Chris Jagger – Big Brother Mick’s Younger Brother

Ahead of his visit to Slovenia, Chris Jagger took a few questions from Slovenian music fans too. He talked us through Act Of Faith, the latest record from his band Atcha, shared a few words on his musical influences, and explained the advantages of being a creator across different fields of art.

RockLine: How long did it take to make Act Of Faith?
Chris Jagger: The drummer’s son did a lot of the work. He plays guitar in the band and he’s just a little over twenty. He actually did most of the recording and sound design, and he put more time into the record than anyone else. I wrote most of the music myself, and I played and sang.

RockLine: The record features some eminent guests: your brother Mick, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, singer Sam Brown and others. That’s a great send-off for an album, but it didn’t exactly shake up the charts. What do you make of the unpredictable music business these days?
Chris Jagger: It’s not really a business anymore, it’s a fight for survival. Look, when you make a record, everybody wants you to give it away for free, whether in people’s hands or on the internet. Right now it’s really hard to make a living from selling records.

RockLine:Where does your love for zydeco come from?
Chris Jagger: Oh, I don’t know. I heard Clifton Chenier in the late sixties, I had his record on Arhoolie. I really loved his blues on the accordion. It was a really fat New Orleans sound, but I never imagined that many years later I’d be playing in a band that played that kind of music. I also got to know the genre through a violinist friend of mine who had a band in London called The Balamalagators. They played a mix of Cajun and zydeco. I watched them live a lot, and that’s when it hit me that I could write in that style myself and use the tempo that goes with it.

RockLine: You’re known as a creator and performer across different fields of art. What’s the best thing you’ve drawn from theater, music and painting and brought into your own musical style?
Chris Jagger:Tough question. Working in the theater showed me the stage from a different angle. Even if you’re not playing music, you’re still on stage, you’re still a performer, and your job is to entertain people. It’s important to communicate with the audience, to tell them stories… to tell them not to worry… When you’re younger, you’re often a bit hasty with certain things, and the theater experience is good for that, because it disciplines you. When you write a book, you’re telling a story, and it’s the same with writing songs. The two have something in common, it’s just that in music you’re telling a story through the music.

RockLine:Where do you find inspiration and ideas for songs in the creative process?
Chris Jagger:It comes from everyday life, from watching what’s going on around you. There’s no rule. Sometimes someone says something or you read something, sometimes you wake up with an idea,. It’s best when inspiration comes naturally, it’s no good pushing yourself. Of course, the main thing is the idea you want to talk about. A lot of people want to write a song because they’ve got a good verse or something they think is good. But the idea often isn’t good. Songs usually describe defeats and victories, or being in love and being miserable when you’re not, while others talk about the state of the world. A songwriter needs a driving force and a good idea, and then you can get to work, because there’s something to build from. If that idea isn’t there, you end up with a pile of bits of information that are part of the song but don’t mean anything in particular.

RockLine: You spend a lot of time in the garden. It’s usually a very soothing experience. How does gardening affect you?

Chris Jagger:It’s nice to grow your own food. I feel good when I eat my own food. If someone leaves a carrot on their plate at lunch, I say to them: “What are you doing? I grew that carrot myself! Eat it!”

RockLine: What can we expect from the two shows in Slovenia?
Chris Jagger:Mostly songs I recorded on the records with Atcha. Those are Atcha, Channel Fever and Act Of Faith. On top of those we’ll play a few covers. If the audience wants to dance and jump around, we’ll play the right kind of music. If they’re sitting down, the set will be a bit different, because they’ll want to listen more closely. It also depends on how well people understand English. If it’s not great, you have to simplify the show. I think it’ll be fun, I’m really looking forward to it, since I haven’t been in Ljubljana for a very long time, maybe since the days of Generalissimo Tito.

I put Chris’s mind at ease by assuring him that our listeners understand English very well, so there won’t be any problems with communication during the show.

 

interview by: Jernej Vene

photos: Daniel Pavlica