Jesse Walton is a composer, singer-songwriter and musician based in London. Having spent his teenage years travelling the globe, Walton made a name for himself busking in the streets across Europe and America. His music is raw and authentic, featuring quivering vocals and catchy hooks that you can sink your teeth into. Masqueraded as folk songs, Walton gives us access to his own personal journal.
His latest single “Into Light” calls for relatability, a love song that builds into a memorable chorus, with a steady acoustic and a twinkling piano melody that flickers in the pockets of quieter dynamics. Bearing a glimpse of hope and encouragement he sings, “Wear that smile across your face, no one else is gonna do it for you.” The drums pulsate and deliver a heartbeat in the track that brings to life the energy in the chorus and ending of the song.
Inspired by the likes of The War on Drugs, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake, Walton shows his vulnerabilities by transporting us into the depths of his imagination. “Into Light” is the first track to be released off of the upcoming album, Pages – an exploration of emotions and feelings, certain to make you both smile and cry.
How did you get to where you are now?
I started writing as a kid, putting words with chords and allowing inspiration to come from anything and everything. I spent a few years fumbling round without much idea of my identity or direction, however that all changed around 18 years old when I discovered Nick Drake. I was mesmerised by his ability to turn folk music into magic and I became lost in his world – ‘Black Eyed Dog’ comes to mind. In awe of the 70s folk scene I set about forging my own story, hitting the road with a guitar and the clothes on my back.
I spent many months travelling down the west coast of America, hitching and taking Greyhounds from San Francisco all the way down to San Diego, playing my music to anyone who would listen. I collated my early demos and had some EPs made up, somehow managing to sell hundreds just playing the streets, scraping by, relying on the good will of the people I met along the way. It was in this period I wrote many of the songs heard on my first album ‘Into The Storm’.
In 2012 I lost two really close friends and looking back on it, that was a massive turning point for me and has dominated my song writing ever since. I don’t want to dwell on my personal tragedy too much as I know many/most people have suffered, especially over the last year.
What is your favorite aspect of making music and being an artist ?
Storytelling, but in a way that allows for interpretation: A song that means one thing to you or me can mean something entirely different to someone else. That, for me, is the most powerful thing about music.
What is your creative process like?
For me, writing is a solitary process; it’s certainly not planned or thought out. My song ideas tend to come out of nowhere. I’ll write a lyric or come up with a guitar line, write it down or record it on my phone. Most of these ideas just come from singing gibberish over a bit of guitar, random phonetics that sound nice and then, over time, evolve into actual words.
The best ideas then seem to develop naturally. I’ll come back to them time and time again until they are fleshed out into their entirety. Often, I will only work out where a song came from upon reflection. Once the song is complete, I’ll go back and listen a few months down the line and all of a sudden it becomes obvious what I was writing about, without realising it at the time
Tell us about your new album and how it came about
My new album, Pages, is a collection of songs I’ve written over the last decade. All of these songs started off as ideas in the form of written verses, scrawled down in notebooks and eventually formed into songs, some existing for years just as voice notes on my phone.
I began to track the songs at home in 2018, making demos and laying down a lot of the guitar and vocal tracks that you’ll hear on the final release.
The album as a whole portrays a journey of growing up, working out your place in society, overcoming loss and discovering love.
Do you have any peculiar pre or post show rituals as a band?
I like to warm up my voice by singing pentatonic scales, usually picking the keys that most of my songs are in… B flat, B, C – these just suit my voice.
So many of my songs require different tunings so I’ll spend some time figuring out how to minimise the time spent tuning on stage, maybe one day I’ll have a guitar tech who can do that for me and I’ll be able to put my feet up and sink a beer or two.
What are your plans for the future?
Funnily enough one of the lyrics in my lead single ‘Into Light’ is: ‘There aint no way of knowing what the future holds’ – and it’s true. If I try and envisage myself 5 years down the line… 10 years down the line, I can’t and I really don’t want to either.
Is the future really looking that bright for anyone?
Not trying to bring anyone down or seem too negative but realistically, as a species we are headed toward a dark conclusion. The human population is growing by 10,000 each hour and I can’t see us behaving cohesively and responsibly enough to prevent our environmental ruin. We have a serious issue with greed and resource distribution, and we need to promote positive discussions surrounding these issues; so when people ask me what the future is looking like, I have to be honest.
What is the achievement or moment in your career you are the most proud of and why?
Playing the Tree House Stage at Shambala is something I will never forget as it was such a cool stage and a really lovely audience.
It’s hard to pinpoint one thing that I am most proud of though. I really enjoy hearing from people who have listened to my music and gained something from it. The thought that my music has helped people and made a difference to peoples lives is something I am immensely proud of.
What are your thoughts on the music and entertainment industry especially after this past year?
Many things but it’s not something I like to think about. The industry has changed so, so much over the last 20 years, probably more quickly than it ever has before and that’s of course down to the Internet. At first people would bemoan the changes, and still do to some extent, but over time people learn to adapt and I quite like the fact that it’s never been easier to release music and get yourself out there.
My main focus isn’t to try and change the industry, but more to adapt to it and make it work for me, I just want to be able to express myself through my artistry.
If I could wave a magic wand and change one thing, then I would eliminate all forms of sexual misconduct and misogyny that occur far too often in the music industry, as well as many other industries.
