Written by Tanya De

“It’s big, dramatic and aching because it’s from the soul,” says Portsmouth-bred and London-based singer-songwriter Bradley when asked to describe his music. With his brilliant vocals and soulful writing, Jago’s debut EP, ‘Girl Problems,’ was a streaming success, spending number one for 10 weeks on Express FM and being introduced as a ‘Track of the Week’ by BBC. 

Bradley recalls early memories of doing karaoke with his sister: “I remember singing Gabrielle, LeAnn Rimes, and Cristina Aguilera.” He added, “My family are not musical at all. We’re a working-class family from Portsmouth, but we have always loved good music, specifically amazing vocalists. I’ve grown up with a passion for music. My Dad loves Sam Cooke, and my Mum loves Whitney Houston. I feel like it doesn’t get much better than that vocally.”

Bradley’s inspiration and ‘founding mothers’ as he likes to call them are Adele, Sam Smith, and Amy Winehouse. “These are the artists that made me want to SING.” 

Photography by @gooddaysalbum

“It’s a bit of a running joke between me and my writers that I can’t get through a session without bringing up Adele at least once.” he laughs.

At 18 years old, Bradley made the decision that he wanted to pursue music, “I went travelling and busked in all different countries, I then went to university for a year to study music, and that’s where I started writing for the first time. I never thought I’d be a writer, but now that’s my favourite part.”

Jago admitted that the goal of going to university was to get a student loan to afford rent, “Honestly, I didn’t go to many lectures but I was in the studio a lot and was surrounded by creatives” he adds “It gave me the self-authority to call myself an artist. Before it felt pretentious and like I had nothing behind me to warrant that label, but it taught me to be proud of it.”

There is an innocence yet assertiveness in Bradley’s music, his poetic lyrics cut deep with his self-awareness. And his experience growing up queer in a small town as an anchor of his writing. In the conversation about being so open with this audience, he hopes they can see the honesty in it “I write for myself. It’s a selfish process because I don’t consider the audience too much. I leave it to them to be perceived. Some songs are close to home, which is always scary because 3 minutes is all you have.”

Talking about his creative process, for Bradley, it starts with the lyrics and concepts he creates, “It’s always about something I’m ruminating on at that moment, that I feel like I need to get it out. It starts on piano and vocals, sometimes guitar because I think a good song should stand on its own acoustically before getting fully produced. I think that’s how you write a classic, not that I think I’ve achieved that yet.” 

“Sessions with the songwriters are my favourite, it’s a process I guard very closely, and why I typically only work with the same people. I have to get extremely vulnerable about the topics, so I need to trust them 100%. Then it’s into the studio to record and make the song come to life.

Visuals as well are another favourite of mine. The visuals for ‘Bound To You’ are darker than a lot of my work because it feels like a jazz bar to me. But a double-twisted sleazy jazz bar haha. I choose the outfits, the setting, the edit, the artwork – I creatively direct all of it.”

His next single ‘Bound To You’ a two-part single is out on the first of November, “It’s about the fun of dating and nights out when you’re pretending to be something you’re kind of not, to play into stereotypes and personas of the queer space.”  

He added, “Some nights I might want to present more masc, fem, dom, sub etc. But this stems from being uncomfortable just being myself and still feeling desirable. This gets me in sticky situations where I’ve pretended to be someone I’m not and then they’ve caught feelings, and I’ve had to make excuses.”

With bound to you, Jago aims to explore new sounds and newer sides of himself. “I feel like my love for jazz and R&B shows more on this record. I hope listeners have fun with it and feel sexy, mysterious and seen.”

Talking about what’s next, Jago hints at big plans for early next year with new music and darker visuals. Make sure you check out his latest single ‘Bound To You‘ now!