Jack Garratt: "It's been out of control in an incredible way"

To say Jack Garratt has had a crazy twelve months would be an understatement. This time last year, he was playing in the midst of the Festival Republic stage at Reading Festival. Today, he’s playing the business end of the NME Stage. There’s been awards, the release of his debut album and touring. A whole bunch of touring.

“It’s been going in a direction and it’s been non stop,” starts Jack, bright-eyed on the Saturday morning. “It’s been out of control, but in an incredible way. In a way where I have no idea what’s going to happen every day when I wake up. I’m a control freak and that should terrify me but for some weird way, I’m fine with it. It’s been a year I’ll never forget.”

And as much as it has grown, “It’s still building. With the album I made and the reaction that’s come with it, they are two very different things that I didn’t think would fit together. Making the music that I make and having the response that’s come with that, it’s been a surprise. I’ve always seen me and the music I make as a slow burner. I want to do this for the rest of my life, I don’t want to disappear after 6 months because I love what I do. I’m hoping it’ll keep getting better and bigger but I’m still just making the music I want to make. Being able to come back and do festivals like this every year is what keeps me sane.”

For Jack, as much as his year can be defined by sales and numbers, it’s not how he measures it. “All the record sales in the world mean nothing to me, it’s all about the people who are at the show and what they want from me in that moment. It’s the most immediate way you can engage with, not fans, but people who are just interested in the music you make.”

While Reading is normally last chance saloon for the year, Jack is only getting busier as 2016 progresses. There’s two and a half months of touring in the calendar and then, he’s got the whole of December off. He’s not taking a step back though as making new music is how he relaxes. “Downtime is creating. Sitting down in my living room with my laptop out, my headphones on and enjoying whatever is coming out of me creatively in that moment. I haven’t got to do that in a long time and I’m looking forward to it. “

Obviously he released a demo of ‘BYSKB v2v2’ (AKA ‘Boy You Should Know Better’) a week ago and there’s a lot more where that came from. “I’ve got a bunch of those just sitting around. I’m trying to figure out what all those songs mean together and to me. That track felt like it had to come out, that’s one I’m really proud of. I like the music I make, I feel like I’m not allowed to say that but I do. You kind of have to. I’m trying to figure out what’s next. I don’t know if it’s an album but it’s going to be something. It’s going to be different.”