Australia’s Jack Colwell burst onto the music scene in 2015 with his first single, ‘Don’t Cry Those Tears’ and is now gearing up for the release of his debut album, having already dropped the two singles, ‘In My Dreams’ and ‘Weak’. Having trained at Classical Music school, Jack’s voice soars with tales of romance, trauma and queerness. We catch up with him via the phone back home in Sydney to discuss gay saunas, his love for Tori Amos and his private tour round London courtesy of good friend Patrick Wolf.
So, Jack, you released ‘Weak’ this week. Your second single of 2019! Congratulations! How is everything going?
Good! I spent all of 2018 recording my debut album and after releasing my first EP a few years ago, I’m really excited to be releasing more music. I feel really proud of it and love receiving messages from people saying they are enjoying the music.
Yes, your EP came out in 2015. Was it a conscious decision to take a few years out between the EP and album?
It’s just the way it came about. Back in 2015, I released ‘Don’t Cry Those Tears’ with a video set in a gay sauna which got a lot of attention. People became interested in my music really quickly, including one of Australia’s most respected songwriters, Sarah Blasko. She heard my song on the radio and asked me to tour with her in 2016.
After that, I began to write my album and Sarah produced it for me. It’s actually the first time she has produced an album other than her own work. So if I hadn’t taken that time between the EP and album then I wouldn’t have had the amazing opportunity of working with Sarah.
Why did you choose ‘In My Dreams’ as the first single?
The album is really personal to me and other songs focus on queer identity and childhood trauma. I chose ‘In My Dreams’ first because it has more of a universal message. It’s a song about two people that have been together for a while but now the relationship is under stress. So I guess I wanted to start out with something that was the least(!) depressing and had the broadest appeal. Haha…
The video is stunning.
I always wanted to make a video like ‘Wuthering Heights’ so for a little Australian gay boy to go make a video running through the woods in the UK was pretty special.
And as we were saying, you dropped ‘Weak’ this week.
Yes. The first single was ‘In My Dreams’ but the second one is a nightmare! I came out when I was 12 and it wasn’t a big deal for me. I went to a classical music school so I was pretty lucky in that, not to paint a stereotype but people that go to a classical music school are not the roughest people! But there was still a lot of verbal bullying outside of the school.
‘Weak’ really describes a relationship with someone who bullied me in public spaces but privately we would have these conversations that eventually became sexual and romantic. It’s a song about someone making fun of me in front of the jocks because inside they’re scared that someone will see that softness inside of them.
One other artist I know you are friends with is Patrick Wolf, whom I also love.
Patrick’s great. I got on the Patrick bandwagon with his album ‘Wind in the Wires’ when I was fourteen. I just wanted to make music that was like Patrick and Tori Amos writing together! He was really unafraid of being himself and as a teenager I was really inspired by that.
Patrick is very hopeful and inspiring. The last time I went to London was for an important project that ended up falling through on my flight there. I was devastated. I posted something on Instagram about being in the UK and although I hadn’t seen Patrick for eight or nine months, he got in touch, invited me over to his apartment for this amazing breakfast and gave me a tour of Bloomsbury and London’s first gay bookshop. We got some drinks, sat in the park and talked about life and the music industry. Patrick was so amazing. He was so hopeful about me releasing my music and continuing with my work.
And which other artists do you listen to?
My favourite artist of all time is Tori Amos. When I was at classical music school I actually went for classical double bass but I desperately wanted to play classical piano like Tori. There were two years of my life where I listened to only Tori Amos…every day! This was 2006 and there was so much I could already listen to and be influenced by. It’s so emotional. I love the rawness in Tori’s work. It really inspires me that maybe I could be that brave too.
I keep meaning to get into her work but never manage it. Where is a good place to start?
One of her first singles is ‘Silent All These Years’ and as the title suggests it is about being silent about something for so long but knowing you have the power to overcome it and speak your truth. It is such an honest song. I think that’s what people love and hate about Tori. She is a very earnest artist. And that can be difficult for some people.
A lot of queer men, myself included, tend to idolise women. Do you feel there is enough support for male voices in the community?
I mainly listen to female singers too but I have never thought as to why that is. I do listen to a few males like Patrick, Nick Cave and I used to quite like Rufus Wainwright. Sometimes I think gay male visibility in music is really progressive, like there’s Troye Sivan, Olly Alexander and I love Perfume Genius. But I think I can only really name ten or so big names and that’s including Elton and George Michael. Change is happening but it is slow.
I am not sure why gay men focus on female worship rather than championing men. I would like to think it is not internalised homophobia and that people just focus on the female voice and that the lyrics represented what that audience were feeling. But as time is changing those gay males are connecting more with a broader audience.
And speaking of female worship…Loverboy is named after the infamous Mariah Carey song. What is your favourite Mariah song?
I think ‘Always Be My Baby’ is a really great song. I don’t think that time in songwriting will ever be repeated. Some of the melodies in those songs where people were really unafraid to show off their vocal skills. It’s a classic. But also in my early twenties, I used to DJ and I would always play ‘Fantasy’ because I knew everybody would love that song…and they did!
‘In My Dreams’ & ‘Weak’ are both available to download and stream now.
Follow Jack on Instagram and Facebook.
