Conversations with JaXson: Unveiling the Heartbeat Behind 'Epiphany' and Musical Evolution
Written by: Keyali Mikaela
In this exclusive interview with Next Wave, Jaxson, a rising artist known for his emotive storytelling, shares intimate insights into his music and journey as a musician. From navigating the delicate balance between vulnerability and strength in songwriting to the transformative power of connecting with listeners, Jaxson provides a candid glimpse into his creative process. Reflecting on the origins of his impactful track, "Epiphany," and the diverse range of influences that shape his sound, Jaxson offers a compelling narrative of artistic growth and evolution. Join us for an illuminating conversation with Jaxson as he explores the profound significance of his music and the enduring quest for authentic connection with his audience.
Next Wave: You describe your music as emotive storytelling. How do you balance that vulnerability and strength in your songwriting?
JaXson: Yeah. It's crazy because you really have to give yourself to your music to be authentic, you know? I used to find honesty hard in songwriting. It’s tough when you start releasing music, and your friends and family are the first listeners. If you feel vulnerable, they ask, "Are you okay?" So, it's like, "I'm writing about my experiences, you know, it's just how I felt at that moment." It can be scary, but to connect with people, honesty is crucial. Connection is the priority when releasing music. Without it, you lose a lot of why you're doing music. So, you have to accept that you might give away a bit of your personal life to connect with people. But that's why we do music—to connect.
Next Wave: Does it feel like a weight off your shoulder when you release a vulnerable song and see people relate?
JaXson: Yeah. There was a time I released a song, and a random girl had a lyric from my song as her Instagram caption. It felt amazing because they heard that line, it matched how they felt, and that represented their emotions. That's something I wrote independently, and it just feels really good. Even during live performances, when people connect with what I'm singing, it's a weight-lifting feeling. I've had a couple of gigs and some moments where I see people are really involved, they're really into it and I can tell that what I'm singing is connecting with them. I'm obviously getting a lot off my chest when I'm singing live because I'm going back to where I was when I wrote the song. Which is hard sometimes, especially if it's about a tough time, but you have to go back there. It's good to relive and get it out.
Next Wave: Listening to 'Epiphany' and the EP, there's a mix of pop, R&B, and alternative influences. Any specific artists you draw from when writing?
JaXson: I listen to a lot of different music, but I love hip-hop for its storytelling. Artists like Kendrick Lamar, who tells a story throughout an album, inspire me. It's almost like reading a book, you know? I love that and I think naturally if you listen to a lot of that music, it will kind of leak into your own music. James Blake is another influence, meshing singer-songwriter and hip-hop sounds. I'm inspired by any artist who can make you feel something, whether it's James Blake, Adele, or Lewis Capaldi. I love any artist that's really able to connect with what they're saying and make you feel something.
I think the stuff I'm writing now is definitely more, you know, singer-songwriter, but like the ep was definitely an experimental kind of thing. I hope people enjoy it because it's kind of its own thing. I find it hard to compare it to other things, which is kind of rare that you'd write something that is hard to compare to something else.
Next Wave: Epiphany has a powerful message about seizing control of your life. Can you share the creative process behind it?
JaXson: I actually wrote it with one of my best friends. His name is Marty, Marty Mulally. He's actually based in New York. Obviously he's Irish, but he moved to New York and started doing music there. It was hard not seeing him, but we did some online sessions where we wrote some songs and EPIPHANY came out of that, but we were both transitioning into adulthood, you know? I suppose we were kind of questioning whether we'd ever be able to live without fear, and I think that's a big thing coming into adulthood. Will I ever be able to do something, really be confident doing it and truly like not care what anyone else thinks?
It came to the second verse and I said, look, can we just, can we both just put our laptop screens a little bit down? I just need to let this chorus out because I know it's just gonna flow once I start. And if you listen to the second verse, it's very flowy lyrically, you know? So I just went on the piano, we both muted ourselves, he went to make coffee or something, and by the time he came back, I said, right, what do you think of this?
He was just like, oh my God, that's it. Once we had that, it was pretty much put together. And I went and got it produced then with a local producer. Alex O 'Keefe, his name is.
Next Wave: Do you have any venues on your wish list that you want to play?
JaXson: Oh, there's so many. There's a place called the Olympia in Dublin and that's just where every Irish musician wants to play. It's just such a magical room. It's crazy. It's like the energy changes once the artist comes out on stage. It's one of those venues where so many amazing artists and international artists have played.
I know the Bowery Ballroom in New York, that's a really great venue as well. I walked past it when I was in New York not so long ago and I was like, man, I want to play there, you know, because I know artists have played there and it just looks so good.
I've got endless things on my bucket list that I want to do. I just wanted to achieve as best I can, you know?
Next Wave: How would you say, do you think that your sound has evolved with these three singles? Or even with earlier music that you've put on, how things have changed?
JaXson: When I first had the opportunity to play music with a band, I was in college. I got myself a guitarist, I got myself a bassist and a drummer. We all learned my songs, went out on stage and we just rocked out. We were all in a room together just rocking out because we had never done that before. My music was a lot heavier at the time.
As I continued to grow as an artist, I think that my music started to get a little bit softer and I focused on lyrics a lot more. I mean, at age 18 or 19, I wouldn't have considered myself a songwriter. The band that I was in, other people wrote the songs. It was only when I hit like 20, I was like, OK, maybe I can actually write. Some people start writing really good songs at like 15, 16, whereas I didn't really believe in myself when I was that age, you know?
Now I'm very confident in my abilities as a songwriter, so I really focus on lyrics now and making them as good as possible. I suppose it's definitely made it more easy to connect to for the listener, I think, and for me I find it easier to connect to the song because there's a little bit more vulnerability in the music now than there used to be.
Next Wave: As a listener, I think you can definitely tell when in an artist's career they kind of have a little bit more control or confidence.
JaXson: Yeah exactly I love going back into other artists' discography and seeing where they started and now where they are where they end up you know. It seems like all these artists go through a bit of a journey to find themselves and I think I'm really getting to that stage.
I started collaborating because it's off that saying, you never want to be the smartest person in the room or something. Like you got to work with people who you can learn from. I'm working with a songwriter at the moment, his name is Hunter Falls, and he is amazing. He's taught me so much already, and he's told me that I taught him some things as well. So it's mutual.
Next Wave: On that topic of collaboration, do you have any other dream collaborators artists that you would like to do something with?
JaXson: You know what? I would love to work with James Blake. That would be insane because he can go in any direction. Rick Rubin, he's probably the best producer the world's ever seen. So obviously working with him would be amazing as well. I think that Taylor Swift, I've seen her documentaries and her songwriting process. I'm always blown away by her and how she works. Seeing how her songs come to life in those documentaries and knowing what it's like to be in her writing session where she comes up with those magic moments over and over and over again. She has such a good ear for a hook, you know what I mean? I can imagine the energy that she would bring to a studio.
Next Wave: I know you have the EP coming out, you have new music that you're working on coming out this year. What are some other goals that you have for yourself within the next couple of years as an artist?
JaXson: I don't think my goals have ever changed necessarily. My goal when starting my journey as an artist was to connect with people, no matter what avenue that is, because obviously there's lots of routes to people and to listeners these days, you know? There’s Spotify, there's live shows. I went to Germany recently and played live shows. And I connected with so many people, that was just an amazing experience.
My idea of growth is the amount of people I'm connected with. So, you know, if I get to a stage where I have a lot of people connecting with my music every day, I'm happy. I think that's the most important thing for me, and always will be.
Stream EPIPHANY below and follow JaXson on social media
