A CONVERSATION WITH... JERUB
Settling down after a bustling tour, singer-songwriter JERUB unravels the inspirations behind his music, his touring style, and his way of living as a person and artist.
Before he fell in love with music, he fell in love with life and all the people that make up the world around him. But when he fell in love with music, he realised how to bridge a gap between himself, his community, and even random strangers on the street.
JERUB, the now Nottingham-based singer-songwriter, found a defining stability in his life through inspiration and sonder.
“You know, I've lived in many different places and moved around a lot. I've gotten to see life from different perspectives. And that feeling, that’s the one that inspires me. It inspires my music, lets it be outside of one set genre or style.”
But if genuine empathy were a style, it would be his.
“I’d say I’m moved by empathy. So much of my musical inspiration is non-musical. Of course, I love the Afrobeat and Nigerian music I grew up with, the gospel music I sang as a child, and the music I listen to now. But so much of it draws from the experiences I have and the experiences I wonder about other people having.”
He smiles at his phone through the sun. “Maybe it’s grandiose to say, but I think the world needs more empathy. I think that art should be inspired by empathy. Maybe not everyone’s art, but my art is and should be.”
He sheepishly admits he’s not the biggest over-sharer, and leans into under-sharing instead. I’d say that he embraces conciseness. He emphasises his work and his actions — not his spoken word, even if those actions are yet to be fully understood.
One of his actions confused some listeners: his performance at King Charles’ Coronation last May. In every interview, he’s expressed his gratitude for the wonderful opportunity and leaving it at that. But questions arose as interviews with Zimbabwean-British alt-rock singer Rachel Chinouriri were coming out with her debut album. She was talking about her complicated relationship with the English flag and its connotations as St George’s Cross bunting decorated her album cover. So to understand more about JERUB’s roots and his connections to his communities, including his British communities, I asked to ease some confusion.
But it seems like he’s still figuring it out, too. “I’m not gonna answer that, not because I don’t want to. But because I’m still thinking to myself the best way to explain it,” he divulges with a soft smile.
It’s crystal clear he’s working through his thoughts surrounding identity, home, and community, as many of us are. JERUB doesn’t shy away from it, either. He explores these questions in his music — encouraging any listener, especially people of colour, to explore their internal and external connections. Take his fittingly titled EP, Finding My Feet, where he delves into figuring out life and finding his footing. He travels through self-doubt, sincerely insightful revelations, and intense life discoveries that prove that he speaks more with his actions and creations, rather than through an interview.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of finding your home. I’ve moved countries and cities multiple times, and it’s so complex to me. I’ve been putting those thoughts and questions into my music, even if I didn’t realise it at first. You know, home isn’t a concrete place, it’s a feeling, it’s community. It’s like writing a song as a Black man, the struggles of being one, and having many different people of colour relate to it.”
“Like when I went back to Nigeria a couple of years ago and I went to my dad’s new place. I had never been there in that specific place and yet I felt so safe. That’s what community is for me and that’s what I want to portray.” Part of that safety, no doubt, comes from JERUB seeing his father as his first inspiration and first person who believed in his talents. But more than that, he explains, was just understanding a connection beyond what his words could express then or now.
That feeling of safety and ‘being okay at the end of it all’ is one he continues to work on through his 2024 releases. Like his latest song, “Gonna Be Okay”, that came about so effortlessly and rapidly. Within two sessions the song was done and everyone on his team was on board with it being released. There was an inexplicable ease to accompany the song’s comforting title. It was inspired by his time studying social work at university, something that’s stuck with him for years.
“We’d go around Nottingham City Centre in the early morning on placement and check in on the people who were rough sleeping. Being there and helping them, you know? That showed me how important a helping hand can be when life gets hard.” The empathy and warm that radiate through spotty Zoom service are even stronger on the track. “My hope this song just shared a bit of hope. That’s all I can ask for.”
His listeners would agree, as JERUB took some time to reminisce about heartfelt encounters with fans at shows and through social media. Even now, years into his career, he’s taken aback by how much his music means to people. “Sometimes I just cry because even in my wildest dreams I could’ve never imagined this. I’ll never forget, I had a lady come up to me after a show and tell me how my songs helped her through losing her dad. How it saved her life and it’s like, ‘what the heck?’ I’m honoured. I’m humbled.”
Empathy, inspiration, and going outside of yourself: these are the things that JERUB lives by. He discloses near the end of the interview, after having an endearing conversation with a stranger passing by, that he loves the idea that music is beyond the artist. It’s meant to go beyond just an individual, it’s about the people. “Ever since the beginning — sure, I’ll perform for myself and want to do a good job for myself. But I do write songs for people and that helps me more than myself to keep going. To keep pushing, fueling the fire, and not be numb to the world around me.”
If you listen to JERUB’s music, like ‘Gonna Be Okay’, you hear the softer, more intimate verses blend with the beautifully intense and inspiring choruses.
Rejoicing in that dichotomy, he uses it to give shape to the intimate yet massive emotions that people feel. Part of how he feels so safe to be so open consistently on stage and through his music is because he takes a part of his community with him wherever he goes.
“I love working with my friends and working with people who have done life with me. Who know me and I know them and we love each other. My manager’s been a really close friend since I was 16, and I had one of my best mates on drums this last tour. My brother designed the merch and did the photography, and another one of my friends did front of house for me. And it brought me so much joy to be around them for these moments. I love collaborating, it brings out the best in me.
“And I think that shows.”