Jake Green
I love Danish blues Jake Green Band. They have an amazing blues sound. Their new single Still Hung Up on You is terrific. I interviewed Jake Green last weekend, while he was celebrating his nephew’s seventh birthday at his sister’s summer home. We tried to record the interview outside in the park-like setting, but the internet reception would not cooperate, so we moved indoors. When you watch the video, you’ll notice the change in venue.
Of course, the very first question I asked Jake was to tell me more about Still Hung Up on You. Jake told me: “Still Hung Up on You is your basic breakup song. My Dad used to say that if you really love somebody, it never really goes away. That’s pretty much what the song is about. It’s about you still being hung up on the person, even though the relationship didn’t work and you still have feelings, even if they’re still not that strong any longer.”
I also adore the Jake Green Band single Broken Love from the Live at Malmo Festival album. The song is so heartfelt. I wondered who the song was about, but Jake would not say: “The song is not about anybody specific. I prefer to write more general, so people can better relate. That’s also why I don’t name names in my songs. The song is about the process of falling in love and getting hurt by love. Actually, the new version of this song on my upcoming album is a little different from the one recorded in 2011. The last verse has a little twist that says you should still put yourself out there and risk getting hurt, and you should still seek out love.”
The Jake Green Band has such a wonderful blues sound that you’d think Jake was from the United States. Who can we credit with influencing his music? Jake smiled and replied, “There are so many. I’ve listened to more or less everything. We should probably credit my Mom to a very great extent, because she raised me on very good music, like Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley and B.B. King. She was the one who bought the Gary Moore album that inspired me to start playing the guitar.” Thanks Mom for your excellent taste in music!
Hans Robenberg, Jake Green, Jens Simonsen
Jake Green has played with just about everyone in the Danish music scene. I had to know more about the Jake Green music back story: “My best story takes place about 21 years ago. I came home from rehearsal at school and, when I got off the bus, I heard this wonderful music. I found out it was from a blues band playing just around the corner. I sat down and listened to them play. During the break, I went over and said, ‘Hi.’ The guy I talked to was Danny Linde. He asked me if I played guitar and if I played blues. I said, ‘Yes I do.’ He asked if I had a band, and I said, ‘No.’ I was 16 and everyone wanted to play Metallica and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Danny told me that he just started a jam at Mojo Blues Bar in Copenhagen. So, I stopped by, and the rest is history. I’ve been playing there for 20 years now.”
I love stories about how musicians find their calling and how great bands get together, so I asked how Jake Green met his drummer Hans Rosenberg and bass player Jens Simonsen: “I met Hans at the jam one night about nine years ago. We were put up on stage as a random team. From the first note, each of us looked at the other one and thought, ‘Wow!’ Something really clicked. We fit well together musically. Afterwards, we were a bit shell-shocked at the bar. Jens turns to me and says, ‘We should probably make a band,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, we probably should.’ It took a while to get together. We finally made a band, and we’ve been playing ever since. We added Jens two years ago, after our other bass player left, because he had too many bands. Hans recommended him.”
How does Jake Green use social media to get the word out around the globe? “First of all, we have a website, because it’s a calling card, and you should always have one. We have a Facebook page that we use a lot to communicate directly with our fans. We have some radio promotions through a company called Musik and Film in Florida. We are on Twitter, but we haven’t been using it much yet.”
What advice does Jake Green have for other artists who are trying to make it in the music business on an international scale? Jake Green modestly replied, “That’s a tough one, because we’re hardly world dominating, but I think it’s quality above all else. If there is somebody that I enjoy listening to, it’s because of the quality of what they put out: the musicianship, the way they play together and the performance. That’s important to me. I’m still trying to figure out how the music industry works, but if the quality is good enough, the rest should not be a problem.”
I had a wonderful time chatting with Jake Green. I hope to see The Jake Green Band live some day.
The Amused Now Featured Artist Series
Jake Green
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Cynthia Kahn, Founder of Amused Now
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