by Danny Coleman
originally published on Rock On! This Week’s Sound Bites (NewJerseyStage.com)
“I appreciate that, that means a lot,” smiled the very excited, extremely talented and current contestant of this season’s “American Idol,” Jake Thistle.
Perhaps the biggest thing to come out of Paramus, NJ since Crazy Eddie told us his prices were “Insane,” Thistle has definitely earned all he has gotten to this point and is one of the most talked about young artists amongst Jersey musicians and beyond; far beyond.
Recently, he sat down over a Zoom call and discussed the how, why and what’s next of this latest chapter in his very young story and some of it may surprise you.
“This is something I’ve been really excited about,” he began. “Producers have reached out for a couple of years and the timing was never right because I had a record coming out and I couldn’t get down there or I was on the road or school was gonna get in the way; they reached out this year and it just seemed like it was sort of the right place at the right time. We have a record coming out vaguely in the middle of this coming year, I was done with school in December so it all just seemed like things would line up and I had the time and for me, as you know, playing and writing is everything and just getting to connect with people is one of my favorite parts of the job. So, I was really grateful for that opportunity and if there was a way to get more eyes on the project and get the music to more people that it might connect with, that’s something that I wanted to try. So, that was sort of the thought process of my going down there.”
Wait, the producers reached out to him? So, was there no lengthy wait to get in front of a screener or submission of a product? How did they reach out?
“I think it was mostly just through posting; the producers and everybody who works at “Idol” are all really great and all really on top of things and I think that they have a great finger sort of on the pulse of independent artists and everything that is sort of going on around the country and different genres of music and things like that. So yeah, I guess I got on their radar through maybe YouTube coverage, Instagram Reels and things like that but as you know, I’m no stranger to trying to plaster my face on every music site so… (Laughs)”
So, there you go and let that be a lesson to you independent artists; build a following and a brand and don’t shy away from putting yourself out there because you never know who’s watching.
Jokingly, it was mentioned that performing before an audience of three industry heavyweights like Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood and the legend that is Lionel Richie is perhaps the largest audience he’s ever performed in front of given the magnitude, Jake smiled and responded confidently.
“It was a blast, I tried my best to treat it like any other gig because I know that’s really where I thrive. I knew that walking into this, the most important thing for me when doing any sort of televised thing is authenticity and trying to make sure that I’m as genuine as possible. So, to sort of foster that I tried to just treat it like I prepare for any gig but of course it’s not any gig and I knew that. I knew that I was gonna be standing in front of those three people and so, I knew the gravity and I knew the talent and how special it was that I was gonna get to not only talk with them but play for them and get their opinions on the song. I definitely knew that going in but I was more excited than anything. I learn the best by just getting thrown in the deep end and figuring it out. So, I think this is sort of a really massive way to foster that.”
Television doesn’t always reveal the depth of its stages or lack thereof and during this season, the contestants are not doing a lot of traveling, as a matter of fact, “Hollywood Week” is not even in Hollywood.
“I think this is the first time they’ve ever done this,” he explained, “It’s sort of the Music City Takeover for Hollywood Week. So, I’m really excited to go about that next week but the auditions were also in Nashville. We were at Belmont University which was incredibly beautiful in this big sort of lobby of this theater with big columns and marble floors; that’s another thing when you walk in, you know how people say they like to sing in the shower because they’ve got that natural reverb? That’s what that room was like, as soon as I walked in I heard my first footstep hit the back and I was like, oh this is just gonna be fun! There was just such a great vibe in that room and I have to hand it to the judges and the producers, obviously they do it for a living but they do a great job creating a really supportive environment but the big lobby at Belmont helped with that too. So, Hollywood Week was also filmed at Belmont University but in a little bit of a different section so it’s gonna look totally different and it’s going to be a different stage. I really can’t wait, I was super excited to have another opportunity to play in front of them and they brought in a little bit more of an audience than in the previous round so that is gonna be fun and I really can’t wait for everyone to see that as well.”
Events like this happen only so much in a lifetime and not only have a profound effect on the artist but on their families as well and being the sole musician in the family, how is his family/support system handling all of this?
“Everybody is doing great! I’ve been really, really lucky, I’m the only musician in my family but they’ve all been 100 percent supportive of everything as you know from talking to me when I was like 11 years old or something like that (Laughs). They had to drive me everywhere for quite a long time. So, I’m 21 now but once I turned 17 they could get their weekends back because I could drive myself. They’re very supportive and still come to a lot of my gigs even though they don’t physically need to be there.”
“Attitude is everything” is a phrase uttered many times whether it be in arts, entertainment, sports or life in general and Jake, well, he’s already victorius based on his outlook.
“The big thing for me is just learning as much as possible. I’m really proud of how the audition went, I really think I was as authentic as I could have been and in a lot of ways, I feel like I’ve already won because I went there and accomplished what I wanted to; it really meant a lot to get their opinions and advice on the music and the project and everything like that. So, I’m really taking away all of these experiences, I’m walking away with hopefully lifelong friends from some of the other hopefuls I met; I’m just here to have a great time and learn as much as I can and I’m really excited that I have the opportunity to continue for at least another week.”
There is great news on the homefront as well because he has a new single releasing on February 20 and he couldn’t be more excited.
“Yes! On Friday I have a song called, “Sleep On Me” coming out. I can’t wait, I’m super, super passionate about this song. We recorded it with a live band up in Boston at a beautiful studio up there and it’s a little different than I’ve recorded things in the past. A lot of times it’s just me and another producer and we’ll just kind of go back and forth and overdub things so this was a really cool way to get some other ears and players on it and really let the song breathe and sort of live as a performance on the recording and I can’t wait for everyone to hear.”
Ironically enough, Thistle auditioned with an old tune by Blind Faith, “Can’t Find My Way Home” and his “Raspy” yet smooth interpretation drew comparisons to Bryan Adams from Luke Bryan and perhaps it is blind faith in oneself and talent that gets you through competitions such as this and when asked if there was any chance of him sneaking in some of his own material he said, “I hope so, if I get the opportunity to play one, I certainly will.”
“American Idol” airs Monday evenings on ABC and to discover more about Jake Thistle and/or to follow his journey, please visit https://jakethistle.com