Jack Vandervelde on Interest In Music, White… by Uinterview

Musician Jack Vandervelde has been quite busy. Coming of the release of his new single, “Trouble,” the singer/songwriter recently performed at the White House during the traditional Easter Egg Hunt, and also just wrapped up a series of shows opening for the Plain White T’s.

Vandervelde recently sat down with uInterview to discuss his new single, his White House Performance, and his life-long love of music.

Preparing for the release of his first album, Vandervelde explained his music’s sound and where that sound comes from.

“It is kind of a cross between acoustic pop and singer/songwriter,” Vandervelde told uInterview exclusively. “I’ve always been a massive pop fan – since as far back as the Backstreet Boys, when I was kid.”

While pop is undoubtably his first love, his music also draws influences from other genres.

“I also pull from a lot of different genres like EDM, rock and roll, and even country rock. I kind of pull from so many different influences that it all comes down to this acoustic pop, singer/songwriter thing.”

There is one group of people who need no introduction to Vandervelde’s sound: the families who attended the White House Easter Egg Roll in April.

The singer got a call from his team in the middle of the night in London and, much to his surprise, was informed that he was all set to perform at the White House.

“It was two a.m. and I was like, ‘Am I hearing this right?'” Vandervelde recalled. “I’ve always been a massive fan of presidential history, U.S. history, and the lure behind the White House for years. So to be a part of a tradition that goes back to 1878, it is just a family fun way to celebrate Easter, and I get to play and do what I love most.

What he loves – playing music – was first made apparent to him while looking at potential film schools in Los Angeles to attend after high school. Getting a little tired of their children, Vandervelde jokes, his parents sent him and his sister to concert by a little-known musician at the time, Ed Sheeran. That’s where Vandervelde had an epiphany.

“[I] went to the gig and by the third song in, I was like, ‘That’s what I want to do, Scrap the film school stuff, I want to do music for the rest of my life.’ By that point I had been playing the guitar for a few years and had started songwriting but it was that night that I was like, ‘That’s what I want to do for the rest of my life.'”

And now, he’s doing it.

Watch Jack Vandervelde perform his new single “Trouble” below.


Jack Vandervelde sings “Trouble” by Uinterview

Read more about:
avatar

Article by Jacob Kaye

Leave a comment

Subscribe to the uInterview newsletter

User
Q: Can you describe your music and your influences? -

I'd say it is kind of a cross between acoustic pop and singer/songwriter. I'm definitely more towards acoustic pop, that's the music I've always loved. I've always been a massive pop fan, since as far back as the Backstreet Boys when I was a kid, that's where it started. But I also pull from a lot of different genres like EDM, rock and roll, and even country rock. I kind of pull from so many different influences that it all comes down to this acoustic pop, singer/songwriter thing.

User
Q: What was it liked to get booked at the White House? -

I've been this story recently: I had been in London the past few months, it was two a.m. and I was sleeping. I got a call from Brad and this guy Mark who was booking it and they were like, 'Guess where you're playing next week?' And I was like, 'Where am I supposed to guess?' And I didn't know if I was going to be opening for someone or if they got something, and he goes, 'The White House!' Again, it was two a.m. and I was like, 'Am I hearing this right?' I've always been a massive fan of presidential history, U.S. history, and the lure behind the White House for years. So to be part of a tradition that goes back to 1878, it is just a family fun way to celebrate Easter, and I get to play and do what I love most.

User
Q: How did you get started making music? -

My whole life, I've been playing it – that's the easy answer. It goes back to when I was a kid and I got my first drum set and I used to always dance to whatever was on the pop radio. My parents have so many home videos of me back on my porch just dancing. I was visiting film schools in LA during my junior year in high school, and I think my parents just wanted a break from us, my sister and I, so they bought us Ed Sheeran tickets. I didn't know Ed Sheeran and this was when he was still doing theater, so he was still making it in America. So I downloaded the album, listened to it, went to the gig, and by the third song in I was like, 'That's what I want to do. Scrap the film school stuff, I want to do music for the rest of my life.' By that point I had been playing guitar for a few years and had started songwriting but it was that night that was like, 'That's what I want to do for the rest of my life.'