JACK LUKEMAN has released a new radio edit of The King of Soho to mark the tenth anniversary of one of his most popular songs.
Originally featured on his 2016 album Magic Days, the fan favourite has been remastered and shortened from its expansive live form, accompanied by an updated version of the music video directed by French filmmaker Tigrane Minassian.
He found time to answer our questions...
Jack LukemanWhat are you up to?
I’ve just finished a long tour that lasted about 20 years and am currently writing and recording a bunch of new songs in the studio most days.
Which piece of music always sends a shiver down your spine?
Chants d’Auvergne: Baïlèro by Joseph Canteloube is a beautiful classical piece.
Which musician has most influenced you?
I love Tom Waits, Prince, Nina Simone, Paul McCartney, Vaughan Williams — the list goes on and on.
How did you get started in music?
I was always playing, singing and writing, and eventually went busking around Europe at 18 and realised I could survive as a musician.
Where are you from?
I’m originally from just outside Athy in Co. Kildare, Ireland. We had a garage business that started in my great-grandfather’s time, with ploughs and horses, and continued up to the modern juggernaut.
How would you describe your work?
I’m a singer-songwriter and musician who has explored most genres of music at this stage, though there’s always more.
It can vary from soft and tender to big and bombastic. It can be one man and a guitar or a big band and orchestra, from cinematic to theatrical and straight-up rock ’n’ roll, but it usually revolves around songs with strong lyrics or themes.
What’s on your playlist at the minute?
I’m enjoying the new Strokes album and also listening to a lot of Prince and John Lennon.
What would be your motto?
Carpe diem. Seize the day.
What’s the best thing about where you live?
Ireland is a never-ending book of wonders. I’ve travelled the length and breadth of it over the years, and it always reveals something new from the past or present.
. . . and the worst?
I suppose I could complain about the weather, but Ireland is essentially a rainforest. We cut down the forest over the years, so I hate that. I kind of like the rain too.
What’s the greatest lesson life has taught you?
The same as the motto question — seize the day.
What do you consider the greatest work of art?
I think nature and the universe constitute the greatest work of art, which we feebly try to recreate, but Van Gogh’s The Starry Night comes cosmically close.
Who/what is the greatest love of your life?
In the end, it’s all about family and friends, no doubt.
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