Written by Cameron Wyatt
JEDSOUL is quickly establishing himself as one of the UK’s most exciting emerging R&B artists. Having previously made his mark behind the scenes as a producer and songwriter for other artists, he’s now stepped into the spotlight with a solo career of his own.
His self-titled debut EP drops on 13th November, following the release of singles FANTASY and WONDERMAN, which have already amassed over 1 million Spotify streams between them.
We caught up with Jed in the build up to get to know more about the project and the journey that brought him here. From making the move into solo music and what he hopes to bring to the R&B landscape, to dream collaborations and the creative process behind his debut EP, we got into everything JEDSOUL!
Read below for the full interview, and you can pre-save the EP here now!
Haste – We’re loving the sound of the new EP. Going from being a producer and writer behind the scenes for other artists, what was the creative process like for this, going into your first project as a solo artist?
Jed – “We had a camp in the middle of the year… we’d been making songs throughout the year but wanted to go harder. We were tucked away for about a week and worked with some other writers and producers and just went for it, and the process was amazing”
Haste – We know you grew up around a lot of music with your family. How much do you think this has inspired you to get into music, whether that’s as a producer/writer or now as a solo artist?
Jed – “I think growing up around music made me a big listener of music in general. I think this love that I had for it eventually turned into curiosity about the process behind it, and what goes into making the beats and writing a song. That definitely had a big part to play.”
Photography by Ray Fiasco
Haste – And do you think this inspired you to become a solo artist at the time? Or was this something you discovered further down the line after you had already started producing and writing?
Jed – “Yeah, wanting to go into solo music came further down the line. At the beginning, I just wanted to make beats and that was all that was on my mind, but out of curiosity and boredom I recorded myself over a beat and thought ‘I sound kinda good!’. I showed it to my manager who said the same so I kept doing it and writing for other people, and a few of the people around me were saying I should keep it for myself, so last year I decided I’m gonna make my own music, and now we’re here.”
Haste – That must have come with a bit of adaptation, going from being a producer and writer to being your own solo artist. What are some of the challenges you’ve had to get used to since you’ve made that transition?
Jed – “Nobody tells you how you’ve gotta get used to being in front of a camera. As a producer you’ve never got the camera on you, it’s on the artist you’re producing for, and now I’ll be doing a shoot, and at first I didn’t like having the camera on me, I was always thinking ‘Oh my days can you get that out my face!’ but that’s something I’ve had to get used to, and it’s getting easier every single day. Also, you’re not always gonna walk out with a song in every session, some are just slower than others. Sometimes you might not even like the idea you lead with, but in another session you might get a song in an hour, two hours. But it’s all a process and I’ve just learnt to enjoy it.”
Haste – From the sounds of the EP it’s definitely been working for you, we’ve loved listening to it so far, and you can hear a lot of the R&B inspiration that you’ve drawn on throughout making the project. What is it within the EP, and your music in general, that you want to bring to UK R&B?
Jed – “UK R&B is in a great place right now, there’s so much talent. Something that I wanted to bring is that sense of vulnerability… A lot of modern R&B is quite toxic; it’s about situationships and ‘if you do this to me, I’ll do it back to you’, but R&B is a genre that started on talking about love, and a lot of people are talking about the negatives rather than the positives. What I’m trying to bring back is the positive aspect, the vulnerability and not being afraid to say how you feel about a person.”
Photography by Ray Fiasco
Haste – And how much of that vulnerability draws on real life experiences you’ve been through?
Jed – “I draw on real life experiences quite a bit in the project and in my music. I’ve felt like that about a lady before where I’ve thought ‘I just want to be the best person I can be for her’, and sometimes people can have that ‘Superhero’ title, where people think you have a saviour complex and just want to save them, but that’s not what I’m trying to be, I just want to be the best I can for this person. And on the other hand, I’ve had experiences where I like someone but I’m not 100% ready to commit, and I’m just not there yet, and I try to put that across.”
Haste – That rawness and vulnerability definitely comes through and is great to hear from a listeners’ perspective. Which of your tracks do you think hits home the most?
Jed – “It’s the 2nd song I ever released actually, ‘Back Home’. I wrote it while I was going through a breakup and I was real sad, and I wrote the song about the girl I was seeing at the time because I really missed her, but it is what it is”
Haste – I presume going from songwriting for others to writing your own songs and using experiences like that can be difficult – was it hard to allow yourself to be vulnerable in your lyrics at first?
Jed – “It was difficult at first – when I first made the song I was going back and forth with my manager a lot whether to put it out because he thought I should, but I didn’t know, and we were arguing left and right. But I put it out, and it’s nice when people stumble across it, and I’ve got some messages from people that have let me know they love it, or that they were going through the same thing”
Haste – And bouncing off of that in a way, how do you want the average listener of JEDSOUL to feel about you and your music after listening to the new EP?
Jed – “I’d want them to think ‘He’s quite intentional with his lyrics, and he’s not afraid to say how he feels.’ That’s what I want people to always take away when they listen to JEDSOUL. I want people to know I wear my heart on my sleeve and find my music super relatable, because I want everyone to relate to my music to some extent. No one wants to listen to music they have no relation to – there’s definitely some songs I’ve heard where I just can’t really resonate with it because it doesn’t relate to me as a person.”
Haste – Looking ahead following the release, you’ve had co-signs from some pretty big artists and worked with plenty previously, but who are some of your dream collaborations that you’d love to work with in the future?
Jed – “I really wanna get something with JVCK JAMES, Natanya as well. Also F3miii, who I’m actually friends with, but we haven’t got around to making anything just yet, I love his music so much. I really want to get a song with Odeal as well, actually, that’d be fire.”
Haste – And are there any early plans for a debut album in the works, or is that something to focus on a little bit further down the line?
Jed – “We’ll cross the album bridge when we get there, but it’ll be a few more smaller projects just for now. When it’s time for album mode, everybody will know.”
Haste – And finally, which song from the upcoming EP do you think resonates the most with you, and the one that you feel the most strongly about?
Jed – “The final track, ‘Not There Yet’. A lot of my music is quite bright and happy, and this one’s a bit more sad. I wanted to show the people a different side to me, and I think it’ll resonate with a lot of people. In our generation the dating pool’s a bit mad, a lot of people maybe don’t know what they want and are afraid to be honest, and I think we should just be honest with each other and waste a lot less time.”
Be sure to pre-save Jed’s debut EP, JEDSOUL, which releases on Friday, 13th November, after the final single ‘NOT YOUR MAN’ drops on Thursday! We’ll be right back here on Friday with our review of the project, so keep your eyes peeled!
