Jackfruit on Their New Song, "Jawbreaker"
Jackfruit, college student Jack Braun, has a clear artistic vision and their new song “Jawbreaker” proves exactly that. The song is equal parts sweet and sour, each line serving its specific purpose. And while the song touches on the theme of monotony, this is a track you will want to play over and over again. I got the chance to ask the artist a few questions about their latest release. Read our interview below.
LET’S START WITH WHEN YOU FIRST PUT OUT MUSIC. TELL ME MORE ABOUT THAT.
I released music on Spotify for the first time in August of 2020. I was extremely nervous about putting music out. I sort of just felt like I needed to rip off the band aid—just put something out and then build from there.
DID COVID HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT?
That was part of it. I had been planning on releasing music before COVID, but it was only in June of 2020 when I got a microphone and everything. I was also on a 90-day free trial of Logic, which was very helpful.
DID YOU PRODUCE THAT FIRST SONG ALL BY YOURSELF?
I did. I don't think it was the biggest production or the best quality. I've been working on my production skills a lot since then. I produced a lot of “Jawbreaker” myself too.
WHAT WAS THE HARDEST THING TO LEARN WHEN YOU STARTED MAKING MUSIC?
I had been writing for a while, so it wasn’t the writing. I was writing a lot of poetry and fiction pieces—not the best stuff—but I did a lot of writing prior to making music. Production was one of the more challenging things to learn. I’m not the best at adding drums to my songs. My friend Zach Benson helps with all that stuff. And I didn’t know much about things like plugins and vocal shaping. Just a lot of little things, but YouTube was really helpful.
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOUR EARLIER RELEASES AND “Jawbreaker?”
I put a lot more time into “Jawbreaker” than I did into the beginning stuff. I have an extremely low patience level and the entire process took about two months. Most of my earlier tracks took about three weeks. I usually work in spurts. I’ll spend a few days on a song. “gas leak” I wrote in a half hour. Same with “I had gay sex with god (it could’ve gone better)”. I wrote that one in my dorm room in about twenty minutes. With “Jawbreaker” I went through three or four rewrites before I got to a place where I felt like it was good enough to put it out.
THE SONG COMES OUT RIGHT AFTER YOU MOVE BACK TO COLLEGE. DO YOU THINK IT’LL BE HARDER TO FOCUS ON MUSIC ONCE YOUR BACK AT SCHOOL?
Yes, especially now that I have a roommate in the fall, but I’m not going to stop making music. “Jawbreaker” is about falling into this boring routine and I'm wary of that trap. I’m going to try to block out time to do music and I’m taking a music theory class which I’m very excited about, even though it’s an 8 am.
IS IT EASY FOR YOU TO STAY CREATIVE AT COLLEGE?
I was in person last fall, and I wrote a surprising amount of music. I did a lot of writing and visual art too. I don’t know why. I think it was being around a lot of other creative people that was helpful. It didn’t necessarily feel competitive, but it was more like, “Oh these people are making things, so maybe I should try to make something and not feel pressure to have it be the best thing ever.”
DO YOU HAVE TO BE LEARNING AND EXPERIENCING THINGS IN ORDER TO WRITE ABOUT THEM?
I have a very hard time writing about things that I haven’t personally experienced. I had to write a song about a historical figure for a class last semester. Even though I ended up liking what I made, it was harder for me to put emotion into it because I hadn’t felt that emotion.
JUMPING INTO “Jawbreaker,” IS THAT ABOUT A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE?
It is. Well, for the most part. It started with one. I had this thing with a boy and then he started dating someone else during the first week of college. Not at my school, but somewhere else. I don’t necessarily think he is the coolest or most interesting person—in fact, I think he’s rather boring—but he has a cute face. I thought that we might have kept talking. But he started dating someone else that first week. I thought it would peter out, but it did not, and they are still very serious. I don’t care that much, but I cared enough to write about it, which means that I do care about it. I don’t know. Maybe I should talk to my therapist about it.
