JORDAN NASH * 1997
( One For The Future? You Choose… ) - Thursday 28th March 2024
Words by Isaac Solanki. Photography by Isaac Solanki.
Introduce yourself and describe your sound…
“So, my name is Jordan Nash and I’m from West London. I'm of both Dutch and Jamaican heritage and my sound is forever changing. It's essentially just a mixture of things that I like to listen to. It's quite cinematic and I feel like it changes with the seasons, as I’m continuously developing within my different surroundings.”
What do you think makes you different to the other young up and coming artists of today?
“Anything that makes anyone different from anyone else, I guess. I'm not trying to be someone else, I'm not trying to be better than anyone else; I’m just trying to learn how to be myself and I suppose that's just naturally different, isn't it? I like to think that I'm only as different as the next person.
Nowadays, I actually try not to take any direct influence from music anymore - I obviously still listen to music and it will always inspire me but my songs are actually written to film, I watch films in the sessions. Originally, I did try to be influenced by other songs but I just found that I would end up being disappointed if my finished track didn't sound enough like what I was being influenced by.”
What’s your story? How did it all start and what challenges have you faced along the way so far?
“It all started through a love of word - growing up, I really liked poetry and I spent a lot of time reading and wanting to make my own words or steal other people's words and turn them into my own. In terms of the challenges I’ve faced since then, I think it's all been challenging but it's all been fun at the same time.
Personally, I'm good at perseverance and none of it so far has been challenging enough to make me stop. I got signed by a major label after my first release and I suppose that some people would perhaps find it challenging trying to figure out where to go once that deal has finished but I'm really enjoying being independent.”
Moving forwards, what are some of your short-term and long-term career goals for the future?
“Short term, I just want to keep improving, I’d love to release two more songs before the summer and I'd love to be able to soon get to a point where I can say that the song I released last was my best song.
Long term, I'd be lying if I said I didn't wanna do it all. I wanna be on the cover of Rolling Stone and I want the Hollywood Walk of Fame star but at the same time I still just want to enjoy myself. I feel that if I can keep that outlook and sense of enjoyment with what I’m doing, then good things will continue to come naturally.”
Talk to me about some of the unsung heroes of your music career to date. Is there anyone that you perhaps wouldn’t be here today without?
“There's maybe too many to list but my parents are definitely the main ones. They’ve always been really supportive and right from when I was very young, have always been okay with me following dreams - I think that they've learnt to be very supportive of that. My girlfriend too, she’s been here since the very first song I released and she's been amazing. Then, a bit like the butterfly effect, everyone that I’ve interacted with along the journey has helped; for example, this interview has now been a part of my journey to wherever I may end up. If I’m being totally honest, I’m just extremely grateful and thankful for anyone that’s payed attention.”
“Outside” by Jordan Nash
“It was actually the first or second session that I did with my current producer and friend Benji. It all just kind of spilled out, we went into the session and I was feeling quite nostalgic, reminiscing on my time spent in LA the other year and everything just clicked. Nothing went wrong at any point of writing the song, everything we added stayed in. Nothing got taken out, it just kept going and as soon as we finished it, we knew it was an amazing song - it’s exactly how you’d love every songwriting process to be.
In terms of the meanings behind the song, I think that it just needed to be written - I think that someone out there needed to hear it. I’m not sure if that person has heard it yet but I just know that someone needed it… maybe even me. Sometimes things like this just happen, I think that we're all just the vessel in which creativity comes out of at that moment in time.”
Favourite lyric from the track…
“Towards the end of the second verse, it says “I'm still breathing, so if that could tell you anything, it shows I really mean it” - meaning the fact that I'm still here shows enough that I genuinely mean everything I've said.”
