Dublin-based Liverpudlian Jake Carter is forging a career on several fronts. Having appeared in Dancing With The Stars and performed in a number of stage shows over recent years, he’s a rising star on the acting scene. Despite this, Carter insists music is where his heart is.
“There’s a nervousness to the first full body of work that I’ve completely written by myself,” Carter says of his debut EP, ‘Point of View’. “It’s been a long time since I’ve released music, everything slowed down since Covid. But I’m so excited and happy to be getting it out there. I do a lot of different stuff. Acting, TV, and so on. But I love singing, writing and recording music, and I’m really proud of the sound that we’ve created with this EP.”
“I moved over to Ireland seven years ago, and it took time to adapt, and find my own lane, my own sound,” he says. “With this EP, I feel like we’ve found that. I’m very comfortable writing, recording and performing in this realm, and I feel like I’ve found who I am. I’m working with a Dublin-based producer called Richy McCourt who’s been amazing, he gets where I’m trying to go and we’ve built a great relationship over the last few years.”
“There’s amazing pop music in Ireland that influences any tracks that come from here, I feel,” Carter continues. “Picture This, Moncrieff, Wild Youth, and then the bigger ones of course, your Dermot Kennedys, your Hoziers, your Niall Horans. Ireland is thriving with amazing artists and I take influence from that. I take things from Take That, McFly, and other bands I listened to growing up, too. Then there’s Harry Styles, Tom Grennan, and acts of that kind of ilk.”
“I love singing my own songs on stage, but I’ve been lucky with TV and stage opportunities, and I’m very grateful for that. It all lends itself, once you can put your hand to anything it helps. I just love performing, whether it’s a musical, comedy, pantomime or my own music, writing and recording.”
“You can get very wrapped up in things like streams and TikTok followers, but I try to take myself out of that situation. If it only gets to one person and you make a difference to them, that’s a huge achievement, so I try not to think about it. Of course, if we got massive streams and huge success, that’d be amazing.”
“Live, we have your standard guitar, drums, bass, and I play piano. Then we use samples, which my drummer triggers. With the EP, I try to go back to the real band sound, so there’s a lot of real piano, guitar, acoustic and bass. That was a big thing when I was growing up: real acoustic sound and instruments in the tracks is something I love.”
“I think it’s going to come back. There are a lot of artists that are just them and acoustic guitar. Jamie Webster, from Liverpool, is someone I’ve followed a lot in the last few years. He sings with a thick Liverpudlian accent. Singing in your own accent is a big thing at the moment and I love that, it just feels more real.”
“People shouldn’t shy away from who they are when they’re singing. I think you’ll hear a lot more Scouse coming out on this album than on previous singles. I’ve embraced it, and I go with it. Songwriting is about the writer. It’s the biggest therapy, a release of emotions. That’s why a good song connects. With all of the tracks on the album, they were released over five or six years, and you can probably hear different stages. It’s different perspectives of love.”