DOES THIS PERSON KNOW YOU WROTE A SONG ABOUT THEM?
No, but I think he’s suspicious. I had a horrible thing happen to me recently where someone accused me of writing about them. It was super nasty, and I was like, “I can write about what I want!”
HOPEFULLY THERE WILL NOT BE THE SAME REACTION TO “Jawbreaker.”
No, I mean, I don't have any hard feelings toward the person.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE LINE FROM THE SONG?
I like “are you still sucking on your jawbreaker boyfriend.” I’m really proud of that line because I think it speaks for itself. I hate jawbreakers. I think they’re boring. Same with gum.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE CANDY?
I grew up on Jelly Bellies and Candy Corn. I couldn’t have dairy growing up, so no chocolates or anything that that. Halloween was always a little hard for me.
IF WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WHAT CANDY YOU ATE GROWING UP, CAN WE CAN TALK ABOUT WHAT MUSIC YOU LISTENED TO?
I did go through a bit of an emo stage, but it was fake emo. My first concert was a Panic at the Disco show during my freshman year of high school. And then, like a month later, I went to like a Jake Wesley Rogers gig and that was incredible. But growing up, I listened to a lot of my parents’ music—Rolling Stones, Billie Joel. My mom loves Elvis Costello, but I never really got into him. I did love James Taylor as a ten-year-old and Jack Johnson. I’m also convinced that there is a pipeline of people who listen to Carol King to people who listen to Lucy Dacus.
GOING OFF THAT PIPELINE, WHO ARE SOME ARTISTS YOU LISTEN TO NOW?
Lucy Dacus for sure. I’ve gotten into her so much in the past month and a half. Rosie Tucker too. They put out a new album in April and it's been on a repeat for me. God, it is mind blowing that that whole album is just no skips. Besides those two, Phoebe Bridgers of course. I will be at her concert in October. I like that her lyrics are very vulgar and unpleasant when isolated—like with “Savior Complex” and the line “I’m too tired to have a pissing contest.” It’s not something you would think to say in a beautifully haunting ballad. I’ve been trying in my writing to write things that are a little unpleasant by themselves. Like the line “break my jaw.” I don’t know if that makes sense.
IT DOES! IF YOU WERE TO LOOK BACK AT YOUR WRITING A YEAR AGO, WHAT SONGWRITING ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE YOURSELF?
Don’t be so serious. It’s usually not that serious. I’m glad that I was trying to be serious, and focus on growing a fan base, but now I'm very comfortable with the number of listeners that I have. It’s not overwhelming. And I can be sort of playful with it and I know that people will still listen to my music. That is another thing I would have told myself. That people will listen. They will always listen if you care enough about it. I was definitely worried that people weren’t going to want to listen to me.
HOW DO YOU HOPE LISTENERS REACT TO THE TRACK?
I have a good feeling about this song. I just do. This is so cliché, but I always feel like I'm not like a real musician. I think part of it is that I don't record in a studio and my production level is not on par with a Rhianna or Lorde or whoever. But my goal is not to be the most perfect studio musician ever. I think this song is playful and cutesy and also a little snappy, and I think that's the energy that I'm trying to manifest for myself. I'm really excited about it. I’m really hoping that people enjoy it.
YOU MENTIONED MANIFESTING, SO I HAVE TO ASK. ARE THERE ANY THINGS YOU’RE MANIFESTING FOR THIS NEXT YEAR?
This is very corporate of me, but I really do want a placement on a Spotify playlist. I would not complain. And I would love to perform a live show. I think I have one set up at my college. I'm really hoping it works out. That would be so cool.
YOU CAN LISTEN TO “Jawbreaker” by Jackfruit ON STREAMING SERVICES LIKE SPOTIFY AND APPLE MUSIC. GO LISTEN AND MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW @twentyminuteslater TO STAY UPDATED ON FUTURE POSTS.
