the video of Jake Bugg’s song, “All Kinds of People.”

DK: You’re known for having a rootsy, classic rock sound. How did you start loving that kind of music?

Bugg: To be honest, I was very lucky to grow up in the YouTube and internet age, where I had so much music at my disposal. I’d come across one artist and I got really obsessed with folk music from the ‘60s, and old blues music from the ‘40s and ‘50s. And none of my friends or family were musicians who listened to that, so it felt like my own personal thing at the time. I just became obsessed with it.

DK: I like your song, “Lightning Bolt,” which became a big hit from your first album. How did you write that song with Iain Archer (hit songwriter & producer)?

Bugg: There’s a funny story about that song. We’d already written a song that day, and I was waiting for a taxi to go back to the train station and we had 10 minutes. So Iain started playing these few chords and I started doing this weird, talky-singing melody, and then we wrote out a load of verses in the time we had. It was written in about 10-15 minutes and I left the studio. It was done so quickly, but that’s how we wrote it.

DK: You were just 18 when your first album came out and it went to number one on the charts in the U.K. What was it like to have that success so quickly?

Bugg: It was mind-blowing to be honest. I remember the week the album came out and I was looking at the charts, and it kept going up and up. It was pretty crazy.

I suppose to a lot of people, it looks like it was an overnight thing, which I guess in some way it was. But the great thing was the week after it came out, I went to the U.S. to tour with Noel Gallagher and Snow Patrol, and there wasn’t the same amount of attention on it as there was back home. So I kind of got away from it all, which I think was really good for me.

DK: You released your second album, Shangri La, in 2013. What was it like to work with legendary producer, Rick Rubin?

Here’s the lyric video of Jake Bugg’s song, “Got To Let You Go.”

Bugg: Shangri La was an amazing experience for me. I got to record it with Rick Rubin out in Malibu (California), so to go from my first album recording in rural parts of the U.K., to go to Malibu where there’s lemon trees growing out of the ground, it was a great experience. And I’d say one of my favorite songs from that album is “Kitchen Table.”

DK: You’ve just released your new album, A Modern Day Distraction, which is a return to the classic rock and roots sound that you’re known for. Can you talk about making your new album?

Bugg: I felt it was important to go back the core of my musical DNA, and it feels like a natural progression from the first two albums. I worked with these guys called Metrophonic—we shared a lot of the same influences and things we loved about music, which made the whole thing easier. And I think lyrically, it’s probably one of the stronger records. It talks about more important topics, which I kind of avoided addressing in the past, because music’s always been a bit of an escape for me, an escape from the realities of life. But on this record, I felt it was important to address some of the societal issues that people are facing, especially back home.

DK: I like your new song, “I Wrote the Book,” which is more acoustic. I also like your video for this song, where you and the band are in a pub, singing and having a good time. What inspired you to write “I Wrote the Book”?

Bugg: It was a really fun song to write because it was all about the lyrics. We had this idea about putting life into perspective, and that sometimes when we think life’s treating us unfairly, someone is going through a much worse time. So that was the premise for the song. The inspiration behind it was when I was growing up, there was a lot of Irish folk music played in our house like the Fureys and the Dubliners. Those guys had a real knack for storytelling, so it was inspired by that.

The video was a lot of fun. We filmed it in the west of Ireland where it’s beautiful, we got some of the local musicians to play with us, and we got really drunk. We had a great time.

Here’s the lyric video of Jake Bugg’s song, “Beyond the Horizon.”

DK: I also like your new song “All Kinds of People,” which is very catchy. What’s the story behind writing that song?

Bugg: “All Kinds of People” was the second song we wrote for the album, and it’s based on how I’ve seen many characters that are like the people who are described in the song. It was the premise of, you’ve got all these different characters in the world. And even though they come from different backgrounds and different beginnings, life has affected them in different ways, and that we’re all trying to achieve a similar thing in life and a similar goal.

DK: Another song I like is the ballad, “Beyond the Horizon.” What inspired you to write that song?

Bugg: That’s probably my favorite on the album. The song is about people who inspire you. I started with a guitar riff, and it was about someone in my life that really changed the way that I thought about the world, and we shared similar ways of thinking. Sometimes we can feel a little alone in our way of thought, and it’s a great feeling when you connect with someone that feels a similar way and inspires you.

DK: You’ve recently been playing shows in New York, Chicago, Nashville and Los Angeles. Can you talk about your current U.S. tour?

Bugg: We played the Bowery Ballroom (in New York City) last night, which was great. It’s been a while since we’ve been back in the States to play. It was a great experience—we played a lot of the new songs as well as the older stuff. Then we have a few more shows in Chicago, Nashville and L.A., which I can’t wait for. After that, we’ll going back to Europe for a few shows. It’s a great feeling to go to different parts of the world and to be playing again.